3014. lepra

Lexical Summary

lepra: Leprosy

Original Word: λέπρα
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: lepra
Pronunciation: LEP-rah
Phonetic Spelling: (lep'-rah)
KJV: leprosy
NASB: leprosy
Word Origin: [from lepo "to peel"]

1. scaliness, i.e. "leprosy"

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

leprosy.

From the same as lepis; scaliness, i.e. "leprosy" -- leprosy.

see GREEK lepis

HELPS Word-studies

Cognate: 3014 lépra – a deeply infectious, contagious skin disease rendering a person "ceremonially unclean" in Jewish society. To contract this ailment meant the leper was reduced to a social outcast – barred from all the activities at the Temple. See 3015 (lepros).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from lepis
Definition
leprosy
NASB Translation
leprosy (4).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 3014: λέπρα

λέπρα, λέπρας, ἡ (from the adjective λεπρός, which see), Hebrew צָרַעַת, leprosy (literally, morbid scaliness), a most offensive, annoying, dangerous, cutaneous disease, the virus of which generally pervades the whole body; common in Egypt and the East (Leviticus 13f): Matthew 8:3; Mark 1:42; Luke 5:12f (Herodotus, Theophrastus, Josephus, Plutarch, others) (Cf. Orelli in Herzog 2 under the word Aussatz; Greenhill in Bible Educator 4:76f, 174f; Ginsburg in Alex.'s Kitto under the word; Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah i., 492ff; McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia, under the word)

Topical Lexicon

Old Testament Background

• Leprosy in the Hebrew Scriptures (Hebrew tsaraath) covered a range of serious, visible skin conditions, mildew on garments, even rot in buildings (Leviticus 13–14).
• The afflicted were declared “unclean,” excluded from the camp or city, and required to announce their impurity (Leviticus 13:45-46).
• Priests acted as sanitary inspectors and ritual arbiters; no medical remedy is described—only divine intervention and prescribed offerings could restore worship-fellowship.

Historical-Cultural Setting of the First Century

• By the time of Jesus, “leprosy” was a term applied loosely to chronic, disfiguring skin diseases, including what is today called Hansen’s disease.
• Socially it produced isolation, poverty, and shame. Lepers often formed their own colonies outside towns, depending on alms for survival.
• Rabbinic tradition equated healing a leper with raising the dead, underscoring the act as a mark of messianic power.

New Testament Occurrences

1. Matthew 8:3 – “And Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”
2. Mark 1:42 – “And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.”
3. Luke 5:12 – “There came a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’”
4. Luke 5:13 – “And Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.”

These four uses of λέπρα (and its genitive λέπρας) all relate to the same miracle, reported independently by the three Synoptic writers.

Physical and Ritual Implications

• The man’s body was ravaged (“full of leprosy,” Luke 5:12).
• Jewish law forbade contact, yet Jesus “touched” him, risking ritual defilement in order to heal.
• Jesus then commanded, “Show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses prescribed” (Matthew 8:4). The required sacrifices (Leviticus 14) certified cleansing and restored the man to covenant community.

Theological Themes

• Authority of the Messiah – Instantaneous cleansing displays divine prerogative over disease and impurity.
• Compassionate Touch – Jesus overturns fear-based separation, illustrating that holiness is contagious in Him, not uncleanness.
• Fulfillment of Law – By sending the healed man to the priest, Jesus upholds Mosaic legislation while revealing its ultimate goal: restoration through Him.
• Sign of the Kingdom – Isaiah 35:5-6 and 61:1 anticipate a messianic age marked by healing; leprosy’s removal signals that era’s arrival.

Typological Significance

• Leprosy’s slow, pervasive corruption parallels the spread of sin.
• The isolation of lepers pictures estrangement from God.
• Cleansing, not mere healing, points to forgiveness and renewal accomplished through Christ’s atonement (Hebrews 9:13-14; 1 John 1:7).

Pastoral and Ministry Application

• Gospel ministry reaches the marginalized; believers reflect Christ by extending compassionate touch—figurative or literal—to those deemed untouchable.
• The church serves as a priestly body, declaring cleansed those who respond in faith to Christ’s saving work.
• Personal reflection: as leprosy defiled skin, sin contaminates heart and mind; confession and reliance on Christ bring true cleansing (1 John 1:9).

Summary

Strong’s Greek 3014 λέπρα, though rare in the New Testament, highlights the gravity of human defilement and the sufficiency of Christ’s cleansing grace. The Synoptic narrative testifies that where the Law diagnosed and excluded, Jesus heals and restores, fulfilling both the letter and the spirit of Scripture.

Forms and Transliterations

λεπρα λέπρα λεπρας λέπρας λεπρώσα lepra lépra lepras lépras

Englishman's Concordance

Matthew 8:3 N-NFS
GRK: αὐτοῦ ἡ λέπρα
NAS: And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
KJV: immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
INT: his leprosy

Mark 1:42 N-NFS
GRK: αὐτοῦ ἡ λέπρα καὶ ἐκαθαρίσθη
NAS: Immediately the leprosy left
KJV: immediately the leprosy departed
INT: of him the leprosy and he was cleansed

Luke 5:12 N-GFS
GRK: ἀνὴρ πλήρης λέπρας ἰδὼν δὲ
NAS: covered with leprosy; and when he saw
KJV: a man full of leprosy: who seeing
INT: a man full of leprosy having seen moreover

Luke 5:13 N-NFS
GRK: εὐθέως ἡ λέπρα ἀπῆλθεν ἀπ'
NAS: And immediately the leprosy left
KJV: immediately the leprosy departed
INT: immediately the leprosy departed from

Strong's Greek 3014
4 Occurrences

λέπρα — 3 Occ.
λέπρας — 1 Occ.