Leprosy, a term used in the Bible, refers to a variety of skin diseases and conditions, not limited to what is known today as Hansen's disease. In the biblical context, leprosy is often associated with ritual impurity and social isolation, reflecting both physical and spiritual dimensions.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, leprosy is primarily discussed in the books of Leviticus and Numbers. Leviticus 13 and 14 provide detailed instructions for diagnosing and managing leprosy. The priests were responsible for examining individuals suspected of having leprosy, as seen in Leviticus 13:2-3 : "When a person has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that could become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. The priest is to examine the sore on his skin."

Leviticus 14 outlines the purification process for a person healed of leprosy, involving sacrifices and rituals to restore the individual to the community. This reflects the belief that leprosy was not only a physical ailment but also a condition that rendered a person ceremonially unclean.

The account of Miriam in Numbers 12:10-15 illustrates the severity of leprosy as a divine punishment. After speaking against Moses, Miriam is struck with leprosy and is isolated outside the camp for seven days, highlighting the social and spiritual implications of the disease.

New Testament Context

In the New Testament, leprosy continues to be a significant theme, particularly in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus' healing of lepers is a testament to His compassion and divine authority. In Matthew 8:2-3 , a leper approaches Jesus, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus responds, "I am willing," and heals him, demonstrating His power over physical and spiritual impurity.

The account of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19 further emphasizes the theme of gratitude and faith. Only one of the ten, a Samaritan, returns to thank Jesus, prompting Him to say, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well" (Luke 17:19). This account underscores the importance of faith and thanksgiving in the context of healing.

Symbolism and Theological Implications

Leprosy in the Bible often symbolizes sin and its effects on individuals and communities. The physical manifestation of the disease serves as a metaphor for the spiritual corruption that separates humanity from God. The isolation of lepers reflects the alienation caused by sin, while the healing of lepers by Jesus signifies the restoration and reconciliation available through Him.

The biblical treatment of leprosy also highlights the role of the community and religious leaders in addressing both physical and spiritual health. The priests' involvement in diagnosing and purifying lepers underscores the interconnectedness of health, holiness, and community life in the biblical worldview.

Conclusion

Leprosy in the Bible is a multifaceted concept encompassing physical disease, ritual impurity, and spiritual symbolism. Through the laws in the Old Testament and the healing narratives in the New Testament, leprosy serves as a powerful illustration of the human condition and the redemptive work of Christ.Leprosy Leper

The predominant and characteristic form of leprosy in the Old Testament is a white variety, covering either the entire body or a large tract of its surface, which has obtained the name of Lepra mosaica . Such were the cases of Moses, Miriam, Naaman and Gehazi. (Exodus 4:6; Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 5:1,27) comp. Levi 13:13 But, remarkably enough, in the Mosaic ritual diagnosis of the disease, (Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:1) ... this kind, when overspreading the whole surface, appears to be regarded as "clean." (Leviticus 13:12,13,16,17) The Egyptian bondage, with its studied degradations and privations, and especially the work of the kiln under an Egyptian sun, must have had a frightful tendency to generate this class of disorders. The sudden and total change of food, air, dwelling and mode of life, caused by the exodus, to this nation of newly-emancipated slaves, may possibly have had a further tendency to produce skin disorders, and severe repressive measures may have been required in the desert-moving camp to secure the public health or to allay the panic of infection. Hence it is possible that many, perhaps most, of this repertory of symptoms may have disappeared with the period of the exodus, and the snow-white form, which had pre-existed, may alone have ordinarily continued in a later age. The principal morbid features are a rising or swelling, a scab or baldness, and a bright or white spot. (Leviticus 13:2) But especially a white swelling in the skin, with a change of the hair of the part from the natural black to white or yellow, ch. (Leviticus 13:3,4,10,20,25,30) or an appearance of a taint going "deeper than the skin," or, again, "raw flesh" appearing in the swelling, ch. (Leviticus 13:10,14,15) was a critical sign of pollution. The tendency to spread seems especially to have been relied on. A spot most innocent in other respects, if it "spread much abroad," was unclean; whereas, as before remarked, the man so wholly overspread with the evil that it could find no further range was on the contrary "clean." ch. (Leviticus 13:12,13) These two opposite criteria seem to show that whilst the disease manifested activity, the Mosaic law imputed pollution to and imposed segregation on the suffered, but that the point at which it might be viewed as having run its course was the signal for his readmission to communion. It is clear that the leprosy of Levi 13,14 means any severe disease spreading on the surface of the body in the way described, and so shocking of aspect, or so generally suspected of infection, that public feeling called for separation. It is now undoubted that the "leprosy" of modern Syria, and which has a wide range in Spain, Greece and Norway, is the Elephantiasis graecorum . It is said to have been brought home by the crusaders into the various countries of western and northern Europe. It certainly was not the distinctive white leprosy, nor do any of the described symptoms in Levi 13 point to elephantiasis. "White as snow," (2 Kings 5:27) would be a inapplicable to elephantiasis as to small-pox. There remains a curious question as regards the leprosy of garments and houses. Some have though garments worn by leprous patients intended. This classing of garments and house-walls with the human epidermis, as leprous, has moved the mirth of some and the wonder of others. Yet modern science has established what goes far to vindicate the Mosaic classification as more philosophical than such cavils. It is now known that there are some skin diseases which originate in an acarus, and others which proceed from a fungus. In these we may probably find the solution of the paradox. The analogy between the insect which frets the human skin and that which frets the garment that covers it --between the fungous growth that lines the crevices of the epidermis and that which creeps in the interstices of masonry --is close enough for the purposes of a ceremonial law. It is manifest also that a disease in the human subject caused by an acarus or by a fungus would be certainly contagious, since the propagative cause could be transferred from person to person. (Geikie in his "Life of Christ" says: "Leprosy signifies smiting , because it was supposed to be a direct visitation of Heaven. It began with little specks on the eyelids and on the palms of the hands, and gradually spread over different parts of the body, bleaching the hair white wherever it showed itself, crusting the affected parts with shining scales, and causing swellings and sores. From the skin it slowly ate its way through the tissues, to the bones and joints, and even to the marrow, rotting the whole body piecemeal. The lungs, the organs of speech and hearing, and the eyes, were attacked in turn, till at last consumption or dropsy brought welcome death. The dread of infection kept men aloof from the sufferer; and the law proscribed him as above all men unclean. The disease was hereditary to the fourth generation." Leprosy in the United States. --The Medical Record , February, 1881, states that from the statistics collected by the Dermatological Society it appears that there are between fifty and one hundred lepers in the United States at present. Is modern leprosy contagious' --Dr. H.S. Piffard of New York, in the Medical Record , February, 1881, decides that it is in a modified degree contagious. "A review of the evidence led to the conclusion that this disease was not contagious by ordinary contact; but it may be transmitted by the blood and secretions. A recent writer, Dr. Bross, a Jesuit missionary attached to the lazaretto at Trinidad, takes the ground that the disease in some way or other is transmissible. It is a well-established fact that when leprosy has once gained for itself a foothold in any locality, it is apt to remain there and spread. The case of the Sandwich Islands illustrates the danger. Forty years ago the disease did not exits there; now one-tenth of the inhabitants are lepers." This is further confirmed by the fact stated by Dr. J. Hutchinson, F.R.S., that "We find that nearly everywhere the disease is most common on the seashore, and that, when it spreads inland, it generally occurs on the shores of lakes or along the course of large rivers." Leprosy as a type of sin. --"Being the worst form of disease, leprosy was fixed upon by God to be the especial type of sin, and the injunctions regarding it had reference to its typical character." It was (1) hereditary; (2) contagious; (3) ever tending to increase; (4) incurable except by the power of God; (5) a shame and disgrace; (6) rendering one alone in the world; (7) deforming, unclean; (8) "separating the soul from God, producing spiritual death; unfitting it forever for heaven and the company of they holy, and insuring its eternal banishment, as polluted and abominable." (9) Another point is referred to by Thompson (in "The Land and the Book"): "Some, as they look on infancy, reject with horror the thought that sin exists within. But so might any one say who looked upon the beautiful babe in the arms of a leprous mother. But time brings forth the fearful malady. New-born babes of leprous parents are often as pretty and as healthy in appearance as any; but by and by its presence and workings become visible in some of the signs described in the thirteenth chapter of Leviticus." --ED.)

3014. lepra -- leprosy
... Transliteration: lepra Phonetic Spelling: (lep'-rah) Short Definition: leprosy
Definition: leprosy. ... To contract this ailment meant the leper was reduced to a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3014.htm - 6k6879. tsara -- to be struck with leprosy, to be leprous
... leper, leprous. A primitive root; to scourge, ie (intransitive and figurative) to
be stricken with leprosy -- leper, leprous. 6878, 6879. tsara. 6880 . ...
/hebrew/6879.htm - 6k

The First Stage in the Leper's Cleansing
... the priest: 3. And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall
look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; 4. Then ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the first stage in the.htm

The Leper
... agree that Christ may have cured even leprosy, and insist that this story, as told
by St. Mark, "must be genuine." Others suppose that the leper was already ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 1 40-45 the leper.htm

Jesus Heals a Leper and Creates Much Excitement.
... Popular belief so confused and confounded leprosy with the uncleanness and corruption
of sin, as to make the leper feel that Jesus might also compromise his ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xxxiv jesus heals a leper.htm

How St Francis Healed Miraculously a Leper Both in his Body and in ...
... On this the leper, seeing his leprosy beginning to vanish, felt great sorrow
and repentance for his sins, and began to weep bitterly. ...
/.../the little flowers of st francis of assisi/chapter xxv how st francis.htm

The Lord and the Leper
... Leprosy is nothing better than a horrible and lingering death. The leper in the
narrative before us had sad personal experience of this, and yet he believed ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 34 1888/the lord and the leper.htm

The First Leper Healed.
... JESUS IN GALILEE THE FIRST LEPER HEALED. ... And it came to pass, while he was in one
of the cities, there cometh to him a man full of leprosy, beseeching him, and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/barton/his life/the first leper healed.htm

Second Journey through Galilee - the Healing of the Leper.
... expectancy, that the prophet would heal his leprosy by the touch of his hand. It
was even more fitting that Jesus should surprise the Jewish leper by touching ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xv second journey through.htm

The Touch that Cleanses
... The cure of the leper comes first, apparently not from chronological reasons, but
because leprosy had been made by the Old Testament legislation the symbol of ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/the touch that cleanses.htm

Naaman the Syrian and the Jordan. No Other Stream Has the Same ...
... to me, and will call upon the name of the Lord his God, and lay his hand upon the
place, and restore the leper." For to put his hand on the leprosy [4944] and ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of john/28 naaman the syrian and.htm

The Leper. Mt 8:23
... John Newton 8,6,8,6. The leper. Mt 8:23. Oft as the leper's case I read,. My own
described I feel; Sin is a leprosy indeed,. Which none but CHRIST can heal. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/newton/olney hymns/hymn 82 the leper mt.htm

What is the meaning of impurity in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is the story of the ten lepers in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Gehazi in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Leprosy: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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