The
leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.
Leviticus 13:45-46
Leviticus 13 [40.] “If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald. He is clean. But if there is in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white plague; it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead. Then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the rising of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the flesh, he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.
Leviticus 13 [45.] “The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.
Leviticus 13 [47.] “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment; whether it is in warp, or woof; of linen, or of wool; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin; if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest. The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days. He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean. He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of skin, in which the plague is: for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.
Meaning:
Leviticus 13 gives the priests detailed instructions for examining skin diseases and deciding whether a person was clean or unclean. These two verses describe what happened to a person declared to have leprosy. They explain why Jesus’ touch was so remarkable.
- “He shall wear torn clothes … and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’”
Torn clothes and loose hair were signs of mourning in Israel. The leper lived as one grieving, almost as if for his own death. He had to warn anyone who came near by calling out “Unclean!” so that others would not become ritually defiled by contact with him.
- “He shall dwell alone”
The most painful part of the law was isolation. “Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.” The camp was the place where God dwelt among his people in the tabernacle. To live outside it meant separation from family, neighbors and public worship. Even Miriam, the sister of Moses, had to be shut outside the camp for seven days when she was struck with leprosy (Numbers 12:10-15).
These rules protected the community, and they also taught a spiritual lesson. Uncleanness could not remain in the presence of the holy God. Leprosy became a vivid picture of sin, which spreads, defiles and separates people from God and from one another.
- Jesus and the leper
This background makes the healing in the Gospels deeply moving. A leper came to Jesus, knelt and said, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus “stretched out his hand, and touched him,” and the leprosy was cleansed immediately (Matthew 8:2-3). Mark adds that Jesus was “moved with compassion” (Mark 1:41). Where the law kept the unclean outside, Jesus reached out and brought the outcast back in.
Hebrews draws a further lesson: “Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate” (Hebrews 13:12). Jesus took the place of the outsider so that those who were far off could be brought near.
The Significance of Leviticus 13:45-46
- Compassion for the isolated
Many people today feel excluded because of illness, shame, poverty or past sin. Jesus’ example calls his followers to reach out to them.
- Cleansing from sin
Just as only God could heal leprosy, only he can cleanse the heart from sin. Those who come to Jesus in faith are made clean and welcomed into God’s family.
Cross-References:
Matthew 8:3: "Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.”" Jesus touches and heals a leper.
Hebrews 13:12: "suffered outside of the gate." Jesus took the outsider’s place.
Conclusion: Leviticus 13:45-46 required a person with leprosy to show signs of mourning, to warn others by crying “Unclean!”, and to live alone outside the camp. The law protected the community and pictured the separating power of sin, but it could not heal. Jesus fulfilled its hope by touching and cleansing lepers, and by suffering outside the gate to bring outsiders near to God.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible