• Leprosy
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • DIAGNOSIS

      By means of the Mosaic law Jehovah provided Israel with information enabling the priest to diagnose leprosy and to distinguish between it and other less serious skin afflictions. From what is recorded at Leviticus 13:1-46, it can be seen that leprosy might begin with an eruption, a scab, a blotch, a boil, or a scar in one’s flesh from fire. Sometimes the symptoms were very clear. The hair in the affected area had turned white and the malady was seen to be deeper than the skin. For example, a white eruption in the skin might turn the hair white and raw flesh might appear in the eruption. This meant that one had leprosy and was to be declared unclean. However, in other cases the malady was not deeper than the skin and a period of quarantine was imposed, with subsequent inspection by the priest, who made a final determination in the case.

      It was acknowledged that leprosy could reach a stage in which it was not contagious. When it overspread the entire body, all of it having turned white, and living flesh was not in evidence, it was a sign that the diseased action was over and that only the marks of its ravages remained. The priest would then declare the victim clean, the disease posing no further danger to anyone.—Lev. 13:12-17.

      If the leper’s malady left him and he was cured, there were arrangements whereby he could ceremonially purify himself, and these included the offering of sacrifice in his behalf by the priest. (Lev. 14:1-32) But the priest declared the uncured leper unclean, whereupon his garments were torn, his head was to become ungroomed, he was to cover the moustache or upper lip and was to call out “Unclean, unclean!” He had to dwell in isolation outside the camp (Lev. 13:43-46), a measure that was taken so that the leper would not contaminate those in the midst of whom Jehovah was tenting. (Num. 5:1-4) It seems that in Biblical times lepers associated with one another or lived in groups, making it possible for them to aid one another.—2 Ki. 7:3-5; Luke 17:12.

      In garments and houses

      Leprosy could also affect woolen or linen garments, or an article of skin. The plague might disappear with washing, and there were arrangements for quarantining the article. But where this yellowish-green or reddish plague persisted, malignant leprosy was present and the article was to be burned. (Lev. 13:47-59) If yellowish-green or reddish depressions appeared in the wall of a house, the priest imposed a quarantine. It might be necessary to tear out affected stones and have the house scraped off inside, the stones and scraped-off mortar being disposed of in an unclean place outside the city. If the plague returned, the house was declared unclean and was pulled down, and the materials were disposed of in an unclean place. But for the house pronounced clean there was an arrangement for purification. (Lev. 14:33-57) It has been suggested that the leprosy affecting garments or houses was a type of mildew or mold; however, about this there is uncertainty.

      AS A SIGN

      One of the signs Jehovah empowered Moses to perform to prove to the Israelites that God sent him involved leprosy. As instructed, Moses stuck his hand in the upper fold of his garment and, upon withdrawing it, “his hand was stricken with leprosy like snow!” It was restored “like the rest of his flesh” by returning it into the upper fold of his garment and withdrawing it once again. (Ex. 4:6, 7) Miriam was stricken with “leprosy as white as snow” as a divine act because she spoke against Moses. He begged God to heal her, which was done, but she was quarantined outside the camp for seven days.—Num. 12:1, 2, 9-15.

      IN ELISHA’S TIME

      Naaman the Syrian was “a valiant, mighty man, though a leper.” (2 Ki. 5:1) His pride nearly lost him the opportunity of being cured, but he eventually did as instructed by Elisha, plunging into the Jordan seven times, and “his flesh came back like the flesh of a little boy and he became clean.” (2 Ki. 5:14) He thereupon became a worshiper of Jehovah. However, Elisha’s attendant Gehazi greedily acquired a gift from Naaman in the prophet’s name, thus misrepresenting his master and, in effect, making the undeserved kindness of God a means of material gain. For his misdeed Gehazi was now stricken with leprosy by God and became “a leper white as snow.”—2 Ki. 5:20-27.

      That there were various lepers in Israel in Elisha’s day is shown by the presence of four Israelite lepers outside Samaria’s gates while Elisha was inside the city. (2 Ki. 7:3) But there was a general lack of faith on the part of the Israelites in this man of the true God, just as the Jews in Jesus’ home territory would not accept him. Hence, Christ said: “Also, there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, but Naaman the man of Syria.”—Luke 4:27.

      HEALED BY JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES

      During his Galilean ministry, Jesus healed a leper described by Luke as “a man full of leprosy.” Jesus ordered him to tell nobody and said: “But go off and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering in connection with your cleansing just as Moses directed, for a witness to them.”—Luke 5:12-16; Matt. 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-45.

      When Christ sent out the twelve apostles, he told them, among other things, “make lepers clean.” (Matt. 10:8) Later, while he was going through Samaria and Galilee, Jesus cured ten lepers in a certain village. Only one of them, a Samaritan, “turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,” and fell upon his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what had been done in his behalf. (Luke 17:11-19) It may also be noted that Christ was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper (whom Jesus may have cured) when Mary anointed Jesus with costly perfumed oil not long before his death.—Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8; see DISEASES AND TREATMENT.

  • Leshem Stone
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • LESHEM STONE

      (leshʹem).

      An unidentified precious stone that was placed first in the third row of gems on the high priest’s “breastpiece of judgment.”—Ex. 28:19; 39:12.

      Various stones, such as amber, hyacinth, opal and tourmaline, have been suggested as being identical with “leshem stone,” but none of these identifications can be substantiated. The New World Translation therefore leaves the Hebrew word untranslated as leshem stone.