Law of Leprosy.
All manner of plague of leprosy;
Scall;
For the leprosy of a garment;
For a house;
For a rising;
For a scab;
For a bright spot.
Suppositional or representative cases of leprosy are given “to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean:”—
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1. In Lev. 13:1-46
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are 21 cases in
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PERSONS;
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2. In 13:47-59
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5
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GARMENTS;
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3. In 14:33-48
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2
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HOUSES.
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The signs or symptoms in the cases of leprosy in persons varied in number:—
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9 cases (Nos. 3, 6, 7, 10, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21) have 1 symptom
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4 (1, 5, 14, 17) 2
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2 (4, 13) 3
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2 (9, 12) 4
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2 (8, 11) 6
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2 (2, 15) 7
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Of these twenty-one cases: —
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11 were pronounced unclean;
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10 clean.
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The quality of the symptoms rather than the quantity was to be taken into account, for example: —
Case 21 had only ONE symptom, but was utterly unclean.
Cases 2 and 15 had each SEVEN symptoms, were seen THREE times by the priest, and were pronounced clean.
Actual Cases of Leprosy.
There are exactly twenty-one named or described cases of leprosy in the whole of the word of God, viz., nine in the Old Testament, and twelve in the New; corresponding with the number of hypothetical cases in Leviticus 13. They are: —
Old Testament
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Moses
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Exodus 4:6.
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Miriam
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Numbers 12:10.
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Naaman
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2 Kings 5:1.
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Gehazi
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2 Kings 5:27.
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Four lepers of Samaria
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2 Kings 7:3.
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Uzziah
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2 Chronicles 26:21.
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Total, NINE lepers.
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New Testament.
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An unnamed leper
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Mark 1:40.
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Simon
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Mark 14:3.
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Ten lepers
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Luke 17:12.
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Total, TWELVE lepers.
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Comparing the two groups of typical and actual cases we find they varied in intensity, thus: —
Moses’ hand was temporarily leprous, but Uzziah was leprous in his forehead, and remained “a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house,” being utterly unclean (Ex. 4:55That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. (Exodus 4:5); 2 Chron. 26:2020And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. (2 Chronicles 26:20); Lev. 13:4444He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. (Leviticus 13:44)).
Again comparing the Old and New Testaments we find an emphatic contrast:—
Of the New Testament lepers only one is said to have returned to give thanks for his cleansing— “and he was a SAMARITAN.”
Of the Old Testament lepers cleansed, only one is said to have given thanks—and he was Naaman the SYRIAN. J.C.M.