Bible Encyclopedia: Leper

Jump to: ATS • ISBE • Webster's • Concordance • Thesaurus • Greek • Hebrew • Library • Subtopics • Terms

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

LEPER; LEPROSY

lep'-er, lep'-ro-si (tsara`ath; lepra): A slowly progressing and intractable disease characterized by subcutaneous nodules (Hebrew se'eth; Septuagint oule; the King James Version "rising"), scabs or cuticular crusts (Hebrew cappachath; Septuagint semasia) and white shining spots appearing to be deeper than the skin (Hebrew bahereth; Septuagint telaugema). Other signs are

(1) that the hairs of the affected part turn white and

(2) that later there is a growth of "quick raw flesh."

This disease in an especial manner rendered its victims unclean; even contact with a leper defiled whoever touched him, so while the cure of other diseases is called healing, that of leprosy is called cleansing (except in the case of Miriam (Numbers 12:13) and that of the Samaritan (Luke 17:15) where the word "heal" is used in reference to leprosy). The disease is described in the Papyrus Ebers as ukhedu (the Coptic name for leprosy is tseht). It is also mentioned in ancient Indian and Japanese history. Hippocrates calls it "the Phoenician disease," and Galen names it "elephantiasis." In Europe it was little known until imported by the returning soldiers of Pompey's army after his Syrian campaign in 61 B.C.; but after that date it is described by Soranus, Aretaeus and other classic authors.

1. Old Testament Instances:

The first Old Testament mention of this disease is as a sign given by God to Moses (Exodus 4:6 (Jahwist)), which may be the basis of the story in Josephus' Apion, I, 31, that Moses was expelled from Heliopolis on account of his being a leper (see also I, 26 and Ant, III, xi, 4). The second case is that of Miriam (Numbers 12:10), where the disease is graphically described (EP2). In Deuteronomy 24:8 there is a reference to the oral tradition concerning the treatment of lepers, without any details, but in Leviticus 13; Leviticus 14 (Priestly Code) the rules for the recognition of the disease, the preliminary quarantine periods and the ceremonial methods of cleansing are given at length. It is worthy of note that neither here nor elsewhere is there any mention of treatment or remedy; and Jehoram's ejaculation implies the belief that its cure could be accomplished only by miracle (2 Kings 5:7).

The case of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1) shows that lepers were not isolated and excluded from society among the Syrians. The leprosy of Gehazi (2 Kings 5:27) is said to have been the transference of that of Naaman, but, as the incubation period is long, it must have been miraculously inflicted on him. The four lepers of Samaria of 2 Kings 7:3 had been excluded from the city and were outside the gate.

The leprous stroke inflicted on Uzziah (2 Kings 15:5 2 Chronicles 26:23) for his unwarrantable assumption of the priestly office began in his forehead, a form of the disease peculiarly unclean (Leviticus 13:43-46) and requiring the banishment and isolation of the leper. It is remarkable that there is no reference to this disease in the prophetical writings, or in the Hagiographa.

2. Leprosy in the New Testament:

In the New Testament, cleansing of the lepers is mentioned as a specific portion of our Lord's work of healing, and was included in the commission given to the apostles. There are few individual cases specially described, only the ten of Luke 17:12, and the leper whom our Lord touched (Matthew 8:2 Mark 1:40 Luke 5:12), but it is probable that these are only a few out of many such incidents. Simon the leper (Matthew 26:6 Mark 14:3) may have been one of those cured by the Lord.

3. Nature and Locality of the Disease:

The disease is a zymotic affection produced by a microbe discovered by Hansen in 1871. It is contagious, although not very readily communicated by casual contact; in one form it is attended with anesthesia of the parts affected, and this, which is the commonest variety now met with in the East, is slower in its course than those forms in which nodular growths are the most prominent features, in which parts of the limbs often drop off. At present there are many lepers to be seen at the gates of the cities in Palestine. It is likewise prevalent in other eastern lands, India, China, and Japan. Cases are also to be seen in most of the Mediterranean lands and in Norway, as well as in parts of Africa and the West Indies and in South America. In former times it was occasionally met with in Britain, and in most of the older English cities there were leper houses, often called "lazarets" from the mistaken notion that the eczematous or varicose ulcers of Lazarus were leprous (Luke 16:20). Between 1096 and 1472, 112 such leper houses were founded in England. Of this disease King Robert Bruce of Scotland died. There was special medieval legislation excluding lepers from churches and forbidding them to wander from district to district. Leprosy has been sometimes confounded with other diseases; indeed the Greek physicians used the name lepra for the scaly skin disease now called psoriasis. In the priestly legislation there was one form of disease (Leviticus 13:13) in which the whiteness covers all the body, and in this condition the patient was pronounced to be clean. This was probably psoriasis, for leprosy does not, until a very late stage, cover all the body, and when it does so, it is not white. It has been surmised that Naaman's disease was of this kind. Freckled spots (Hebrew bohaq), which were to be distinguished from true leprosy (Leviticus 13:39), were either spots of herpes or of some other non-contagious skin disease. The modern Arabic word of the same sound is the name of a form of eczema. the Revised Version (British and American) reads for freckled spot "tetter," an old English word from a root implying itchiness (see Hamlet, I, v, 71).

The homiletic use of leprosy as a type of sin is not Biblical. The only Scriptural reference which might approach this is Psalm 51:7, but this refers to Numbers 19:18 rather than to the cleansing of the leper. The Fathers regarded leprosy as typical of heresy rather than of moral offenses. (See Rabanus Maurus, Allegoria, under the word "Lepra.")

(1) Leprosy in Garments.

The occurrence of certain greenish or reddish stains in the substance of woolen or linen fabrics or in articles made of leather is described in Leviticus 13:47;, and when these stains spread, or, after washing, do not change their color, they are pronounced to be due to a fretting leprosy (tsara`ath mam'ereth), and such garments are to be burnt. As among the fellahin articles of clothing are worn for years and are often hereditary, it is little wonder that they become affected by vegetable as well as animal parasites, and that which is here referred to is probably some form of mildew, such as Penicillium or mold-fungus. The destruction of such garments is a useful sanitary precaution. Possibly this sort of decaying garment was in Job's mind when he compares himself to a "rotten thing that consumeth, like a garment that is moth-eaten" (Job 13:28); see also Jude 1:23, "the garment spotted (espilomenon) by the flesh."

(2) Leprosy in the House (Leviticus 14:34).

The occurrence of "hollow streaks, greenish or reddish," in the plaster of a house is regarded as evidence that the wall is affected with leprosy, and when such is observed the occupant first clears his house of furniture, for if the discoloration be pronounced leprous, all in the home would become unclean and must be destroyed. Then he asks the priest to inspect it. The test is first, that the stain is in the substance of the wall, and, second, that it is spreading. In case these conditions are fulfilled, it is pronounced to be leprosy and the affected part of the wall is taken down, its stones cast outside the city, its plaster scraped off and also cast outside the city; new stones are then built in and the house is newly plastered. Should the stain recur in the new wall, then the whole house is condemned and must be destroyed and its materials cast outside the city. The description is that of infection by some fungus attacking whatever organic material is in the mud plaster by which the wall is covered. If in woodwork, it might be the dry rot (Merulius lacrimans), but this is not likely to spread except where there is wood or other organic matter. It might be the efflorescence of mural salt (calcium nitrate), which forms fiocculent masses when decomposing nitrogenous material is in contact with lime; but that is generally white, not green or reddish. Considering the uncleanly condition of the houses of the ordinary fellah, it is little wonder that such fungus growths may develop in their walls, and in such cases destruction of the house and its materials is a sanitary necessity.

4. The Legal Attitude:

It should be observed here that the attitude of the Law toward the person, garment or house suspected of leprosy is that if the disease be really present they are to be declared unclean and there is no means provided for cure, and in the case of the garment or house, they are to be destroyed. If, on the other hand, the disease be proved to be absent, this freedom from the disease has to be declared by a ceremonial purification. This is in reality not the ritual for cleansing the leper, for the Torah provides none such, but the ritual for declaring him ceremonially free from the suspicion of having the disease. This gives a peculiar and added force to the words, "The lepers are cleansed," as a testimony to our Lord's Divine mission.

Alexander Macalister

Greek

3015. lepros -- scaly, leprous
... scaly, leprous. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: lepros Phonetic Spelling:
(lep-ros') Short Definition: a leper Definition: a leprous person, a leper. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3015.htm - 6k

3014. lepra -- leprosy
... To contract this ailment meant the leper was reduced to a social outcast --
barred from all the activities at the Temple. See 3015 (). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3014.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

6879. tsara -- to be struck with leprosy, to be leprous
... tsara. 6880 . to be struck with leprosy, to be leprous. Transliteration: tsara
Phonetic Spelling: (tsaw-rah') Short Definition: leper. ... leper, leprous. ...
/hebrew/6879.htm - 6k

Library

The Leper
... Strong Meat for Hungry Souls: The Gospel of St. Mark CHAPTER 1:40-45 THE
LEPER. "And there cometh to Him a leper, beseeching Him, and ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 1 40-45 the leper.htm

Healing of the Leper on the Road to Capernaum.
... CHAPTER IX. SECOND COURSE OF EXTENDED LABOURS IN GALILEE. Section 159. Healing
of the Leper on the Road to Capernaum. After Christ ...
/.../section 159 healing of the.htm

The Leper. Mt 8:23
... MATTHEW Hymn 82 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,. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/newton/olney hymns/hymn 82 the leper mt.htm

The First Stage in the Leper's Cleansing
... THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS THE FIRST STAGE IN THE LEPER'S CLEANSING. ... (c) The
free, glad activity. The freed bird. The restored leper. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the first stage in the.htm

The Lord and the Leper
... The Lord And The Leper. ... "And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling
down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 34 1888/the lord and the leper.htm

The Grateful Samaritan Leper.
... HIS FACE TOWARD JERUSALEM. THE FINAL DEPARTURE FROM GALILEE. THE GRATEFUL
SAMARITAN LEPER. And it came to pass, as they were on ...
//christianbookshelf.org/barton/his life/the grateful samaritan leper.htm

The First Leper Healed.
... HIS YEAR OF POPULARITY. JESUS IN GALILEE THE FIRST LEPER HEALED. And in
the morning, a great while before day, he rose up and went ...
//christianbookshelf.org/barton/his life/the first leper healed.htm

Jesus Heals a Leper and Creates Much Excitement.
... (Time: One Year.) XXXIV. Jesus Heals a Leper and Creates Much Excitement.
^A Matt.VIII.2-4; ^B Mark 1:40-45; ^C Luke 5:12-16. ^c ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xxxiv jesus heals a leper.htm

How St Francis Healed Miraculously a Leper Both in his Body and in ...
... HERE BEGIN THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHAPTER XXV HOW ST FRANCIS
HEALED MIRACULOUSLY A LEPER BOTH IN HIS BODY AND IN HIS SOUL, AND WHAT THE ...
/.../the little flowers of st francis of assisi/chapter xxv how st francis.htm

Second Journey through Galilee - the Healing of the Leper.
... CHAPTER XV. SECOND JOURNEY THROUGH GALILEE - THE HEALING OF THE LEPER. (Matthew
4:23; viii.2-4; Mark 1:35-45; Luke 4:42-44; v.12-16.) ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xv second journey through.htm

ATS Bible Dictionary

Leper

A person afflicted with leprosy. As it now exists, leprosy is a scaly disease of the skin, occurring in several distinct forms and with many degrees of severity; beginning with slight reddish eruptions, followed by scales of a greyish white color, sometimes in circles an inch or two in diameter, and at other times much larger; in many cases attacking only the knees and elbows, in others the whole body; usually not affecting the general health, but considered impossible of cure. It is said not to be infectious; but is communicated from father to son for several generations, gradually becoming less noticeable. It corresponds in the main with the disease the symptoms and treatment of which are so fully described in Le 13:14. There is little doubt, however, that the ancient leprosy, in its more aggravated form, is to be regarded as a plague or judgment from God, De 24:8. It was peculiarly dreaded among the Jews as unclean and infectious; and also as being a special infliction from Jehovah, as we know it to have been in the cases of Miriam, Numbers 12:10, Gehazi, 2 Kings 5:27, and Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:16-23. No remedies were effectual. The suffered was commended to the priest, not to the physician; and was separated from many of the privileges of society. We find that lepers associated chiefly with each other, 2 Kings 7:8 Luke 17:12. The term, "the plague of leprosy," is applied not only to this disease in men, but to a similar infection sometimes sent into houses and garments, Le 14:1-57. The exact nature of this latter cannot be ascertained; but it bears the marks of a special aggravation, as a judgment from God, of some evil not unknown in that climate. It illustrates the awful result of moral corruption in society, uncounteracted by the grace of God. The disease in all its forms is a lively emblem of sin. This malady of the soul is also all pervading, unclean, contagious, and incurable; it separates its victim from God and heaven; it proves its existence by its increasing sway and its fatal termination. But the Savior has shown his power to heal the worst maladies of the soul by curing the leprosy with a word, Luke 17:12-19, and to admit the restored soul to all the privileges of the sons of God.

ELEPHANTIASIS, supposed by some to have been the disease of Job, and the "botch" or ulcer of Egypt, De 28:27,35, is a tuberculous malady somewhat akin to the leprosy, but more dreadful. Its name is derived from the dark, hard, and rough appearance of the skin; and from the form of the feet, swollen, and despoiled of the toes. This horrid malady infects the whole system; ulcers and dark scales cover the body; and the hair, beard, fingers, and all the extremities drop off. It is still met with in tropical countries, and was introduced into Europe by the crusaders; but after occasioning dreadful navoc, and the building of thousands of "hospitals for lepers," it disappeared or changed its form.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(n.) A person affected with leprosy.

Thesaurus

Leper (34 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (n.) A person affected with leprosy. Int. Standard
Bible Encyclopedia. LEPER; LEPROSY. lep'-er, lep'-ro-si ...
/l/leper.htm - 28k

Leper's (14 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Leper's (14 Occurrences). Matthew 26:6 But Jesus being
in Bethany, in Simon the leper's house, (DBY). Leviticus ...
/l/leper's.htm - 10k

Brow (24 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 13:42 But if, on his head or on his brow, where he has no hair, there
is a red and white place, it is the disease of the leper coming out on his head ...
/b/brow.htm - 14k

Seems (99 Occurrences)
... the priest sees the mark on his skin, the hair on the place is turned white and
the mark seems to go deeper than the skin, it is the mark of a leper: and the ...
/s/seems.htm - 37k

Na'aman (15 Occurrences)
... Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had
given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. ...
/n/na'aman.htm - 10k

Uzzi'ah (26 Occurrences)
... 2 Chronicles 26:21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and
dwelt in a house set apart, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house ...
/u/uzzi'ah.htm - 13k

Lepers (8 Occurrences)

/l/lepers.htm - 9k

Governing (6 Occurrences)
... (See NIV). 2 Kings 15:5 Yahweh struck the king, so that he was a leper to
the day of his death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham ...
/g/governing.htm - 8k

Governed (8 Occurrences)
... (See NAS). 2 Kings 15:5 Yahweh struck the king, so that he was a leper to
the day of his death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham ...
/g/governed.htm - 8k

Bethany (13 Occurrences)
... village, 15 furlongs from Jerusalem (John 11:18), on the road to Jericho, at the
Mount of Olives (Mark 11:1 Luke 19:29), where lived "Simon the leper" (Mark 14 ...
/b/bethany.htm - 14k

Bible Concordance

Leper (34 Occurrences)

Matthew 8:2 Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Matthew 26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Mark 1:40 A leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, "If you want to, you can make me clean."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Mark 14:3 While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard-very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 4:27 There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian."
(Root in WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Luke 5:12 And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean.
(BBE)

Exodus 4:6 Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:2 If a man has on his skin a growth or a mark or a white place, and it becomes the disease of a leper, let him be taken to Aaron the priest, or to one of the priests, his sons;
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:3 And if, when the priest sees the mark on his skin, the hair on the place is turned white and the mark seems to go deeper than the skin, it is the mark of a leper: and the priest, after looking at him, will say that he is unclean.
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:8 And if, after looking at him, he sees that the mark is increased in his skin, let the priest say that he is unclean; he is a leper.
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:9 When the disease of a leper is seen on a man, let him be taken to the priest;
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:15 And when the priest sees the diseased flesh he will say that he is unclean; the diseased flesh is unclean, he is a leper.
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:25 The priest is to see it: and if the hair on the bright place is turned white and it seems to go deeper than the skin, he is a leper: it has come out in the burn, and the priest will say that he is unclean: it is the leper's disease.
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:42 But if, on his head or on his brow, where he has no hair, there is a red and white place, it is the disease of the leper coming out on his head or on his brow.
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:43 Then if the priest sees that the growth of the disease has become red and white on his head or on his brow where there is no hair, like the mark in the skin of a leper;
(BBE)

Leviticus 13:44 He is a leper and unclean; the priest is to say that he is most certainly unclean: the disease is in his head.
(BBE)

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!'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 14:2 "This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 14:3 and the priest shall go forth out of the camp. The priest shall examine him, and behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 14:32 This is the law for the man who has the disease of the leper on him, and who is not able to get that which is necessary for making himself clean.
(BBE)

Leviticus 14:57 To make clear when it is unclean and when it is clean: this is the law about the disease of the leper.
(BBE)

Leviticus 22:4 "'Whoever of the seed of Aaron is a leper or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from him;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Numbers 5:2 "Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Numbers 12:10 And the cloud was moved from over the Tent; and straight away Miriam became a leper, as white as snow: and Aaron, looking at Miriam, saw that she was a leper.
(BBE)

2 Samuel 3:29 Let it fall on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house. Let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS)

2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV)

2 Kings 5:6 And he took the letter to the king of Israel, in which the king of Aram had said, See, I have sent my servant Naaman to you to be made well, for he is a leper.
(BBE)

2 Kings 5:7 But the king of Israel, after reading the letter, was greatly troubled and said, Am I God, to give death and life? why does this man send a leper to me to be made well? is it not clear that he is looking for a cause of war?
(BBE)

2 Kings 5:11 But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said, "Behold, I thought,'He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Kings 5:27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your seed forever." He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS NAS RSV)

2 Kings 15:5 Yahweh struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging the people of the land.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Chronicles 26:20 And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests, looking at him, saw the mark of the leper on his brow, and they sent him out quickly and he himself went out straight away, for the Lord's punishment had come on him.
(BBE)

2 Chronicles 26:21 Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Chronicles 26:23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Subtopics

Leper

Related Terms

Leper's (14 Occurrences)

Brow (24 Occurrences)

Seems (99 Occurrences)

Na'aman (15 Occurrences)

Uzzi'ah (26 Occurrences)

Lepers (8 Occurrences)

Governing (6 Occurrences)

Governed (8 Occurrences)

Bethany (13 Occurrences)