Leviticus 13:14

Study note

Setting — The priest examines a person with a skin disease at the precise moment raw flesh becomes visible rather than being fully covered by white scales. The instruction comes from the divine lawgiver through Moses to guide the priest’s ritual assessment.

The words — The noun בָּשָׂר (ba.Sar) = flesh combined with the adjective חַי (chai) = living denotes exposed, unhealed tissue. The verb יִטְמָא (yit.Ma') = he will be unclean declares the immediate ritual status triggered by this visible change.

The thread — The same diagnostic rule appears in Leviticus 13:15, where the priest pronounces uncleanness upon seeing the raw flesh. This establishes a consistent boundary between full white coverage and exposed tissue in the skin disease regulations.

Why it lands — The text states that visible raw flesh triggers ritual impurity, contrasting with the clean status granted when the disease fully covers the body. A reader must recognize that ritual status depends on observable physical conditions rather than internal guilt or outward piety.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.