Bible Strands

Leviticus 13:18

When a boil appears on someone’s skin and it heals,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The text records divine instruction delivered to Moses and Aaron regarding the examination of skin conditions. It addresses the precise moment when a diagnosed boil has closed and the affected area has returned to normal texture.

The words — שָׁחִין (she.Chin) = a boil [H7822] denotes a localized skin swelling, while נִרְפָּא (nir.Pa') = it will be healed [H7495] indicates the skin surface has closed over. These terms establish the baseline physical state before further inspection.

The thread — This condition directly precedes Leviticus 13:19, which requires presentation to a priest if new discoloration develops at the healed site. Boils as physical phenomena also appear in Exodus 9:9 as a plague symptom and 2 Kings 20:7 as a treated medical condition.

Why it lands — The verse mandates that physical recovery does not automatically grant ritual clearance. A reader must recognize that observable healing initiates a new phase of inspection rather than concluding the diagnostic process.

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.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed,

Cross-references