Bible Strands
Leviticus 13:44
the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records a priestly examination of a man with a reddish-white swelling on his bald head or forehead. The priest pronounces the man unclean based on the visible infection.
The words — The Hebrew צָר֥וּעַ (tza.Ru.a') denotes a serious skin disease, while טַמֵּ֧א (ta.Me') commands the priest to declare the man unclean. These terms establish a ritual status rather than a medical prognosis.
The thread — This declaration of impurity appears in Leviticus 13 alongside instructions for the afflicted to wear torn clothes and cry out their status (Leviticus 13:45). The motif of head affliction and spiritual blindness also surfaces in Isaiah 1:5 and Matthew 6:23.
Why it lands — The text requires immediate recognition of visible infection as a barrier to communal and sacred participation. It demands obedience to priestly assessment without attempting to medically or spiritually override the declared status.
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
He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head.
Cross-references
- Job 36:14 They die in their youth, among the male shrine prostitutes.
- Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Matthew 6:23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
- 2 Peter 2:1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- 2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.