510 
LEPROSY. 
unclean leprofy : “When a man Hi all have in the (kin of 
his fled) a riling, a fcab, or bright fpot, and it be in the 
(kin of his flefh like the plague of leprofy, then (hall he 
be brought unto Aaron the prieft, or unto one of his fons 
the priefts; and the prieft (hall look upon the plague in 
the (kin of the flefh. And, if the hair of the plague is 
turned white, and the plague in light be deeper than the Jkin 
of his, flefh, it is a plague of leprofy, and the prieft ihall 
look upon him, and pronounce him unclean.” But, “ if 
the bright fpot be white in the (kin of his flefh, and in fight 
be not deeper than the (kin, and the hair thereof be not 
turned white ; then the prieft (hall (hut him up that hath 
the plague feven days,” in order to afcertain the nature 
of the difeafe by future infpebtion. “ And the prieft (hall 
look on him the feventh day; and behold, if the plague 
in his fight be at a (lay, and the plague fpread not in the 
(kin, then the prieft final 1 (hut him up feven days more ; 
and the prieft (hall look on him again on the feventh day; 
and behold, if the plague be fomewhat dark, and the 
plague fpread not in the (kin, the prieft (hall pronounce 
him dean ; it is but a fcab ; and he (hall wafli his clothes, 
and be clean.” Lev. xiii. 
Nay, it appears that the whitenefs of the (kin, even when 
extending over the whole body, was not confidered as 
conftituting of itfelf the true leprofy, unlefs fome exco¬ 
riation, or appearance of raw fefi, was conjoined with it, 
or the hair was changed to white, or the depreflion of 
furface was obferved ; and, even after excoriation had oc¬ 
curred, if it were fcaled over, or became white, nsverthe- 
lefs the perfon was declared clean : “ And, if a leprofy 
break out abroad in the (kin, and the leprofy cover all 
the (kin of him that hath the plague, from his head even 
to his foot, wherefoever the prieft looketh ; then the prieft 
fhall coniider; and, behold, if the leprofy have covered 
all his flefh, he final 1 pronounce him clean that hath the 
plague; it is all turned white ; he is dean. But, when raw 
fefi appeareth in him, he (hall be unclean. And the 
prieft fhall fee the raw flefh, and pronounce him to be un¬ 
clean ; for the raw flefh is unclean ; it is a leprofy. Or, 
if the raw flefti turn again, and be changed into white, 
he (hall come unto the prieft, and the prieft (hall fee him; 
and, behold, if the plague be turned into white, then the 
prieft fhall pronounce him clean that hath the plague; 
he is clean.” And, in like manner, when the cutaneous 
difeafe originates from a boil, or from a hot burning, in ei¬ 
ther cafe, if, in the place of the boil or burning, there be 
“ a white riling, or a bright fpot, white, and fomewhat 
reddifh, and it be (hewed to the prieft ; and if, when the 
prieft feeth it, behold, it be in fight lower than the fkin, 
and the hair thereof be turned white, the prieft fhall pro¬ 
nounce him unclean ; it is a plague of leprofy broken out 
of the boil. But, if the prieft look on it, and, behold 
there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than 
the fkin, but be fomewhat dark ; then the prieft fhall fhut 
hirn up feven days, See.” and if, in the mean time, it re¬ 
mains (lationary, “it is a burning boil, and the prieft fhall 
pronounce him clean.” And, farther, when the hairy 
fcalp, or the beard, is affefled with leprofy, “if it be in 
fight deeper than the (kin, and there be in it a yellow thin 
hair,” the perfon is pronounced unclean; “it is a dry 
flcall, even a leprofy upon the head or beard.” But, even 
if there fhould be no depreflion of the furface, yet if there 
be likewife no black and thick hair, ((. c. hair of the na¬ 
tural appearance,) it is (fill to be confidered as “theplague 
of the fcall,” and the perfon is to be fhut up for feven 
days, and to be fhaven, for the purpofe of more accurate 
inveftigation. Laftly, when after thefe fucceflive feclu- 
fions and examinations, at intervals of feven days, in any 
of the cafes, the unclean leprofy is confirmed ; then “the 
leper in whom the plague is, his clothes fhall be rent, 
and his head bare, and he fhall put a covering upon his 
upper lip, and fhall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days 
wherein the plague fhall be in him, he fhall be defiled ; 
he is unclean ; he fhall dwell alone; without the camp 
fiiall his habitation be.” 
It is to be inferred, from the preceding quotations, 
that the Hebrews, during their migration from Egypt to 
the land of Canaan, were fubjecl to a variety of d’ifeafes 
of the fkin and mufcular folids, to which the appellation 
of leprofy was applied, as a general term ; but that the 
moft incurable and loathfome fpecies, which was called 
the leprofy by way of eminence, was that malady, which 
has been lubfequently known in the countries which they 
traverfed and inhabited, and on all the eaftern fbores of 
the Mediterranean, under the various denominations 
above-mentioned, of leuce, vitiligo, albaras alba, and ele¬ 
phant ia alba. That it was not the elephantiafis of Are- 
taeus, in which the face was deformed with tubercles, 
the lips thickened, the nofe dilated, the ears enlarged and 
tuberous, and the countenance diftorted, with a reddifh- 
brown complexion tending to black, and ultimately with 
an ulceration of the rugous and tuberculated parts, is ob¬ 
vious from a perufal of the foregoing defeription. The 
extreme whitenefs, indeed, is mentioned in various parts of 
feripture, as charafferiftic of the leprofy, and is feveral 
times compared to that of fnow. This colour is the only 
circumftance that is ftated in refpeft to the miraculous 
leprofy of the hand in Mofes himfelf, as well as in that 
of Miriam and Gehazi: (fee Exod. iv. 6. alfo 2 Kings vi. 
27. Ntun. xii. 10.) and the bright and fmooth furface and 
depreflion of the fpots alfo afford a contraft to the promi¬ 
nent and rough tubercles of elephantiafis. 
It is by no means clear that this leprofy was contagi¬ 
ous, or was even deemed contagious; although fo much 
care was enjoined by the law in the examination of the 
fymptoms, and the expulfion of the difeafed from the 
camp was ftriftly commanded, in cafe the exiftence of the 
true leprofy were afeertained. For, in the firft place, no 
apprehenfion of the communication of the difeafe by in¬ 
fection is any-where expreffed ; the leprous perfon is faid 
to be unclean. But other circumftances, where no con¬ 
tagion or communication of difeafe could be I’ufpected, 
were faid, in like manner, to render a perfon unclean ; 
and the law enjoined, in thefe cafes alfo, a temporary fe- 
paration of the perfon from fociety, and fimilar rites, of¬ 
ferings, and ablutions, at the time of being declared clean 
before the prieft. Lev. xv. Thus any ifl'ue or difeharge 
from the body, the occurrence of the catamenia in women, 
child-bearing, See. all rendered a perfon unclean, and 
equally fubjedt to feparation and the fubfequent ceremo¬ 
nies. It would feem, therefore, that the loathfome and 
foul nature of the difeafe, which infpired this people with 
a fimilar horror and difguft to that which is felt towards 
a corpfe, was the principal reafon for the feverity of the 
law of exclufion, which was ordained againft lepers. For 
we are informed by Jofephus himfelf, that, fo far from 
being fuppofed to be capable of infefting tbofe about them 
with their difeafe, “lepers, in many countries, not only 
mix in fociety, but are even held in high eftimation ; fo 
far from being baniflied, or looked upon with contempt, 
they are honoured, in warlike expeditions, with military 
dignities, and with offices of truft in the adininiftration of 
public affairs ; neither are they excluded from the places 
of public devotion.” Antiq. iii. 10. The feriptures, in¬ 
deed, furni(h us with an example of the high ftation of a 
leper, in the perfon of the Syrian general, Naaman, who 
was in great favour with his king. And even among the 
Ifraeiites themfelves, it would feem that the exclufion of 
the leprous was not very rigidly enforced. For we find 
Gehazi, the fervant of Eliflia, ftill in the employment of 
the prophet, and converfing even with the king, after the 
leprofy had been inflibled on him “and his feed for ever;” 
(fee 2 Kings, v. vi. and viii.) to fay nothing of the four 
lepers fitting at the gate of Samaria, who afterwards re¬ 
turned to communicate the news of the defertion of the 
Syrian camp; (chap, vii.) And in after-times the leprous 
had free accefs to Chrift, and joined in the crowds that 
followed him. (Matth. viii.) They were alfo inhabit¬ 
ants of the towns and villages; for Jefus was “in the hoife 
of Simon the leper, in Bethany Ibid. xxvi. 6. 
Little 
