Глава 13

1–46. Leprosy as a source of ritual uncleanness in Israel; its different types and signs are for the guidance of priests. 47–59. Leprosy of clothes. Lev.13:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2–8. Leprosy ulcer on the skin. The presence in the legislation of Moses of such detailed information about leprosy (doctors of modern times are surprised at the accuracy of Moses’ diagnosis of leprosy) speaks of the prevalence of leprosy, this scourge of humanity, this “blow” or “defeat” of God (the meaning of the Hebrew names for leprosy - tzaraat and bliss) among the Jews. In the Law of Moses, leprosy, however, is interpreted not only as physical suffering and social misfortune, but also as a ritual uncleanness, which is why it does not talk about the treatment of this rare and difficult to cure disease, but about its examination by priests, about measures for isolating those with leprosy and about the ritual cleansing of those who have recovered from it. Therefore, in Deuteronomy, every Israeli is commanded: “See that in the plague of leprosy you carefully observe and do all the law that the priests and Levites teach you” (Deut. 24.8). Josephus, refuting the Egyptian legend (recorded by Manetho and repeated by Appian) that the Israelites were lepers, expelled from Egypt along with Moses due to this disease, says: “if this were true, then Moses would not have issued such decrees that would logically contradict his own condition, as well as the position of his comrades... Nothing would have prevented him from issuing the mildest decrees on this score, and not determining such, similar punishment, separation of the sick from the healthy. Moses himself, as well as his fellow tribesmen, were free from this disease, which is why he issued such decrees for the glory of God” (Ancient Hebrews, 3:11, 3:4). The extreme nature of the denial here of the very existence of the disease leprosy among the Jews is obvious, but the general meaning of the laws of Moses is conveyed here in full. But the blessed one understands the laws on leprosy even more deeply. Theodorite: “Body illnesses indicate mental illnesses and, speaking about involuntary illnesses, explains them as voluntary. For if natural illnesses seem unclean, much more so are moral illnesses. He also talks about the differences in leprosy, because there is a difference in sins. There is a beginning of leprosy because there is also a beginning of sin. But just as a priest discerns leprosy, so he also needs to be a judge of spiritual sins. He calls the variegation of color on the skin leprosy; so vice, having entered the soul, makes it a leper” (question 15 on Lev.). Lev.13:2. When someone has a tumor, or a lichen, or a spot on the skin of his body, and the skin of his body becomes like a sore of leprosy, then he must be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests; Lev.13:3. the priest will examine the ulcer on the skin of the body, and if the hair on the ulcer has turned white, and the ulcer appears deep into the skin of his body, then this is a leprous ulcer; the priest, having examined him, declares him unclean. When a suspicious rash appeared on a person’s skin, he immediately had to contact a priest, who would recognize non-dangerous skin phenomena from signs of tzaraat - leprosy. These signs were mainly two things: 1) a change in hair (usually dark among Easterners) to white and 2) the deepening of the emerging tumor into the skin itself. Lev.13:4. And if there is a white spot on the skin of his body, but it is not deepened into the skin, and the hair on it has not changed white, then the priest must imprison the one who has the ulcer for seven days; Otherwise, the tumor (seet, or lichen, sappachat, or shiny spot, baheret; Vulg.: diversus color) might not be an ulcer of leprosy, a harbinger of it, and therefore, for testing, the priest isolated the one with the ulcer from other people for 7 days. Lev.13:5. on the seventh day the priest will examine him, and if the ulcer remains in its form and the ulcer does not spread across the skin, then the priest must imprison him for another seven days; Lev.13:6. on the seventh day the priest will examine him again, and if the ulcer is less noticeable and the ulcer has not spread across the skin, then the priest must declare him clean: these are lichens, and let him wash his clothes and be clean. Lev.13:7. If lichens begin to spread on the skin after he has appeared to the priest for cleansing, then he must appear to the priest a second time; Lev.13:8. the priest, seeing that the lichens are spreading on the skin, will declare him unclean: this is leprosy. With great caution, the priest repeatedly, in order to avoid mistakes, repeats the examination of the patient. If the spread of the ulcer was not noticed - it remained in the same position, then the seven-day test was repeated, and even then the priest either decided that the ulcer was harmless (lichen simplex), as extinct (glorified: “dark ulcer”), and the patient, as already free from suspicion of leprosy, washed his clothes, or stated the undoubted fact of leprosy (in the case of the spread of an ulcer on the skin or deep into the skin) and declared the one possessed by it unclean. This description of the incubation period of leprosy, which has 2 forms - tuberculous (skin damage) and anesthetic (nerve damage), does not include many internal symptoms (drowsiness, chills, heaviness of the head, nausea, etc.), but the two indicated skin changes are undoubtedly the most typical for real leprosy in its 2 forms. Lev.13:9. If anyone has the plague of leprosy, he must be brought to the priest; Lev.13:10. the priest will examine, and if the tumor on the skin is white, and the hair has changed to white, and there is live flesh on the tumor, Lev.13:11. then this is an old leprosy on the skin of his body; and the priest shall declare him unclean and imprison him, for he is unclean. Lev.13:12. If leprosy blooms on the skin, and the leprosy covers the entire skin of the sick person from his head to his feet, as far as the priest’s eyes can see, Lev.13:13. and the priest sees that leprosy has covered his entire body, he will declare the patient clean, because everything has turned white: he is clean. Lev.13:14. When there is live flesh on him, he is unclean; Lev.13:15. the priest, seeing live meat, will declare it unclean; live meat is unclean: it is leprosy. Lev.13:16. If the living meat changes and turns white, let him come to the priest; Lev.13:17. the priest will examine him, and if the ulcer turns white, the priest will declare the patient clean; he is clean. Leprosy is old. Leprosy could manifest itself without preliminary (specified) symptoms, and there was no need to test the patient. Here, only the mentioned main signs of the disease were unchanged and necessary: ​​1) the deepening of the ulcer into the skin and its spread along it, and 2) the appearance of white tumors and “live meat” with a change in hair color. At a further stage of development of the disease, these symptoms were complicated by many painful phenomena, for example, cracking of the skin, profuse and foul-smelling lymphatic discharge and salivation, tumors of the extremities, etc. At the same time, the two named forms of leprosy were clearly distinguished in their differences: tuberculous, cone-shaped (called leonthiasis or satyriasis - due to the terrible distortion of facial features with this form of leprosy) and anesthetic, insensitive (“white tumors”, Lev. 13:10) 2. Making a not entirely clear hint at this difference, the text of the Bible indicates (Lev. 13:12–13) the possibility of a successful crisis - leprosy “blooms scarlet” on the skin, i.e. the dark color of the skin turns white everywhere: the disease came out, a crust formed on the skin, gradually fell off, the patient recovered and was declared clean, unless “live meat” later appeared on the healing scars. Lev.13:18. If anyone had an abscess on the skin of his body and it healed, Lev.13:19. and a white tumor, or a white or reddish spot appears at the site of the abscess, then he must come to the priest; Lev.13:20. the priest will examine him, and if it is below the skin, and his hair has turned white, then the priest will declare him unclean: this is a leprosy ulcer, it blossomed on an abscess; Lev.13:21. if the priest sees that the hair on her is not white, and she is not lower than the skin, and, moreover, is hardly noticeable, then the priest will imprison him for seven days; Lev.13:22. if it begins to spread very much on the skin, then the priest will declare him unclean: this is an ulcer; Lev.13:23. if the stain remains in its place and does not spread, then it is an inflammation of the abscess, and the priest will declare it clean. Leprosy has a similar course and a twofold outcome, formed on a previously existing and already healed abscess (schechin, Vulg.: ulcus, Slav.: sore), as well as, Lev.13:24–28, on a burn (mikvat-esch), only, unlike the original disease, it was considered sufficient to once separate the patient for 7 days (Lev.13:21, 26, 27 ). Lev.13:29. If a man or woman has an ulcer on the head or beard, Lev.13:30. and the priest examines the ulcer, and it turns out to be deep in the skin, and the hair on it is yellowish and thin, then the priest will declare them unclean: this is scab, this is leprosy on the head or on the beard; Lev.13:31. If the priest examines the ulcer of the scab and it does not turn out to be deep in the skin, and the hair on it is not black, then the priest will imprison the one who has the ulcer of the scab for seven days; Lev.13:32. on the seventh day the priest will examine the ulcer, and if the scab does not spread, and there is no yellowish hair on it, and the scab does not appear deep in the skin, Lev.13:33. then the sick person should be shaved, but the bad part should not be cut off, and the priest should imprison the bad part a second time for seven days; Lev.13:34. on the seventh day the priest will examine the scab, and if the scab does not spread over the skin and does not appear deep in the skin, then the priest will declare him clean; let him wash his clothes and be clean. Lev.13:35. If, after cleansing it, the scalp spreads very much over the skin, Lev.13:36. and the priest sees that the scab is spreading over the skin, then the priest should not look for the yellowish hair: it is unclean. Lev.13:37. If the scab remains in its form, and a black hair appears on it, then the scab has passed, he is clean; the priest will declare him clean. Leprosy could be detected not only on clean skin, but also on skin with hair - on the head and chin; this is leprosy - neteq, like the well-known scabies or scabs, more precisely: sycosis. The signs are the same, only the hair color here changed not to white, but to golden yellow (zachob, Lev. 13:30, 36), and the hair soon completely fell out. Test – 2 weeks. If black hair began to appear on the sore spot, then this was a sign of recovery. Lev.13:40. If someone has hair coming out of his head, then he is bald: he is clean; Lev.13:41. and if hair has come out on the front side of the head, then he is bald: he is clean. Lev.13:42. If there is a white or reddish spot on his bald spot or bald spot, then leprosy has bloomed on his bald spot or bald spot; Lev.13:43. the priest will examine him, and if he sees that the swelling of the ulcer is white or reddish on his bald head or on his bald spot, it looks like leprosy of the skin of the body, Lev.13:44. then he is a leper, he is unclean; the priest must declare him unclean, he has a sore on his head. Leprosy could also appear on the bald areas of the head; signs are a white or reddish tumor on the exposed part of the head. Lev.13:45. The leper who has this ulcer must have his clothes torn, and his head must not be covered, and his mouth must be covered and shout: unclean! unclean! Lev.13:46. As long as the plague remains on him, he must be unclean; he is unclean; he must live separately, his dwelling is outside the camp. Once declared unclean, the leper had to immediately put on the costume of a mourner and wear it throughout the illness: his head was naked, his clothes (on his chest) were torn, the hair on his head was in disarray, his chin was tied up and he had to, warning the clean from defilement, cry out: “tame, tame” (“evil spirits, evil spirits!”), cf. Lamentations 4.15. This already presupposes the contagiousness of leprosy according to the ancient Jewish view (in medicine there were two opposing views on this in ancient and modern times). According to the Talmudists, a leper, entering a clean house, desecrated everyone there and all the vessels, excluding only those covered or tied (Mishna, Kelim 1:4; Negaim 13:11). Since one touch of a leper was desecrating, the leper during the entire illness had to live separately from the healthy outside the camp or city (cf. Num 5.2-3; 2 Kings 7.3; Lk 17.12) and in special buildings set aside specifically for lepers. In later times, if a leper wanted to visit a synagogue or temple, then he occupied a specially fenced off place there, and had to be the first to enter the building and the last to leave (Negaim 13:12). This Talmudic evidence, however, is in little agreement with biblical data (Lev. 13; 14). Lev.13:47. If the plague of leprosy is on clothing, whether on woolen clothing or on linen clothing, Lev.13:48. or on a warp or weft of linen or wool, or on leather, or on any article of leather, Lev.13:49. and the spot is greenish or reddish on the garment, or on the skin, or on the warp, or on the weft, or on any leather thing, then this is the sore of leprosy: it must be shown to the priest; Lev.13:50. the priest will examine the plague and imprison the infected person for seven days; Lev.13:51. on the seventh day the priest will examine what is infected, and if the plague has spread to the clothing, or to the warp, or to the weft, or to the skin, or to any product made of leather, then it is caustic leprosy, an unclean plague; Lev.13:52. he must burn the garment, or the warp, or the weft of wool or linen, or any leather thing on which there will be an ulcer, for this is caustic leprosy: he must burn it with fire. Lev.13:53. If the priest sees that the plague has not spread to the garment, or to the warp, or to the weft, or to any leather item, Lev.13:54. then the priest will order that whatever has the wound be washed, and will imprison it again for seven days; Lev.13:55. if, after washing the infected item, the priest sees that the ulcer has not changed its appearance and the ulcer has not spread, then it is unclean, burn it in the fire; this is a eaten pit on the front side or on the back; Lev.13:56. if the priest sees that the ulcer has become less noticeable after washing it, then let the priest tear it off from the clothing, or from the skin, or from the warp, or from the weft. Lev.13:57. If it again appears on clothing, or on the warp, or on the weft, or on some leather thing, then it is a growing plague: burn with fire what the plague is on. Lev.13:58. If you wash a garment, or warp, or woof, or any piece of leather, and the ulcer comes off, then you must wash them a second time, and they will be clean. Lev.13:59. This is the law regarding the plague of leprosy on woolen or linen clothing, or on warp and woof, or on any leather item, how to declare it clean or unclean. Leprosy on woolen and linen clothing, on linen and wool fabrics, on leather and leather products. The priest’s mode of action when examining contaminated clothing closely resembles the rules for examining a person with leprosy (Lev.13:50–55, and just as leprosy differs on the back of the head, on the back of the head, qereach, Lev.13:40, and on the front, gibbeach, Lev.13:41, so in matter there is a difference between qereach - the wrong side and gibbeach - the front side, Lev.13:55), with clear differences in particular points. As for the essence of leprosy on clothes, it is certain, first of all, that it was not transmitted to clothes from leprous people (as Abarbanel, Truzen and others thought): there is no hint of the identity of leprosy of clothes with human leprosy or the causal connection of the former with the latter in the biblical text: and the law on the cleansing of a leper does not require any special cleansing of his clothes, but a simple washing, as in any desecration. The following two opinions are equally implausible: 1) Michaelis and Rosenmüller, that the stains on woolen fabrics came from the waves or wool of sick or dead sheep (Michael. Mos. Rech., IV, § 211, S. 262; Rosenm., Scholia in Levit. p. 87); but in the article of the law under consideration we are talking about materials and products not only of wool, but also of linen and leather; Therefore, there must be another explanation that embraces all these objects; 2) Jana (Archaol. 1:1, 165) - as if leprosy was produced by microscopic insects that appeared in materials and corroded them. One can rather agree with Sommer’s proposal that the mysterious phenomenon in question consisted of a special kind of bedsores that occurred from dampness and insufficient ventilation of materials: on leather, the spots of this ulcer are eaten away pits of different colors, on canvases - in the form of colored spots, which, spreading across the fabric, make it susceptible to moths. Nevertheless, it is impossible to make a final judgment about such peculiar phenomena of ancient Jewish life as leprosy of clothes and houses (Lev. 14.34–55) due to the absence of both clear biblical data and any analogies in the life of modern European peoples. In Art. 11, where we are talking about chronic leprosy, according to the Slavic-Russian text, as well as in the accepted Greek, there is an error: (the priest) “excommunicates” (Slav.), “concludes” (Russian), άφοριεἳ (LXX). But the priest could not imprison or separate a known leper - it must be read: “he will not imprison”, “he will not excommunicate”. So – with negation read. in euros Masor. text and code. LXX – from Golmes (code 53, 56, 57) You might be interested in: