And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;

LEVITICUS 14:3KJV
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Leviticus 14:3 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 14:3 mean?

Leviticus 14:3 explains that a priest must leave the camp to examine a person who had leprosy and see if the disease has been healed. The verse sets up the process for determining if someone who was previously unclean because of leprosy can be declared clean and allowed to return to the community.

In this section of Leviticus, God is giving instructions to Moses for the Israelites about how to handle cases of leprosy. The priest (not a doctor) is responsible for inspecting the person outside the camp, since anyone with leprosy was required to live apart from others. The priest’s role is to carefully check if the "plague" (disease) has truly healed before the person can rejoin society.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 14:3

  • "priest" (כֹּהֵן, kohen): This word refers to the religious leader responsible for making decisions about ritual purity, not a medical professional. The kohen’s involvement shows that this is a spiritual and communal matter, not just a health issue.
  • "plague" (נֶגַע, nega‘): This word often means an affliction or mark, not necessarily a modern medical diagnosis. Here, it refers to any suspicious skin condition that could make someone ritually unclean.
  • "leprosy" (צָרַעַת, tsara‘at): In the context of Leviticus, tsara‘at covers a range of skin diseases or conditions, not just what we call leprosy today. The focus is on ritual purity rather than precise medical categories.
  • "healed" (רָפָא, rapha’): This word means to be restored to health or made whole. The priest is looking for evidence that the person’s condition has genuinely improved.

Why Leviticus 14:3 matters

  • Leviticus 14:3 clarifies that the priest’s role was not to cure disease but to confirm healing and restore people to the community, emphasizing the social and spiritual dimensions of illness in ancient Israel.
  • The verse highlights that those with leprosy were separated from the camp, showing the seriousness of ritual impurity and the importance of community protection.
  • This verse connects to the larger passage about purification rituals, helping readers understand the careful process required before someone could be welcomed back after being excluded for health reasons.

Where else these words appear

“leper” Hebrew H6879 · used in 18 verses

  • Exodus 4:6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
  • Numbers 5:2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
  • 2 Kings 7:3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

“leprosy” Hebrew H6883 · used in 33 verses

  • Leviticus 13:2 When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
  • Leviticus 13:27 And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
  • Leviticus 14:34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

“plague” Hebrew H5061 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 12:17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
  • Leviticus 13:43 Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh;
  • Leviticus 14:37 And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall;

“healed” Hebrew H7495 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 20:17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
  • 2 Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
  • Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.