skin blanch. The Hebrew tsaraʿat
is traditionally translated as “leprosy,” but the leading symptom mentioned in
this narrative and elsewhere is a complete loss of pigmentation, whereas
leprosy involves lesions and lumps in the skin and sometimes a slightly paler
color but not the ghastly whiteness of which the biblical texts speak. This is,
then, a disfiguring skin disease that remains unidentified, and hence the
present translation, here and elsewhere, coins a name not to be found in
dermatological manuals that refers to the whiteness. (Robert Alter, The
Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 2:543)
Lexical Resources on צָרַ֫עַת:
TDOT:
II. Occurrences and Meaning
1. Overview. The subst. ṣāraʿaṯ
occurs 35 times in the OT, including 29 in Lev. 13–14, the torah concerning
“skin disease” (13:2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12[bis], 13, 15, 20, 25[bis], 27, 30, 42,
43, 47, 49, 51, 52, 59; 14:3, 7, 32, 34, 44, 54, 55, 57). The remaining
occurrences are Dt. 24:8 (law); 2 K. 5:3, 6, 7, 27 (Naaman); and 2 Ch. 26:19
(Uzziah). The presumably denominated verb ṣrʿ
occurs 5 times in the qal passive participle (Lev. 13:44, 45; 14:3; 22:4; Nu.
5:2) and 15 in the pual participle (meṣōrāʿ),
though only once in Leviticus (14:2). The remaining occurrences are Ex. 4:6
(Aaron); Nu. 12:10 (Miriam); 2 S. 3:29 (Joab); 2 K. 5:1, 11, 27 (Naaman); 2 K.
7:3 (four persons with skin diseases), 8; 2 K. 15:5 (Azariah/Uzziah); 2 Ch.
26:20, 21, 23 (Azariah). The two participial forms generally function as
adjectives and substantive participles (concrete and individual), then also
once as a substitute for an abstract substantive (as the obj. of ʾāsap̠, 2 K. 5:11).
2. Syntactial Considerations. In the torah concerning “skin disease”
in Leviticus, ṣāraʿaṯ occurs 11 times
(Lev. 13:2, 3, 9, 20, 47, 49, 59; 14:3, 32, 34, 54) as the nomen rectum in a construct expression with neg̱aʿ, “blow, touch,” “attack.” Because neg̱aʿ refers to an “onset of illness in a general sense,” and can
appear with other substantives as well (e.g., neṯeq [13:31]), one cannot rashly equate ṣāraʿaṯ and neg̱aʿ as
synonyms. In this expression with ṣāraʿaṯ,
neg̱aʿ refers to contact with a sphere far removed from Yahweh (act.) or to
the onset of an illness caused by a demon (pass.; 14:34, caused by Yahweh).
Syntactically the expression neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ generally constitutes the
predicate of a nominal clause of classification (i.e., with the subj. hûʾ, hîʾ) and in the cases and subcases
of the skin-disease torah often functions as a statement concluding the case
under discussion (13:3, 9, 20, 49) or as a summarizing signature (13:59; 14:32,
54). The expression neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ
can also, however, appear in conditional clauses at the beginnings of case
discussions (13:2, 9, 47; 14:34) or in other parts of case explications (14:3).
The absolute use of ṣāraʿaṯ in Lev.
13–14 also demonstrates the technical function of the lexeme as a genre
reference; it functions as a diagnosis without any substantival or adjectival
qualification in 13:8, 15, 25, 27. In this function the substantive is usually
qualified by various other substantives or adjectival elements, e.g., in 13:30
with ṣāraʿaṯ hārōʾš ʾô hazzāqān,
which specifies the location of the attack (cf. 13:42). Lev. 13:11 (nôšeneṯ), 42 (pōraḥaṯ), 51, 52; and 14:44 (mamʾereṯ)
use adjectival participles to specify certain features of ṣāraʿaṯ, albeit features whose medical background can no longer be
determined (e.g., 11, “chronic”; 42, “blooming, i.e., breaking out”; 51,
“opening up”). Prepositional phrases are occasionally used to indicate the
affected area (on the body or clothes; 13:11, 42; 14:44).
Compared to this substantive use
as a diagnosis, summary, and exposition in cases in Lev. 13–14, verbal
expressions with ṣāraʿaṯ occur only
rarely. In 13:12–13 the process prḥ
or the activity ksh piel is
predicated of ṣāraʿaṯ as the subject,
both times with reference to the skin of the human body. In 3 instances neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ is associated with hāyâ, in 13:9 as the subject of an
incipient illness affecting people, and in 13:2 as the prepositional object
indicating the goal of such an illness. In the case described, the symptoms on
the person’s skin, śeʾēṯ,
sappaḥaṯ, bahereṯ, lead to neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ
on the person’s body. Lev. 13:47 addresses the emergence of neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ on clothes. According to
14:34, Yahweh causes neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ
to befall houses, expressed by nāṯan
with a direct object. Lev. 14:3 and 14:7 use passive constructions to express
the healing (rpʾ niphal) or the
cleansing (ṭhr hithpael) of ṣāraʿaṯ.
Regarding the use of ṣāraʿaṯ in the torah concerning “skin
disease” in Lev. 13–14, one can say that substantive clauses predominate in
which ṣāraʿaṯ functions as a
technical term for describing and diagnosing an otherwise unspecified skin
disease that makes a person cultically impure or a similar phenomenon on
clothes and houses, or as a catchword used in super- or subscriptions attaching
to such passages. In the less frequent verbal expressions, ṣāraʿaṯ is associated with developments and alterations in the
progress of an illness or attack.
Among the 6 remaining passages
outside Lev. 13–14, only Dt. 24:8 occurs in a legal context. It contains a
general warning in the form of an imperative (šmr hithpael) against neg̱aʿ ṣāraʿaṯ,
expanded by the addition of two infinitive clauses with a reference to the
priestly torah concerning “skin disease” (pl. form of address) and a vague
reminiscence of the Miriam episode in Nu. 12:9ff. (Dt. 24:9).
Several verses from the Naaman
story (2 K. 5:3, 6, 7) use the expression ʾāsap̱
(naʿamān) miṣṣāraʿtô in discourse and address the possible
healing of Naaman’s case of “skin disease” in Samaria.
Elisha’s curse of Gehazi and his
house in 2 K. 5:27 (weṣāraʿaṯ
naʿamān tiḏbaq-beḵā) already uses ṣāraʿaṯ naʿamān as a fixed
expression. The disease of ṣāraʿaṯ is
also understood as Yahweh’s punishment in connection with King Uzziah’s cultic
transgression (2 Ch. 26:19). The verbal association with ṣāraʿaṯ here is zāraḥ,
the verb typically associated with theophanies.
The two verbally derived forms ṣārûaʿ (qal ptcp.) and meṣōrāʿ (pual ptcp.) occur
but 5 and 15 times, respectively. Of the two, ṣārûaʿ always refers to persons either as an attributive participle
(Lev. 13:44) or as a substantive participle identifying the person affected by ṣāraʿaṯ (13:45; 14:3; 22:4; Nu. 5:2) and
associating the cultic consequences for that person (dietary restrictions and
quarantine) with those accompanying the zāḇ
(the person affected by emissions; see Lev. 22:4; Nu. 5:2). The ptcp. meṣōrāʿ can refer to objects
(Ex. 4:6, yāḏ) but otherwise
functions like ṣārûaʿ as a
substantive participle that can also be used predicatively in reference to a
person affected by this skin disease (Miriam in Nu. 12:10; Gehazi in 2 K. 5:27)
and often with the accompanying qualification kaššeleg̱ (“as snow”; also Ex. 4:6), said of Naaman (2 K. 5:1),
Azariah/Uzziah (2 K. 15:5 par. 2 Ch. 26:20, 21, 23), and four nameless men (2
K. 7:3, 8). Lev. 14:2 uses hammeṣōrāʿ
to refer to the class of “those with skin disease,” as does David’s imprecation
against Joab in 2 S. 3:29, which again coordinates zāḇ and meṣōrāʿ.
In one instance (2 K. 5:11) hammeṣōrāʿ
functions as a substitute for the abstract ṣāraʿaṯ.
3. Meaning and Translation. An ongoing extensive exegetical discussion
addresses the question of the medical identification of ṣāraʿaṯ, particularly the symptoms described in Lev. 13 affecting
the skin. Confusion concerning the cultic function of the term is prompted by
the consistent LXX rendering of ṣāraʿaṯ
as lépra, resulting in ṣāraʿaṯ being long mistakenly associated
with Hansen’s Disease (after the Norwegian G. H. A. Hansen, who isolated the
leprosy pathogen in 1868), which modern medicine refers to as “leprosy.” More
recent studies of medical history, however, and especially Hulse, Wilkinson,
and Andersen consider it likely that it was not until the Middle Ages that
biblical ṣāraʿaṯ/lépra was
incorrectly associated with incurable elephantiasis
Graecorum, and that at the level of OT usage it must instead be viewed as a
collective term for various curable skin anomalies (a view concurring with the
Hippocratic meaning of lépra). While
some scholars are justifiably more reserved in their medical identification of
the subclasses of ṣāraʿaṯ explicated
in Lev. 13:2ff., others suggest that the diseases are actually psoriasis,
favus, or vitiligo.39 A strict reading of Lev. 13, however, suggests
that one follow Andersen’s lead in emphasizing the cultic-ritual connotation
and function of ṣāraʿaṯ as a
collective term for otherwise unspecified skin anomalies requiring priestly
diagnosis and purity assessment (ṭmʾ
piel) and involving quarantine (sgr
hiphil; 2×7 days). Priestly involvement is again required for lifting the
quarantine and effecting cultic reintegration (ṭhr piel, “declare pure”), the latter procedure being ritually
expanded in Lev. 14:2ff. The assessment of ṣāraʿaṯ
on clothes and houses represents analogical and metaphorical transference whose
specifics remain unclarified.
The discussion attaching to
Gramberg’s essay is instructive regarding the special problem accompanying the
usual English translations of ṣāraʿaṯ
as “leprosy” that thereby foster the problematic identification of ṣāraʿaṯ as modern lépra. Gramberg’s suggestion that one avoid the word “leprosy” in
English Bible translations prompted the New English Bible, e.g., to render ṣāraʿaṯ as “skin disease.” The World
Health Organization has similarly supported such usage in order to put an end
to the inhuman consequences for those affected by leprosy. In German-speaking
scholarship, Köhler suggested as early as 1955 that one avoid the term Aussatz
as a translation of ṣāraʿaṯ and use Hautkrankheit, “skin disease,” instead.
By way of summary, one might also
list the synonyms for ṣāraʿaṯ used in
Lev. 13 to differentiate various diagnoses or other variations of ṣāraʿaṯ or that appear outside the torah
concerning “skin diseases” in reference to skin anomalies. Lev. 13:6 (cf. v.
2), mispaḥaṯ (LXX sēmasía, “impetigo” [so Elliger]); v. 23
(cf. v. 18), ṣāreḇeṯ haššeḥîn
(LXX oulḗ toú hélkous, “scar of the
ulcer”); v. 28, śeʾēṯ hammiḵwâ
(LXX oulḗ toú katakaúmatos, “boil of
the burn wound”); v. 30, neṯeq (LXX thraúsma, “eczema” on the hair of the
head or beard); v. 39, bōhaq (LXX alphós, “vitiligo, skin disease”).
Passages outside Lev. 13–14
include Ex. 9:9–11; Dt. 28:27, 35; 2 K. 20:7; Job 2:7; Isa. 38:21, šeḥîn (LXX hélkos, hélkē, “ulcer”); Lev. 21:20;
22:22, yallep̱eṯ (LXX lichḗ, “eczema”); Dt. 28:27, ḥeres (LXX knḗphē, “scabies”); Lev. 22:22, yabbeleṯ
(LXX myrmēkiṓn, “wart”); Lev. 21:20;
22:22; Dt. 28:27, gārāḇ (LXX psōragriṓn, psṓra agría, “scabies”).
4. Qumran. The Qumran Temple Scroll involves both the word field and
the overall theme of ṣāraʿaṯ, with
occurrences limited to OT constructions (11QT 45:17; 46:18; 48:15, 17; 49:4).
11QT 45:17, 18 mention persons forbidden from entering the city of the
sanctuary, including kl ṣrwʿ wmnwgʿ,
where ṣrwʿ corresponds to Nu. 5:2,
while mnwgʿ, though based on biblical
ngʿ ṣrʿt, occurs only in
extrabiblical witnesses (1QS 2:10–11; 1QM 7:4) and in the Mishnah (cf., e.g., Neg. 13:6). 11QT 46:16–18 calls for the
establishment of three separate locales east of the city of the sanctuary for,
among others, hmṣwrʿym whzbym (see
Nu. 5:2). 11QT 48:14–16 stipulates that all cities establish places of
quarantine for mnwgʿym bṣrʿt wbngʿwbntq …
lzbym wlnšym. In the related but fragmentary passages 48:17 and 49:4, one
discerns the OT expressions ṣrʿt nwšnt
(Lev. 13:11), ntq (Lev. 13:30), and ngʿ ṣrʿt. Yadin suggests that the
missing ll. 1–3 contained instructions regarding cleansing rituals for ṣrʿt corresponding to Lev. 14. (T.
Seidl, “צְרוֹר and צָרַעַת,” TDOT 12:471-75)
HALOT:
צָרַעַת
(< ṣarraʿt, Bauer-L. Heb. 477z): צרע
(KBL) or ? I גרע (see Sawyer VT 26 (1976) 243); SamP. ṣårrḗt; MHeb., JArm.; Sam. צרעה (Ben-H. Lit. Or.
2:576); cf. ? Akk. ṣennettu(m) skin
disease (AHw. 1090b, 1588b; CAD Ṣ: 127, ṣennītu);
Eth. ṣĕrnĕʿĕt, → צרע:
צָרָֽעַת, sf. צָרַעְתּוֹ:
skin disease, not leprosy = lepra, since it is curable (Lv 13), but vitiligo and related diseases; see
Koehler Kl. Licht. 42-45; ZAW 67
(1955) 290f; KBL; see further Elliger Lev.
180ff; de Vaux Inst. 2:356 = Lebensordnungen 2:315; K. Seybold BWANT
99 (1973) 311, 5121; Hulse PEQ 107 (1975) 87-105;
Crüsemann ZDPV 94 (1978) 7437; Reicke-R. Hw. 167: —a. evident on people Lv 13:2-59 (21 times), 14:3, 7, 32,
44, 54, 57 Dt 24:8 2K 5:3, 6f, 27 2C 26:19; —b. evident on clothes and fabric
Lv 13:47, 51f, 53, 59 14:55; on leather 13:48, 51f, 53, 59; on a wall 14:34,
44, 55. †
Clines:
צָרַ֫עַת 35.0.7 n.f. skin disease—צָרָֽעַת; cstr. צָרַ֫עַת;
sf. צָרַעְתּוֹ—skin
disease, with scaling as one of its symptoms; not leprosy, <subj> זרח appear 2 C 26:19, פרח break out Lv 13:12, 25, 42, ישׁן ni. become
advanced Lv 13:11; 11QT 4817, כסה
pi. cover Lv 13:12, 13, דבק cling
2 K 5:27, אחז take hold of 4QDa 6.13 ([צרעת]),
מאר hi. be
malignant Lv 13:51, 52; 14:44 (ממארת; all three Sam ממראת obstinate)
4QDa 6.15 ([צ]רעת), מרא
hi. be obstinate Lv 13:51(),
52(); 14:44().
<nom cl> צָרַעַת הִוא it is a skin
disease Lv 13:8, 15 (הוּא) 13:25, var. 13:42, צָרַעַת נוֹשֶׁנֶת
הִוא בְּעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ it is an advanced, i.e. chronic, skin disease in the skin of his flesh Lv 13:11, צָרַעַת הָרֹאשׁ
אוֹ הַזָּקָן הוּא it is a skin disease of the head or the chin Lv 13:30, [צ]רעת
ממארת היא it
is a malignant skin disease 4QDa 6.15, צָרַעַת מַמְאֶרֶת
הַנֶּגַע the
affliction is a malignant skin disease Lv 13:51, vars. 13:52; 14:44 (all
three Sam ממראת obstinate), בו צרעת נושנת in him is an advanced skin disease 11QT
4817.
<cstr> צָרַעַת הָרֹאשׁ skin disease of
the head Lv 13:30, הַזָּקָן of the chin Lv 13:30, עוֹר בָּשָׂר of skin of the
body Lv 13:43, הַבֶּגֶד of, i.e. in, clothing Lv
14:55, נַעֲמָן of Naaman 2 K 5:27; נֶגַע צָרַעַת affliction of a skin disease Lv 13:2 (צָרָ֑עַת) 13:3, 9, 20, 25, 27, 47 (צָרָ֑עַת)
13:49, 59; 14:3 (הַצָּרַעַת) 14:32 (צָרָ֑עַת)
14:34, 54; Dt 24:8 (both הַצָּרַעַת) 4QDe 2.212;
11QT 4601 ([נגע צרעת]) 494 (הצרעת),
תּוֹרַת הַצָּרָֽעַת law of, i.e. concerning, skin disease Lv 14:57; 4QDa
6.113 ([תור]ת), [משפט] ordinance of 4QDg 1.22 ([הצ]רע[ת]),
מַרְאֵה צָרַעַת appearance of a (skin) disease of Lv 13:43.
<prep> לְ concerning Lv
14:55; מִן privative, from, (so as to be free) of, + טהר
htp. undergo purification Lv 14:7, אסף remove,
i.e. relieve from 2 K 5:3, 6, 7; בְּ of instrument, by (means of), with, + נגע pu. be
afflicted 11QT 4815.
<coll> צָרַעַת
‖ נֶתֶק scall Lv 13:30; 14:55; 11QT 4815.17; + נֶתֶק
Lv 14:54; 4QDa 6.15 ([צ]רעת).
‖ זוֹב discharge 4QDe
2.212.
‖ נֶגַע affliction
11QT 4815; + נֶגַע affliction Lv 13:25, 30, 42, 43, 49, diseased person Lv 13:12, 12, 13.
+ בַּהֶרֶת spot Lv 13:2,
25, 25, שְׂאֵת swelling Lv 13, סַפַּחַת scab Lv 13:2, מִסְפַּחַת scab Lv 13:8, שְׁחִין boil
Lv 13:20, מִכְוָה burn Lv 13:25.
<syn> נֶתֶק scall, זוֹב discharge,
נֶגַע affliction.
►
צרע be afflicted with a rash. (The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, ed. David J. A. Clines, 8 vols. [Sheffield, England: Sheffield
Phoenix Press Ltd., 2011], 7:164)
TWOT:
1971 צָרַע
(ṣāraʿ) be diseased of skin, leprous. (ASV
and RSV similar). This denominative verb is used chiefly in the Pual.
Parent Noun
1971a צָרַעַת (ṣāraʿat) malignant skin disease, leprosy. Strictly,
leucodermia and related diseases. (ASV and RSV similar: “leprosy”).
1971b צִרְעָה
(ṣirʿâ) hornet.
While usually rendered leper or
leprous, the term “leper” is not correct medically, since ṣāraʿat refers to a wider range of skin diseases (cf. “malignant
skin disease,” neb). For convenience, however, the term “leper” can be
retained.
A person with leprosy. apart from
the telltale malignant raw flesh and white hair, was to be otherwise identified
by torn clothes, announcement of “unclean” when in the streets and was to live
isolated from the community. Four persons are named in the ot as becoming
leprous. Not counting Moses (Ex 4:6; cf. also II Kgs 7:3), there were Miriam
(Num 12:10), Uzziah (II Kgs 15:5), Gehazi (II Kgs 5:27) and Naaman, the Syrian
(II Kgs 5:1).
God may inflict the disease of ṣāraʿat as punishment for sins such as
jealousy (cf. Miriam), anger, and lack of full compliance with God’s commands
(cf. Uzziah), and covetousness (cf. Gehazi). One must not conclude, however,
that all sickness is a result of an individual’s sin (cf. Job; Lk 13:1–5; Jn
9:1–7).
ṣāraʿat was not necessarily incurable (cf. II Kgs 5:7). Leprosy by
contrast, was likely incurable (Lev 13). In any event, healing of ṣāraʿat could serve as a sign of divine
power (Ex 4:6; II Kgs 5:8).
The isolation of a leprous person
was doubtless a sanitary measure in order to avoid further contagion. That a
priest in Israel’s theocracy was to diagnose the illness does not mean that
today’s clergy should become health officers. But the principle of God’s
concern for the health of bodies is not only self-evident but remains an
enduring principle (cf. Jesus, Mt 8:2–3).
Diseases with eruptions affecting
the skin are sometimes mild, sometimes, as in smallpox, scarlet fever, etc.,
both dangerous and highly contagious. The only effective control in antiquity
would have been isolation. Only the Hebrew laws had this very valuable
provision.
ṣāraʿat is found primarily (twenty times) in the two chapters that
govern the diagnoses and the cleaning measures for one who had become unclean (tāmēʾ, Lev 13, 14). In the nature of a
contagion, ṣāraʿat refers not only to
eruptions on the skin but to mildew or mold in clothing (Lev 13) or in houses
(Lev 14:34–53); therefore obviously the word is not specific for leprosy. The
determination by the priest of an individual as unclean meant separation from the
community, and ceremonial unfitness to enter the temple (cf. II Chr 26:21). The
cleansing measures to be performed upon recovery involved a ritual with two
birds, which ritual according to KD was necessary for restoration to the
community (Lev 14:2–9). An additional set of offerings followed, notably the
guilt offering, perhaps because disease is ultimately to be linked with sin
(Lev 14:10–20).
There is no Scriptural warrant
for regarding leprosy as a type of sin, though the analogy can be helpful for
illustrative purposes. Bibliography: Harris, R. Laird, Man—God’s Eternal
Creation, Moody, 1971, pp. 142–43. Browne, S. G., “Leper, Leprosy,” in WBE, II,
pp. 1026–27. (Elmer A. Martens, “1971 צָרַע,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,
ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke [Chicago: Moody
Press, 1999], 777)
