Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The signs and seven species of leprosy are described: the first is white and shining leprosy (v. 3); the second is recurring leprosy (v. 7); the third is deep-rooted leprosy (v. 10); the fourth is very clean leprosy (v. 13); the fifth is leprosy of the head and beard (v. 29); the sixth is leprosy in baldness (v. 42); the seventh is leprosy of clothing (v. 47). Finally, in verse 44, five things are commanded to the leper: first, that he have torn garments; second, a bare head; third, his mouth covered; fourth, that he cry out that he is unclean; fifth, that he dwell alone outside the camp.
Vulgate Text: Leviticus 13:1-59
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2. If a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a different color, or a blister, or something as it were shining — that is, a plague of leprosy — he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to any one of his sons. 3. And when he shall see the leprosy in the skin, and the hairs turned to a white color, and the appearance of the leprosy lower than the skin and the rest of the flesh, it is the plague of leprosy, and at his judgment he shall be separated. 4. But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower than the rest of the flesh, and the hairs be of their former color, the priest shall shut him up for seven days, 5. and shall consider him on the seventh day; and if indeed the leprosy has not grown further, nor passed beyond its former boundaries in the skin, he shall again shut him up for another seven days, 6. and on the seventh day he shall examine him: if the leprosy be more obscure, and has not grown in the skin, he shall cleanse him, because it is a scab; and the man shall wash his garments and be clean. 7. But if after he was seen by the priest and restored to cleanness, the leprosy shall grow again, he shall be brought to him, 8. and shall be condemned as unclean. 9. If the plague of leprosy be in a man, he shall be brought to the priest, 10. and he shall see him. And when the white color is in the skin, and has changed the appearance of the hairs, and the living flesh itself appears: 11. it shall be judged a very old leprosy, and grown into the skin. The priest therefore shall declare him unclean and shall not shut him up, because the uncleanness is manifest. 12. But if the leprosy shall break out running over the skin, and shall cover all the skin from the head to the feet, whatever falls under the sight of the eyes, 13. the priest shall consider him and shall judge that he has a very clean leprosy: because it has all turned to whiteness, and therefore the man shall be clean. 14. But when the living flesh shall appear in him, 15. then by the judgment of the priest he shall be defiled and shall be reckoned among the unclean: for living flesh, if it is sprinkled with leprosy, is unclean. 16. But if again it shall turn to whiteness and cover the whole man, 17. the priest shall consider him and shall determine him to be clean. 18. But the flesh and skin in which an ulcer has arisen and been healed, 19. and in the place of the ulcer a white or reddish scar shall appear, the man shall be brought to the priest: 20. who, when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the rest of the flesh and the hairs turned to whiteness, shall declare him unclean: for the plague of leprosy has arisen in the ulcer. 21. But if the hair be of its former color and the scar somewhat dark and not lower than the neighboring flesh, he shall shut him up for seven days; 22. and if indeed it has grown, he shall adjudge him to leprosy. 23. But if it has stood in its place, it is the scar of an ulcer, and the man shall be clean. 24. But the flesh and skin which fire has burned, and when healed has a white or red scar, 25. the priest shall consider it, and behold it has turned to whiteness and its place is lower than the rest of the skin: he shall declare him unclean, because the plague of leprosy has arisen in the scar. 26. But if the color of the hairs has not been changed, nor the plague lower than the rest of the flesh, and the appearance of the leprosy itself be somewhat dark, he shall shut him up for seven days, 27. and on the seventh day he shall examine him: if the leprosy has grown in the skin, he shall declare him unclean; 28. but if the brightness has stood in its place, not sufficiently clear, it is the plague of a burn, and therefore he shall be cleansed, because it is the scar of a burn. 29. A man or woman in whose head or beard leprosy shall have sprouted, the priest shall see them, 30. and if indeed the place be lower than the rest of the flesh, and the hair yellow and thinner than usual, he shall declare them unclean, because it is leprosy of the head and beard. 31. But if he shall see the place of the spot equal to the neighboring flesh, and the hair black, he shall shut him up for seven days, 32. and on the seventh day he shall look. If the spot has not grown, and the hair is of its own color, and the place of the plague is equal to the rest of the flesh: 33. the man shall be shaved except for the place of the spot, and shall be enclosed for another seven days. 34. If on the seventh day the plague seems to have stood in its place, nor lower than the rest of the flesh, he shall cleanse him, and having washed his garments he shall be clean. 35. But if after the cleansing the spot has again grown in the skin, 36. he shall no longer inquire whether the hair has been changed to a yellow color, because he is manifestly unclean. 37. Furthermore, if the spot has stood and the hairs are black, let him know that the man is healed, and let him confidently pronounce him clean. 38. A man or woman in whose skin a brightness shall appear, 39. the priest shall look upon them; if he discovers that a somewhat dark whiteness shines in the skin, let him know it is not leprosy but a spot of white color, and the man is clean. 40. A man from whose head the hairs fall is bald and clean; 41. and if the hairs have fallen from the forehead, he is partly bald and clean. 42. But if in the baldness or in the partial baldness a white or red color has arisen, 43. and the priest has seen this, he shall condemn him without doubt of leprosy which has arisen in the baldness. 44. Whoever therefore has been spotted with leprosy and separated at the judgment of the priest, 45. shall have torn garments, a bare head, his mouth covered with a garment, and shall cry out that he is contaminated and unclean. 46. All the time that he is leprous and unclean, he shall dwell alone outside the camp. 47. A woolen or linen garment that shall have leprosy, 48. in the warp and the woof, or certainly a skin, or whatever is made of skin, 49. if it be infected with a white or red spot, it shall be reckoned as leprosy and shall be shown to the priest, 50. who having examined it shall shut it up for seven days; 51. and on the seventh day looking at it again, if he discovers it has grown, it is a persistent leprosy: he shall judge the garment defiled, and everything in which it has been found; 52. and therefore it shall be burned with flames. 53. But if he sees it has not grown, 54. he shall command, and they shall wash that in which the leprosy is, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. 55. And when he sees that its former appearance has indeed not returned, yet nevertheless the leprosy has not grown, he shall judge it unclean and shall burn it with fire, because the leprosy is spread over the surface of the garment or throughout it. 56. But if the place of the leprosy be more obscure after the garment is washed, he shall tear it off and separate it from the whole. 57. But if it shall further appear in those places which were previously unstained — a flying and wandering leprosy — it must be burned with fire; 58. if it has ceased, he shall wash with water those parts that are clean, a second time, and they shall be clean. 59. This is the law of the leprosy of a woolen or linen garment, of the warp and the woof, and of every article made of skin: how it should be cleansed or declared unclean.
Verse 1: The Lord Spoke to Moses and Aaron
The question is asked: what kind of leprosy was this leprosy of the Jews?
I say first that this leprosy was a disease or defect, often natural, but often also sent upon the Jews by God's special providence, especially to punish their graver sins — whether of simony: for on this account Gehazi was struck with leprosy by Elisha (4 Kings 5:27); or of sacrilege: for on this account King Uzziah, usurping the priesthood and wishing to burn incense, was struck with leprosy by God (2 Paralipomenon 26:21); or of homicide: for on this account David imprecated leprosy upon Joab who slew Abner (2 Kings 3:29); or of murmuring and rebellion, especially against priests: for thus Miriam, the sister of Moses, murmuring against Moses, was seized with leprosy (Numbers 12:10).
On this matter, the passage in Deuteronomy 24:8 is remarkable, where God expressly threatens leprosy upon those who refuse to obey the priests. "Take care," He says, "diligently lest you incur the plague of leprosy, but (to avoid it) you shall do whatever the priests of the Levitical line shall teach you, according to what I have commanded them, and fulfill it carefully. Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam." This leprosy therefore was often not so much a natural disease as a divine plague, as I shall show more fully at verse 47.
And this was the reason why God entrusted the judgment and expiation of leprosy to the priests, and why He wished lepers to present and show themselves to the priests, so that they might be pronounced by them either cleansed of leprosy or still contaminated. Namely, so that they would be compelled to humble themselves before the priests, against whom they had proudly raised themselves, and thus they might expiate the fault and punishment of their pride by this humiliation. So Miriam, raising herself against Moses, was struck with leprosy, from which she was healed only by the help and prayers of Moses (Numbers 12:11). There was also another reason, namely that lepers in the old law were as if irregular: for they were unclean not only naturally but also legally, so that they were barred not only from human society but also from the temple and sacred rites. Now this irregularity could not be removed by a physician, but only by a priest. Therefore, to have it removed, they had to present themselves to the priest and petition him, who expiated them and restored them to sacred rites according to the ritual that God prescribed in chapter 14.
Verse 2: The Nature of the Leprosy of the Jews
I say secondly: The leprosy of the Jews was dissimilar and different from our leprosy, which is more properly elephantiasis than leprosy. Abulensis denies this and considers our leprosy to be the same as the leprosy of the Jews, but now more corrosive than it was then. But that it was not the same is clear: first, because, as I shall soon say, the leprosy of the Jews was almost entirely in the skin; ours, however, devours flesh and bones. Second, the leprosy of the Jews also invaded garments and walls and houses, as is clear from verse 29; but there is no leprosy now that attacks garments or houses. Third, our leprosy is incurable; but the leprosy of the Jews was curable and was often cured, as is clear from this chapter and the next. Nor should this seem surprising: for we see that each region and each climate has its own qualities and affections, and likewise its own diseases; indeed, one and the same disease in a different climate is different and has different symptoms. And this was the reason why at the time of the sacred war (the Crusades), so many Belgians, French, and Germans returning home from Judea came back leprous, and therefore so many leper hospitals were erected everywhere, which still stand today but without any lepers.
I say thirdly: The leprosy of the Jews was similar to the ancient leprosy of the Greeks, of which Hippocrates in his book On Affections says thus: "Leprosy, and itching, and scab, and impetigo, and vitiligo, and alopecia arise from phlegm; they are disfigurements rather than diseases." The reason is: for the ancient leprosy of the Jews, as St. Augustine says (Book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 40), was often more a defect of color than of health or of the integrity of the senses and limbs, and for this reason lepers are said to have been not healed but cleansed by Christ. Such was the leprosy of the Greeks, or the common leprosy: for as the distinguished physician Joannes Mainardus rightly proves from Galen (Book VI of his Letters), leprosy is a slight defect of the skin, so similar to scab, that it can scarcely be distinguished from it. In the same way, says Cajetan, this leprosy of the Jews was a disease, or rather a defect residing in the skin more than in the flesh, and this a manifold and varied one; and so scab itself is here called leprosy, if it be more severe and exceeds the common and simple kind. Therefore, Francisco Valles, the distinguished physician, carefully examining this leprosy in his book On Sacred Philosophy (chapter 19), holds that by this leprosy are to be understood various defects of the skin and disfigurements of the external body, one of which arises from another, and that from an excess of phlegm or melancholy through the varying increase or decrease of either. Hence he believes that in this chapter, verses 6 and 39, vitiligo is described; in verses 3 and 7, scab with scales, which is called lichen or impetigo; in verse 9, elephantiasis or its beginning; in verse 29, achores (scald-head); in verse 38, alopecia or ophiasis — as I shall explain more fully from him at each verse.
I say fourthly that leprosy here is not one disease, but a varied and manifold one, differing not only in species but also in genus, and therefore extended analogically to defects of garments and houses. For these forms of leprosy described in this chapter are not so much diseases as deformities or a certain putrefaction of the skin, and these varied and manifold. Hence it is not surprising that they apply not only to animate but also to inanimate things, especially when they are produced by some common cause and spread widely: for the air, which alone can be the common cause of popular diseases, touches and surrounds inanimate things on all sides just as much as animate things — although it affects them differently, not only the inanimate but also the animate themselves. For there is a difference between the leprosy of a man, an ox, a sheep, and a pig. Yet the leprosy of all is the same analogically, and all these forms of leprosy are related and akin to one another, so that there is mutual contagion, and animate things can rub off leprosy onto inanimate things. For this leprosy, as I said, is not so much a disease as a corrosion, corruption, and a certain putrefaction; for all things can putrefy except fire, but only living things can fall ill. So far Valles (chapters 19 and 20). To which, however, I think it should be added that this leprosy of the Jews was not in all respects similar to the leprosy of the Greeks, which is commonly called leprosy by physicians and resides in the skin; but rather it was something intermediate between leprosy and elephantiasis, and vitiated not only the skin but also the breath and consequently the internal organs; for this reason in verse 45 lepers are commanded to cover their mouths, lest they infect others with their foul breath. For although this law is ceremonial, yet it, like others, is founded in nature and this natural cause. Again, that it was often not so much natural or arising from natural causes, but specially inflicted by God upon the Jews as a plague — and therefore the physical and medical causes and symptoms of this leprosy cannot now be fully assigned by physicians — I showed a little earlier and shall show more fully at verse 47.
Verse 3: The First Species — White and Shining Leprosy
2. IF A MAN SHALL HAVE IN THE SKIN OF HIS FLESH A DIFFERENT COLOR, OR A BLISTER, OR SOMETHING AS IT WERE SHINING, THAT IS, A PLAGUE OF LEPROSY — so also the Chaldean. But in the Hebrew the order is different; for they read thus: "when there shall be a swelling or a blister, or a spot adhering to the flesh" (which our translator renders as "a different color"), "or something whitish, so that it be in his flesh as a plague of leprosy" — that is, so that it appears to be leprosy or raises a suspicion of leprosy. The Septuagint translate it as "a scar of signification, or shining." "Of signification" — that is, signifying that it is leprosy. So Hesychius. Note the word "shining," namely, so that they appear as though they were gleaming bran-like scales or flakes; for these can be the beginnings of a defect turning malignant and into some kind of leprosy, says Valles.
HE SHALL BE BROUGHT TO AARON THE PRIEST. — Because it belongs to the priest to judge whether someone is fit — that is, clean — so that he may be permitted to enter the sanctuary, or unclean and unfit, so that he must be barred from it; and consequently it belongs to him to judge about leprosy, whether it exists and what kind it is. Secondly, because the old priests judging between leprosy and leprosy were a type of the priests of the new law, to whom Christ communicated the power of binding and loosing sinners. So St. Jerome on Matthew 16, and Chrysostom (Book III, On the Priesthood).
3. WHEN HE SHALL SEE LEPROSY IN THE SKIN AND THE HAIRS CHANGED TO A WHITE COLOR. — For the whiteness of the hairs argues corruption and defect of the flesh from which they grow. For leprosy, says St. Cyril (Book XV, On Adoration, folio 309), arises from the fact that the flesh dies: for the ulcer is immediately hollowed out when the skin is consumed, and it always creeps deeper; whence it happens that the hair which springs up in those parts, languishing, turns white, and, like a plant, is corrupted together with the soil beneath it.
This is the first species of leprosy, which by physicians, says Valles (cited above), is called lichen, or impetigo, or volatile leprosy, because it creeps and as it were flies across the parts; by the Arabs it is called barras or albarras (white), and it is generated from salty phlegm or melancholy. Two signs of it are given here: first, that the hairs growing from the leprous skin change to a white color; second, that the leprosy itself is lower than the rest of the skin. The reason for these Valles gives as follows: "For since," he says, "those malignant lichens arise from salty phlegm, either alone or mixed with black bile, it is necessary that, where the temperament of the part has been greatly weakened and changed as it were into the nature of the excrement itself, the skin be excessively salty, and therefore dry and contracted, and lower than the rest of the skin which is healthy."
Again: "Since things that arise correspond to the things from which they arise, where the skin, on account of phlegm, has been made so white that it has changed the very mode of its substance to a whiter one, it will also render the hairs growing from it white."
AND THE VERY APPEARANCE OF THE LEPROSY — In Hebrew, "the appearance of the plague," that is, the apparent form of leprosy. See Canon 30.
LOWER. — For leprosy consumes both the skin and the flesh.
AND AT HIS JUDGMENT HE SHALL BE SEPARATED. — In Hebrew: "and the priest shall examine him and shall judge him unclean;" and consequently he is to be separated and sent outside the camp. In this chapter the marks are described by which it can be discerned who are infected with severe leprosy and who with light; who can easily be cured and who are incurable: so that those found to be suffering from mere simple scab would be judged clean and dismissed; those for whom there was hope that they might be cleansed would be confined; but those who appeared to be of hopeless cleansing would be completely separated and cast out of the camp.
Verse 4: Shining Whiteness in the Skin
4. BUT IF THERE BE A SHINING WHITENESS IN THE SKIN. — "Whiteness," says St. Cyril (Book XV), "is an infirmity of the flesh (or rather of the skin) very similar to leprosy, except that the evil does not work into the depth, but sprouts on the surface of the body, nor does it change the hair to a white color; nor does it spread so widely that it cannot be checked, but is cured by mild remedies."
Verse 5: Confinement for a Second Week
5. HE SHALL SHUT HIM UP FOR ANOTHER SEVEN DAYS. — God here commands the leper to be confined for a second week; at the end of which, if the leprosy be more obscure and has not grown in the skin by creeping deeper or wider — that is, if the spots have not spread and the signs of leprosy have become more obscure, so that the whiteness which was raising suspicion of leprosy has now changed to darkness or has ceased to be obscure — He commands them to know that it is not true leprosy but psora (scab), and that the man be dismissed after washing his garments. For he is clean — that is, he is not leprous but only scabby; which is slight and will be remedied by the use of very clean linen and woolen garments alone, and by a wholesome diet, preceded, if needed, by some evacuation of the body. So Valles.
Note that here and frequently below, that is called "leprosy" which appeared to be such, or about which there was suspicion that it was leprosy, even if afterwards it was found not to be leprosy.
Verse 6: He Shall Cleanse Him
6. HE SHALL CLEANSE HIM — that is, he shall declare and pronounce him clean. It is similar in verse 34 and in Genesis 41:13, where the cupbearer says: "I was restored to my office, he (the baker) was hanged;" for which in Hebrew it reads: "he restored me to my office, he hanged him" — namely Joseph, by his prophecy.
Verses 7-8: The Second Species — Recurring Leprosy
7 and 8. BUT IF AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY THE PRIEST AND RESTORED TO CLEANNESS, THE LEPROSY SHALL AGAIN GROW, HE SHALL BE BROUGHT TO HIM AND SHALL BE CONDEMNED AS UNCLEAN. — This is the second species of leprosy — the recurring or returning kind. For he shall be condemned of such leprosy because signs of a permanent and rooted leprosy have appeared in him; for a repeated disease signifies a great disposition of the body toward it and a propensity for it, and that in the faulty nature of the body the root, as it were, of the disease lies hidden. But a disease to which the body is greatly prone easily becomes habitual; and so just as the growth of spots, so also their recurrence is a suspicious and bad sign, and it is rightly considered that a leprosy which has recurred once will often recur, and the man will never be safe from uncleanness: therefore he shall be condemned as unclean. So Valles.
Tropologically, leprosy is any sin whatever, says Theodoret, and especially heresy, says Rupert and Bede (although heresy is properly leprosy of the head, as I shall say at verse 29); the skin and its color is the visible appearance of human conduct; the flesh is the internal conscience; the hairs are the thoughts that reveal themselves. When leprosy appears in these — namely, the loss of their former condition and color — or a blister, that is, a corruption of conscience — or something shining, that is, guilt evidently gleaming — the priest should separate him from the assembly of the faithful for seven days, until the leprosy is either fully diagnosed or corrected. If it appears more obscure and has not grown, it is scab, that is, a lighter fault; but if it has grown again, it is leprosy, that is, a living and persevering deliberation to sin. So Radulphus.
St. Louis, King of France, once asked the Seneschal of Champagne whether he would rather be infected with leprosy or with sin. And when he answered "With sin," the king sharply rebuked him: "You err by the whole sky," he said. "What leprosy is more foul than sin, which afflicts even after death? If therefore you love me, change that mind." So Joinville reports in his Life (chapter 94).
Of the same mind and opinion was the other St. Louis, born of royal lineage, who from being a Franciscan became Bishop of Toulouse; for he used to say: "Let there perish for me first, I say not this perishable kingdom, but the whole world, rather than that I should sin even once against my God, whose honor I know must be placed before all things." So his Life states (chapter 10).
Verses 10-11: The Third Species — Deep-Rooted Leprosy
10 and 11. IF THE LIVING FLESH ITSELF SHALL APPEAR, IT SHALL BE JUDGED A VERY OLD LEPROSY. — This is the third species of leprosy, namely deep-rooted leprosy, which is in the living flesh, whereas the former was in the skin and hairs. For it is less serious for the color of the skin alone to change than for the hairs as well; but more serious than both is for the living flesh beneath the skin to be sprinkled with leprosy, so that it is white and has lost the mode of fleshly substance. For this is clearly the mark of a very old leprosy grown into the skin, because it arises from salty phlegm which, excreted by the expulsive force, has invaded not only the skin but also the flesh beneath it and has changed it into the nature of vitiated fluid. Whether this is so — that is, whether the flesh beneath is leprous — physicians test by rubbing and with a needle: for if the flesh when rubbed does not redden, and if when pricked with a needle it produces not blood but a milky or watery fluid that has appeared in it (the skin being consumed), then if it yields moisture, it is a sign that it is infected with leprosy: this leprosy is elephantiasis, especially if it feeds upon and eats away the flesh. So Valesius from Galen, Avicenna, and Paul of Aegina.
Tropologically, Radulphus says: leprosy of flesh that is not living is an evil deliberation which, although it lives, is quickly mortified; but the leprosy of living flesh is that which, being obstinate, takes root more vehemently, and does not admit the closure of priestly admonition: therefore, before it takes root and spreads, let it be destroyed by confession and penance. For, as St. Chrysostom says, Homily 36 to the People, the devil presses fiercely, seeking to gain some entrance: and if he seizes even a brief respite and delay, he induces great torpor. And King Theodoric, in Cassiodorus, Epistle 14, Book III of the Variae: "Evil," he says, "when it persists, increases; and the remedial good against sin is swift correction."
11. THE PRIEST SHALL THEREFORE PRONOUNCE HIM UNCLEAN. — "He shall pronounce unclean," that is, he shall judge him to be unclean: so the word "he shall pronounce unclean" is understood throughout this chapter, in verses 11, 20, 23, 27, 30. See Canon 11.
Verses 12-13: The Fourth Species — Very Clean Leprosy
12 and 13. BUT IF THE LEPROSY HAS BROKEN OUT AND SPREAD IN THE SKIN, AND HAS COVERED ALL THE FLESH FROM HEAD TO FOOT, WHATEVER FALLS UNDER THE SIGHT OF THE EYES, THE PRIEST SHALL EXAMINE HIM, AND SHALL JUDGE HIM TO HAVE A VERY CLEAN LEPROSY. — This is the fourth species of leprosy, which is called very clean, that is, a minimally contagious skin disease. Hence the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek have (which shortly follows in the Latin as well), he shall judge him clean from leprosy, because indeed this skin disease spreading over the whole body is merely a purgation of nature, vigorously purging itself on all sides and expelling vitiated humors: it is different when it settles in one part, which indicates an interior defect of that part, or at least a weak expulsive force. For in the vitiated dispositions and bad humors of bodies, physicians judge it best if they break out abundantly through smallpox, scabies, and other excretions: for what does not break out remains within, and affects and infects the heart and other vital organs. So Valesius from Hippocrates.
Tropologically, leprosy spreading over the skin is the false infamy of crimes, with which Christ and the Saints, especially in the primitive Church, were bespattered, and therefore afflicted: this spreads, because it finds no place where it can truly establish itself; it turns to whiteness, that is, to praise when the truth of the matter is known; and therefore it is deemed a very clean leprosy, since through it a man rather grows in patience, merits, and glory, when he labors under the suspicion of a crime without having committed one. So Radulphus. Hence it is said of Christ, Isaiah 53:4: "And we esteemed Him as a leper, and struck by God, and humiliated." You see how this leprosy, namely infamy, really touched and afflicted the skin of Christ.
Verses 14-15: Living Flesh Appearing
14 and 15. BUT WHEN LIVING FLESH (sprinkled with leprosy) HAS APPEARED IN IT (the skin being consumed), THEN BY THE JUDGMENT OF THE PRIEST HE SHALL BE PRONOUNCED UNCLEAN — he shall be declared polluted. See verses 6 and 11.
Verses 16-17: Turning Again to Whiteness
16 and 17. BUT IF IT SHALL HAVE TURNED AGAIN TO WHITENESS, AND HAVE COVERED THE WHOLE MAN, THE PRIEST SHALL EXAMINE HIM AND SHALL PRONOUNCE HIM CLEAN — because this is a sign that the flesh is healing and being covered again with skin on all sides.
Verses 18-19: Leprosy Arising in Ulcer Scars
18 and 19. BUT THE FLESH AND SKIN IN WHICH AN ULCER HAS ARISEN AND BEEN HEALED, AND IN THE PLACE OF THE ULCER A WHITE SCAR HAS APPEARED, OR SOMEWHAT REDDISH. — Nothing else is said here than that the leprosy already described in verse 3 and following can develop in ulcers (whether they arose spontaneously or were burned in), that is, in healed scars; nor is this surprising, because ulcers arise spontaneously in weak parts, due to bad humors sent into them, and parts that have once been ulcerated, although they may be covered with a scar, remain nevertheless weaker; wherefore the same ulcers are often renewed in those same parts, and the matter of leprosy emerges in the same area. Now the leprosy that arises here has the same signs as in other parts: namely, its first sign is a spreading spot; second, a place deeper than the surrounding skin; third, hairs changed to white: for these are the signs of true and malignant leprosy; the contrary are signs of a clean skin disease.
Note: "somewhat reddish" means somewhat red; because although the spot of leprosy in the surrounding skin is white, in the scar left from ulcers it sometimes becomes somewhat red, because the blood by which the part is nourished is poorly changed due to the weakness of that part, which is the cause of the spots. So Valesius.
Verse 23: The Scar Remains in Its Place
23. BUT IF IT HAS REMAINED IN ITS PLACE, IT IS THE SCAR OF THE ULCER, AND THE MAN SHALL BE CLEAN — because if it were leprosy, it would not stop but would spread; therefore what appears white or reddish in such a scar is from the preceding ulcer, and is not leprosy.
Verse 24: White or Reddish Marks from Burns
24. WHITE OR REDDISH — because if it were from a burn, it would be black; therefore since it is white or reddish, there is suspicion that it is leprosy.
Verse 28: The Mark of a Burn
28. BUT IF THE WHITE SPOT HAS REMAINED IN ITS PLACE AND IS NOT VERY BRIGHT (obscure, as he said shortly before), IT IS THE MARK OF A BURN — inflicted and left by a burn.
Tropologically, an ulcer signifies the corruption of shameful deeds, by which the appearance of human decency is violated; the mark of a burn signifies anger and envy: if these, having been healed, break out again and show a white spot, that is, the blandishments of pleasures, or a reddish one, that is, the bloody appearance of dissensions, the priest shall examine as above, etc.: for either spot can arise from either vice. So Radulphus.
Verse 29: The Fifth Species — Leprosy of the Head and Beard
29. A MAN OR WOMAN, IN WHOSE HEAD OR BEARD LEPROSY HAS SPROUTED — so that the leprosy of the skin and flesh reveals itself in the beard or hair: for that this leprosy is in the skin is clear from what follows, namely that it is lower than the surrounding flesh.
This is the fifth species, not a formal but a material kind of leprosy: namely leprosy of the beard and head, which is of the same form and nature as leprosy of other parts. Hence the signs of this are the same as those already described for the others, namely: leprosy that is lower than the surrounding skin, and changes the color of the hair, and spreads and creeps, is malignant; or also that which, when it seemed to be cleaned and cured, again emerges, returns, and creeps forward; but that which has the contrary of these signs is not malignant. The only difference is that in other parts leprosy changes the hairs to white, but in the beard and head it changes them to yellow and thin; the reason for this is that in leprosy of the head there usually develop achores (commonly called tinea), that is, certain small ulcers that ooze and drip a juice similar to thin honey: which clearly indicates that the skin of the head is also saturated with such corruption. Rightly therefore such hairs grow from there — thin, I say, and yellow — just as in other parts saturated with salty phlegm, white hairs grow. The cause of that corruption is the mixture of thin yellow bile with salty phlegm. Hence in those women who suffer from tinea, hairs similar to gold grow. So Valesius.
Tropologically, the previous forms of leprosy were vices of morals: but this one concerns faith, and is heresy, which like leprosy and like a cancer creeps, just as the mange of one sheep stains the whole flock; therefore this must be immediately removed and separated, as St. Jerome says on Galatians chapter 5: "A spark must be extinguished as soon as it appears, and leaven must be removed from the vicinity of the dough, putrid flesh must be cut away, and a scabby animal must be driven from the sheepfolds: lest the whole house, the whole lump, the whole body, and the whole flock burn, be corrupted, rot, and perish. Arius in Alexandria was one spark, but because he was not immediately suppressed, his flame devastated the whole world."
Gregory of Tours relates, in Book I of the Miracles of St. Martin, chapter 11, and from him Baronius at the year of Christ 560, that the king of Galicia, infected along with his subjects by the Arian heresy, was punished by God; for that region was struck with leprosy, and his son Charraricus began to be gravely ill, so that he was barely breathing. Therefore the father sent vows and gifts to St. Martin, and embraced his orthodox faith: thereupon his son was healed, and the plague of leprosy ceased: "Nor ever until now," says Gregory, "has the disease of leprosy appeared upon anyone."
Leprosy in the head, then, is error concerning the divinity of Christ; leprosy in the beard is blasphemy against the humanity of Christ and His Apostles or Prophets: for by the beard are signified perfect men, who cling to Christ as head like a beard, and most closely receive His influence; of whom it is said: "Like ointment on the head, which runs down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron." A yellow and thinner-than-usual hair is a proud thought and self-confidence: just as a black one is humility and obedience; a place lower than the flesh is an erroneous article of faith, which is far inferior to the truth of the Church. If the skin and the place are level, it must be shaved, that is, the faculty of disputing must be taken away from him, lest with a still weak intellect he presume to discuss such great mysteries, having already acknowledged the truth of the Church, in which he ought to rest and to which he ought to submit his own judgment. But the place of the spot is forbidden to be shaved, so that the memory of his error may be left to the man. So Radulphus and Isychius.
Again: Leprosy in the head is arrogance in the mind; for this is the origin of heresy. "In seven ways," says St. Bernard, Sermon 3 On the Resurrection of the Lord, "the leprosy of pride has seized us: first, in the ownership of possessions; second, in the glory of clothing; third, in the pleasure of bodies: in the mouth also in two ways, and likewise in the heart: in the mouth, fourth, when we murmur in adversity; and fifth, when we boastfully commend ourselves in prosperity: in the heart, sixth, one's own will; and seventh, one's own counsel" and judgment, which is the father of heresy. Furthermore, this leprosy especially invades the lowly and abject when they are raised to dignities and high positions, as experience teaches. "I have found that the most humble people, especially when they have attained to high places, are immoderate in pride and ambition. Hence Gaius Marius in the memory of our fathers, hence Diocletian in our own time, exceeded the common station, because a mind lacking power, as if fed by fasting, is insatiable," says Aurelius Victor, On the Caesars. St. Augustine says brilliantly, in On Catechizing the Uninstructed: "Great," he says, "is the misery of a proud man: but greater is the mercy of a humble God." And in Book XIV of the City of God: "I dare to say," he says, "that it is useful for the proud to fall into some open and manifest sin, so that they may displease themselves, who had already fallen by pleasing themselves. For more healthily did Peter displease himself when he wept, than he pleased himself when he presumed. Hence the Psalmist says: Fill their faces with shame, and they shall seek Your name, O Lord." And St. Bernard in an epistle: "Humility," he says, "makes men like angels, and pride makes demons out of angels: and, to show clearly, pride itself is the beginning, end, and cause of all sins; because not only is pride itself a sin, but no sin ever could, or can, or will be able to exist without pride."
Verse 33: He Shall Be Shaved
33. HE SHALL BE SHAVED — so that it may more clearly appear after seven days whether the leprosy has spread.
Verse 39: Vitiligo, Not Leprosy
39. A MAN OR WOMAN, IN WHOSE SKIN A WHITE SPOT HAS APPEARED. — Here is described vitiligo, that is, a simple spot of bright white color in the skin, which is not leprosy. Hence in Hebrew it is called bohac, that is, a freckle or vitiligo sprouting in the skin.
Verses 40-41: Baldness Is Clean
40 and 41. A MAN FROM WHOSE HEAD THE HAIR FALLS, IS BALD AND CLEAN: AND IF THE HAIR HAS FALLEN FROM THE FOREHEAD, HE IS FOREHEAD-BALD AND CLEAN. — "Forehead-bald" here means one whose hair falls toward the forehead; "bald" means one whose whole head is bare, so that he becomes entirely hairless on top. So Isychius and Radulphus, and it is clear from verse 55. The Chaldean and Septuagint also distinguish and name them thus.
Verses 42-43: The Sixth Species — Leprosy in Baldness
42 and 43. BUT IF IN THE BALD SPOT OR FOREHEAD-BALD AREA, A WHITE OR REDDISH COLOR HAS APPEARED, AND THE PRIEST HAS SEEN IT, HE SHALL CONDEMN HIM WITHOUT DOUBT OF LEPROSY. — For these white or reddish spots signify malignant humors that corrupt the roots of the hair, and such conditions sometimes occur in malignant alopecia, or ophiasis, that is, a shedding of hair from an abundance of phlegm or melancholy. Hence this malignant alopecia is numbered among the species of leprosy. So Valesius.
This is the sixth species of leprosy, namely that which is in the bald area.
Tropologically, the hairs signify earthly substance. The bald man, therefore, is he who gives it entirely to the poor; the forehead-bald man is he who retains it not for pleasure but for necessity: in these, a white color, that is, the desire for glory, or a red one, that is, the cruelty of robbery, can arise: for this leprosy arises from the very virtues, just as the preceding ones arose from vices. So Radulphus.
Verse 44: Five Commands for the Leper
44. WHOEVER THEREFORE HAS BEEN STAINED WITH LEPROSY. — Five things are here prescribed for the leper, so that by these, as by signs, he may be recognized, and others may beware of him lest they be infected by him: first, he shall have torn garments; second, a bare head; third, his mouth covered with a cloth; fourth, he shall cry out that he is contaminated and unclean; fifth, he shall dwell alone outside the camp.
Note: Some of these things are prescribed for the sake of the leper, some for the sake of others, and some for the sake of both. For the leper's sake, that he have torn garments and a bare, shaved head; so that by this means the putrid vapors of his body and head may escape. For the sake of others, that he have his mouth covered and cry out that he is a leper: for an unclean man can infect others by nothing more than by the breath and exhalation that passes through the mouth. For the sake of both, that he dwell outside the camp, alone of course, lest he harm others; and in the open air, so that he may be refreshed by it and gradually cured.
Torn Garments
45. HE SHALL HAVE TORN GARMENTS. — Hence Abulensis thinks that the garments of the Jews were formerly sewn on all sides, so that they put them on by placing them over the head through the collar; in the same way that the high priest put on the hyacinth tunic, Exodus 28:32; for this reason a torn garment is assigned here to the leper, because the healthy had sewn garments. But this reasoning is not conclusive: for the healthy could have had garments sewn at the sides but open at the chest, and fastened with knots, hooks, or ties; while lepers had to tear them open in various places and at the sides.
The Bare Head and Covered Mouth
A BARE HEAD. — Hence Abulensis thinks that the Jews went about with covered heads even in the temple, and thus prayed (whence the high priest in the temple covered his head with a turban), so that by the covered head they might signify their fear and subjection to the law, and that they ought to subject and wrap their head, as it were with a cap, under the law. On the contrary, in the new law we uncover our heads, as a sign of Christian liberty. Hence Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:4: "Every man," he says, "who prays with his head covered, disgraces his head."
HIS MOUTH COVERED WITH A CLOTH. — The Chaldean translates: his mouth shall be wrapped in a cloth like a mourner, not when he is alone, but when he approaches others whom he might infect with his breath, and then, not at other times, he shall do what follows.
HE SHALL CRY OUT THAT HE IS UNCLEAN. — Abulensis thinks that he is not commanded to cry out with his voice, but by the four signs already given. But this is not properly to cry out. Hence the Chaldean expressly translates: he shall cry out, Do not be contaminated, and do not be unclean.
Dwelling Alone Outside the Camp
46. HE SHALL DWELL ALONE OUTSIDE THE CAMP — in the desert, and outside the cities in Judea; understand this unless the person is very eminent. For Uzziah, struck with leprosy, was permitted, as king, to dwell in a separate house apart, 2 Kings 15:5: for this house of his was entirely separated from the people, as is said in 2 Chronicles 26:21. Hence it was as if he had dwelt outside the city. Although St. Chrysostom, Homilies 4 and 5 on Isaiah 6, teaches that the Jews sinned in that, out of reverence for the royal dignity, they did not expel King Uzziah far outside the city: and therefore God took away from them prophecy and prophets until the death of Uzziah; for then Isaiah began to prophesy: for in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw that illustrious vision which he describes in chapter 6, as is clear from verse 1 there. But this matter must be discussed in Isaiah.
Hence it is clear that what Manetho writes is false, as also other historians of the Gentiles, as Josephus attests, Book III of the Antiquities and Book VII of the Wars, that the Hebrews were a rabble of scabby and leprous people, whom therefore Moses, having been expelled from Egypt, led into Canaan, commanding them not to associate with foreigners, lest for the same reason they should become hateful to the Canaanites. For if they themselves had been merely a rabble of lepers, how would God have commanded them to separate lepers from their community?
God wished lepers to live outside the camp, both lest they infect others, and so that in this solitude, destitute of all things, they might learn to have recourse to God, and say to Him: "To You the poor man is left; You shall be a helper to the orphan." That holy Abbot in the desert learned this, who, as we read in the Lives of the Fathers, when he had been leprous for sixty years, and money was brought to him by someone to sustain himself, he rejected it saying: "After sixty years you come to take away my nourisher? Behold, having spent so much time in my infirmity, I have lacked nothing, God providing for and feeding me." And from this it may have come about that lepers, even if they are wealthy, live not on their own bread but on begged bread, and then are less tormented by their leprosy (if what they themselves assert is true). For begged bread is the bread of God and of the angels (as St. Francis says), who urge the charitable to give it and the poor to ask for it.
Tropologically, Radulphus says: The body of lepers is uncovered when their iniquity is revealed; the head is bared when the origin and root of their perversity is exposed; they cry out that they are contaminated, if not by their own confession, since they are obstinate, at least by the confession of their works; their mouths are stopped when, with everyone abhorring their conversation, the ability to administer poison is taken from them.
These things apply to all sins, but especially to heresy. For one Luther, one Calvin, because he was not separated, did he not infect many kingdoms with his leprosy and heresy? So the fornicator, so the drunkard, rubs his leprosy and vice on those with whom he associates. "He who touches pitch shall be defiled by it; and he who associates with a proud man shall put on pride," says Ecclesiasticus, chapter 13; and: "He who walks with the wise shall be wise; a friend of fools shall become like them." Hear the remarkable counsel of Seneca, Epistle 104: "If you wish," he says, "to be stripped of vices, you must withdraw far from the examples of vices." Again: "The swelling will cling to you as long as you associate with a proud man; avarice will cling as long as you live with a miser; the companionship of adulterers will inflame your lusts. Live with the Catos, with Socrates, associate with Zeno."
Verse 47: The Seventh Species — Leprosy of Garments
47. A WOOLEN OR LINEN GARMENT THAT HAS HAD LEPROSY. — This is the seventh species of leprosy, but an analogous one, namely leprosy of a garment or house, of which chapter 14, verse 35.
One may ask, what was this leprosy, and whence did it arise? Valesius answers that leprosy is a contagious disease, no less than the plague; just as therefore we see that the seeds of plague commonly adhere to clothes, bedrooms, houses, cups, and dishes (for through all these things infection happens to be spread): so it is established that leprosy also can adhere to a garment and a house, and that a house and garment can be, just as they can be pestilential, so also leprous. Again, just as a house or garment becomes pestilential, so also it becomes leprous in one of two ways. First, from the infection and corruption of the air; for just as garments contract moth-damage from the air, when they are covered with mold and not aired out, so also plague and leprosy. In the same way we see garments, wood, and walls rot when the south wind blows, but be freed from rot when the north wind blows; and for this reason women customarily stretch out their garments hanging in the north wind, so that they may be kept uncorrupted. Second, from the contact or contagion of a leper; now all contagion occurs either through breath, or through the exhalation and evaporation of putrid vapors, which happens through the pores of the whole body, especially through sweat. Thus we see a mirror stained with a blood-red color by a menstruating woman, because from her eyes certain vapors go forth, and with them thin bloody moistures, which condense on the mirror so that a blood-red color appears in it.
By these means, therefore, lepers can infect garments and houses, and breathe leprosy upon them. Hence it will be expedient for them to change both their garments and their houses, and to live in pure and open air; for although living things are of a different nature and temperament from inanimate things, nevertheless because of the common nature by which both are subject to putrefaction, they can mutually communicate and rub off corruptions that are not entirely similar but analogous, namely certain corrosive or putrefactive qualities, which eat away and corrupt a garment and a house just as they do a man.
Therefore the best remedy for healing all skin diseases, says Valesius, is to use new garments, very clean or frequently washed, to such a degree that cleanliness alone is usually sufficient for a cure: hence in the following chapter repeated washing is prescribed in the purification of the leper, verses 8 and 9. Just as conversely those who use already dirty and rotting garments are rarely free from scabies, itching, and lice; for just as a garment can receive infection from the skin, so the skin can receive infection from the garment, and each can rot separately, and when both are dirty, they cause each other to rot together.
Finally, in woolen or leather garments there is a certain peculiar cause, on account of the diseases of the animals from which the wool or hides were taken; for it is well known that garments from the wool of dead animals breed lice: in the same way they also produce other infections of diseases.
Second, and better, others with Theodoret, Question 17, think differently about this leprosy, namely that God formerly, when the Jews sinned, used to inflict this leprosy upon their garments or houses, so that through it He might recall the owners to health of mind; and therefore this leprosy was not so much natural as a plague sent by God. It seems therefore that this leprosy was a moth-damage, or a certain corrosive quality (such as is in salt, niter, and vitriol, which eat through and perforate both garments, and tin, and iron), or a corrupting quality, and one that crept forward, inflicted upon the garments and houses of the Jews by God either directly or through secondary causes, and therefore it seems to have been almost peculiar to Judea and the Jews, and almost unknown to other nations. That this is so is proved: first, because we now know of no leprosy in houses or garments; for houses and garments are not naturally accustomed to be infected with leprosy, and therefore are not capable of leprosy. Second, because we now observe that leprosy in a leper does not spread to his garments and house; otherwise all the garments of lepers would be infected, corroded, and rotted by leprosy, the contrary of which we see. Third, plague does not inhere in or infect a garment or house so as to kill and consume it, as it kills a man; but it only adheres to the garment and house, and renders it pestilential to man, so that a man contracts from it the pestilential vapors that adhere to it, and is infected and consumed by plague; therefore likewise leprosy does not inhere; but only adheres to the garment or house, and does not make it leprous, but can only breathe leprosy upon a man; but formerly leprosy inhered in the house and garment, and truly made it leprous: therefore a house was then called pestilential for one reason, and leprous for another; for it was called pestilential causally, but leprous formally. Fourth, because in the following chapter, verse 34, this leprosy of houses is called a plague, namely sent by God: for this is what the Hebrew expressly signifies there, which reads thus: if I shall give (namely I, God) the plague of leprosy.
Finally, although we now experience decay in wood, lime, and stones, we nevertheless recognize no leprosy in them such as would also attack, corrode, and consume even new and solid stones, as this leprosy of the Jews did, as is clear from the following chapter, verse 44, where all stones infected with leprosy are ordered to be removed from the house and new ones substituted, and if these are afterwards found infected with leprosy, the house is ordered to be demolished.
Whence this infection of new stones? Certainly not from the rubbing of old ones, which have already been removed from all around; therefore from God and from divine vengeance; therefore this leprosy was not so much natural as a work and plague of God: I confess, however, that God could have used (in His customary way) secondary causes in inflicting this plague, such as corrupted air, contact with a leper, and similar things, as Valesius explained shortly before; but in such a way that all these things did not have the proper and adequate power to produce leprosy in garments and houses, unless God singularly concurred and worked. I speak of proper and perfect leprosy; for if by leprosy you understand merely some moth-damage of garments or decay of wood and stones, we know that these can come from purely natural causes; and this same leprosy is also understood here, and was to be judged according to the signs and marks here prescribed. But Scripture here speaks more of perfect leprosy, sent by God, as I have said.
Tropologically, a leprous garment, that is, a heretical book and writing, must be burned and destroyed. So Radulphus. Second, more generally and beautifully, the same Radulphus says: Our garment is the works of justice; of which it is said in Psalm 132:9: "Let Your priests be clothed with justice," by which the soul both acquires an honorable reputation outwardly and nourishes its conscience inwardly before God; and it is twofold: linen, that is, spiritual, such as meditation, prayer, and reading; and woolen, that is, corporal, such as works of mercy. The warp of our garment (concerning which see the last verse and verse 55, according to the Septuagint) is the intention, which stands when it is directed toward God and heavenly things. The weft is the perseverance in works, which under this intention are labored at in different times: for this, after the manner of the weft, successively seeks different sides, now transferring itself to the right of contemplation, now to the left of action. The skin is the mortification of the flesh. In all of these, white leprosy can arise, that is, vainglory; or reddish leprosy, that is, malicious envy.
Finally, leprosy of the flesh is lust and gluttony: the remedy for this is the meditation on death and hell, so that a man may think on that saying of St. Augustine, Treatise On the Virtue of a Woman, chapter 3: "What delights quickly passes away, and what torments remains without end." Leprosy of the garment is the splendor and luxury of clothing; for in garments one should seek warmth, not color; necessity, not price; utility, not refinement: the remedy is to consider that the adornment of a man consists in good morals and modesty of dress. Hence Clement of Alexandria, from the Tablet of Cebes, Book II, chapter 10, paints these images of virtue and vice: he depicts virtue standing simply, clothed in a white and pure garment, adorned with modesty alone. Wickedness, on the contrary, he depicts clothed in superfluous and varied garments, and exulting in borrowed color. I praise, says Clement, the Spartans, who allowed only prostitutes to wear flowery garments and golden ornaments, taking from virtuous women the pursuit of adornment, since they would grant only to prostitutes the right to adorn themselves. Leprosy of the house is the evil morals of children and servants: these must be restrained by the father of the family with discipline, and virtue must be introduced into the house through good education; for, as St. Cyprian says, in the book On the Dress of Virgins: "Discipline is the guardian of hope, the bridle of faith, the guide of the path of salvation, the fuel and nourishment of a good character, the teacher of virtue; it makes one always remain in Christ, and continually live for God." On the contrary, "when discipline is suppressed, wickedness rages with impunity," says St. Augustine, Sermon 15 On the Words of the Lord.
IT SHALL BE CONSIDERED LEPROSY — if it has remained after it was shown to the priest.
Verse 55: The Former Appearance
55. ITS FORMER APPEARANCE HAS NOT RETURNED. — "Former," which namely the garment had before it was infected with leprosy; for the mark remaining in it indicates that it is leprosy, for otherwise it would have changed color in some way. Hence it follows:
BECAUSE THE LEPROSY HAS BEEN POURED INTO THE SURFACE OF THE GARMENT, OR THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE. — Lyranus thinks our version is corrupted here: for instead of "in the surface, or throughout the whole," the Hebrew has "in the baldness or forehead-baldness." But I say this is a Hebrew metaphor. For the Hebrews attribute to a house what belongs to a man, namely hands, feet, head, baldness; just as they call it "baldness" when the whole surface of the head is hairless, and "forehead-baldness" when only the front part near the forehead is bald, as is clear from verse 41: so also in garments, "forehead-baldness" signifies its outer surface, for this is as it were its front; while "baldness" signifies its inner surface, which is as it were its back. Hence the Septuagint translates "in the warp or the weft," as the Hebrew, Latin, and Chaldean also have, in the last verse in the recapitulation of leprosy of garments: hence Vatablus also translates "in the front or back part of the garment"; and the Chaldean, "in its old or new part": for the front part of the garment, because it is worn and handled, becomes older; while the interior part, because it is not touched or worn, remains as if new.
Verse 56: Tearing Out the Leprous Part
56. BUT IF THE PLACE OF THE LEPROSY HAS BECOME DARKER (if the leprosy in the house appears to be growing dim), HE SHALL TEAR IT OUT. — So tropologically it is expedient for a man to be deprived of that office on account of which the leprosy of pride is dimmed. Hence St. Benedict in his Rule commands that if a monk is puffed up by some craft or office, he be torn from it and assigned to another, says Radulphus.
Verse 57: Spreading Leprosy Must Be Burned
57. BUT IF IT APPEARS FURTHER, etc., THE SPREADING AND WANDERING LEPROSY (similar to that in a man, of which verse 12) MUST BE BURNED WITH FIRE. — From the mystical sense of this passage, Tertullian, in the book On Modesty, chapter 21, tries to prove that adulterers who have relapsed are not to be readmitted to penance; for this is mystically what is said here, that a garment, if leprosy appears in it again, must be burned, because it is a sign of persisting leprosy, that is, of perseverance in the sin of adultery: for this is leprosy.
But from this it can only be inferred that the adulterer is not to be received as long as the leprosy, that is, the adultery, appears in him. For if this is removed through repentance, there will no longer be in him a leprosy to be burned, but the purity of his penance is to be embraced by the Church.
Verse 59: The Law of Leprosy of Garments
59. HOW IT OUGHT TO BE CLEANSED OR CONTAMINATED — that is, how it ought to be considered and judged clean or contaminated; for these two words are so understood throughout the whole chapter.
Symbolic: Leprosy as a Type of Christ's Passion
Symbolically, the leprosy described in this chapter was a type of the flesh of Christ, torn apart and disfigured by scourges and blows. For Christ took upon Himself our leprosy, that is, our sin, to atone for it, whence on the cross He was made as it were a leper. For thus Isaiah says, chapter 53, verse 4: "We esteemed Him as a leper, and struck by God, and humiliated," and this first, because just as a leper, spotted with leprosy over his whole body, strikes horror into those who behold him: so Christ, livid with scourges and wounds over His whole body, moved both horror and compassion in those who beheld Him, so that Pilate rightly, presenting Him to the Jews, said: "Behold the man."
Second, the leper had torn garments: so the soldiers tore the garments, and indeed the flesh, of Christ.
Third, the leper had a bare head: so Christ had a bare head, but crowned with a crown of thorns.
Fourth, the leper had his mouth covered with a cloth; of Christ, Isaiah says: "His face was as it were hidden"; and again: "Like a lamb before its shearer He shall be silent, and shall not open His mouth."
Fifth, the leper had to cry out that he was leprous and unclean; what does Christ, all covered in blood, cry out? Nothing but: "O all you who pass by the way, attend, and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow!"
Sixth, the flesh of a leper was most vile and abject; Christ says: "I am a worm, and not a man; the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." Christ was like St. Job who, sitting on the dung-heap, was not recognized by his friends, because "there was no comeliness in Him," and He was despised, and the lowest of men.
Seventh, the proud were customarily punished with leprosy; and Christ bore the appearance, as it were, of our pride's leprosy, and cured it by His abjection: for by His bruise the wound of our pride was healed.
Eighth, lepers were driven from the city, no one deigned to grant them entrance, meeting, or conversation, everyone spurned them and fled from them as from a plague: so Christ, as if a leper, was cast out of the gate and crucified, Hebrews 13:12, and Psalm 38:12: "My friends and my neighbors drew near against me" (the Hebrew reads: over against my wound; St. Jerome translates: as if they stood against my leprosy), "and those who were near me stood far off."