Leviticus 13:20

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and the Kohen shall examine it; and, behold, if the appearance of it is lower than the skin, and the hair of it has turned white, then the Kohen shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil.

King James Version
And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.

Lexham English Bible
And the priest shall examine it, and if its appearance is deeper than the skin and its hair has changed to white, then the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease; it has broken out in the skin sore.

New Century Version
And the priest must look at it. If the spot seems deeper than the skin and the hair on it has become white, the priest must announce that the person is unclean. The spot is a harmful skin disease that has broken out from inside the boil.

New English Translation
The priest will then examine it, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. It is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil.

Amplified Bible
and the priest shall look, and if it looks deeper than the skin and the hair on it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil.

New American Standard Bible
and the priest shall look, and behold, if it appears to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the infection of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And when the Priest seeth it, if it appeare lower then the skinne, and the heare thereof bee changed into white, ye Priest then shal pronounce him vncleane: for it is a plague of leprosie, broken out in the bile.

Legacy Standard Bible
and the priest shall look, and behold, if it appears to be lower than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the infection of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil.

Contemporary English Version
If he discovers that the hair in the infected area has turned white and that the infection seems more than skin deep, he will say, "This is leprosy—you are unclean."

Complete Jewish Bible
The cohen is to examine it; if he sees that it appears to be more than skin-deep, and its hair has turned white, then the cohen is to pronounce him unclean — the disease of tzara‘at has broken out in the boil.

Darby Translation
and the priest shall look on it, and behold, it looketh deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof is turned white; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the sore of leprosy broken out in the boil.

Easy-to-Read Version
The priest must look at it. If the swelling is deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has become white, the priest must announce that the person is unclean. The spot is leprosy that has broken out from inside the boil.

English Standard Version
And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil.

George Lamsa Translation
And when the priest sees it, if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; for it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.

Good News Translation
The priest shall examine you, and if the spot seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it have turned white, he shall pronounce you unclean. It is a dreaded skin disease that has started in the boil.

Christian Standard Bible®
The priest will make an examination, and if the spot seems to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a case of serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil.

Literal Translation
And the priest shall look; and, behold, if its appearance is lower than the skin, and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the plague of leprosy; it has broken out in a boil.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So whan the prest, seyeth, that it appeareth to be lower then the other ßkynne, and the hayre turned to whyte, then shall he iudge him vncleane, for it is surely a plage of leprosye broken out of the byle.

American Standard Version
and the priest shall look; and, behold, if the appearance thereof be lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy, it hath broken out in the boil.

Bible in Basic English
And after looking at it, if it seems to go deeper than the skin, and the hair on it is turned white, then the priest will say that the man is unclean: it is the leper's disease, it has come out in the bad place.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And yf when the priest seeth hym, it appeare lower then the skynne, and the heere therof be chaunged vnto whyte, the priest shall iudge hym vncleane: for it is a plagne of leprosie, broken out of the byle.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the priest shall look; and, behold, if the appearance thereof be lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy, it hath broken out in the boil.

King James Version (1611)
And if when the Priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower then the skinne, and the haire thereof be turned white, the Priest shall pronounce him vncleane: it is a plague of leprosie broken out of the bile.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
then the priest shall look, and, behold, if the appearance be beneath the skin, and its hair has changed to white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; because it is a leprosy, it has broken out in the ulcer.

English Revised Version
and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the appearance thereof be lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy, it hath broken out in the boil.

Berean Standard Bible
The priest shall examine it, and if it appears to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and whanne the preest seeth the place of lepre lowere than the tother fleisch, and the heeris turned in to whijtnesse, the preest schal defoule hym; for the wounde of lepre is bred in the botche.

Young's Literal Translation
and the priest hath seen, and lo, its appearance [is] lower than the skin, and its hair hath turned white, and the priest hath pronounced him unclean; it [is] a plague of leprosy -- in an ulcer it hath broken out.

Update Bible Version
and the priest shall look; and see if the appearance thereof is lower than the skin, and the hair thereof has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it [is] in sight lower than the skin, and the hair of it [is] turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it [is] a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.

World English Bible
and the priest shall examine it; and, behold, if the appearance of it is lower than the skin, and the hair of it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil.

New King James Version
and if, when the priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore which has broken out of the boil.

New Living Translation
If the priest examines it and finds it to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair in the affected area has turned white, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. The boil has become a serious skin disease.

New Life Bible
If the religious leader finds that it is under the skin and that the hair on it has become white, the religious leader will say he is unclean. It is the bad skin disease. It has broken out in the sore.

New Revised Standard
The priest shall make an examination, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; this is a leprous disease, broken out in the boil.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the priest shall take a view and lo! if the appearance thereof, is lower than the skin, and, the hair thereof, hath turned white, then shall the priest pronounce him unclean - the plague-spot of leprosy, it, is, in the boil, broken out.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the other flesh, and the hair turned white: he shall declare him unclean, for the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer.

Revised Standard Version
and the priest shall make an examination, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and the priest shall look, and behold, if it appears to be lower than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the infection of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸"When a person has a boil and it heals and in place of the boil there is white swelling or a reddish-white shiny spot, the person must present himself to the priest for an examination. If it looks like it has penetrated the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest will pronounce him unclean. It is a serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil. But if the examination shows that there is no white hair in it and it is only skin deep and has faded, the priest will put him in quarantine for seven days. If it then spreads over the skin, the priest will diagnose him as unclean. It is infectious. But if the shiny spot has not changed and hasn't spread, it's only a scar from the boil. The priest will pronounce him clean. ²⁴"When a person has a burn on his skin and the raw flesh turns into a reddish-white or white shiny spot, the priest is to examine it. If the hair has turned white in the shiny spot and it looks like it's more than skin deep, a serious skin disease has erupted in the area of the burn. The priest will pronounce him unclean; it is a serious skin disease and infectious. But if on examination there is no white hair in the shiny spot and it doesn't look to be more than skin deep but has faded, the priest will put him in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day the priest will reexamine him. If by then it has spread over the skin, the priest will diagnose him as unclean; it is a serious skin disease and infectious. If by that time the shiny spot has stayed the same and has not spread but has faded, it is only a swelling from the burn. The priest will pronounce him clean; it's only a scar from the burn. ²⁹"If a man or woman develops a sore on the head or chin, the priest will offer a diagnosis. If it looks as if it is under the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, he will pronounce the person ritually unclean. It is an itch, an infectious skin disease. But if when he examines the itch, he finds it is only skin deep and there is no black hair in it, he will put the person in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day he will reexamine the sore; if the itch has not spread, there is no yellow hair in it, and it looks as if the itch is only skin deep, the person must shave, except for the itch; the priest will send him back to quarantine for another seven days. If the itch has not spread, and looks to be only skin deep, the priest will pronounce him clean. The person can go home and wash his clothes; he is clean. But if the itch spreads after being pronounced clean, the priest must reexamine it; if the itch has spread in the skin, he doesn't have to look any farther, for yellow hair, for instance; he is unclean. But if he sees that the itch is unchanged and black hair has begun to grow in it, the itch is healed. The person is clean and the priest will pronounce him clean.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in sight: Leviticus 13:3, Matthew 12:45, John 5:14, 2 Peter 2:20

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:37 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if, when the priest seeth it,.... And has thoroughly viewed it and considered it:

behold, it [be] in sight lower than the skin; having eaten into and taken root in the flesh under the skin:

and the hair thereof be turned white; which are the signs of leprosy before given, Leviticus 13:3;

the priest shall pronounce him unclean; not fit for company and conversation, but obliged to conform to the laws concerning leprosy:

it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil; which was there before: this is an emblem of apostates and apostasy, who having been seemingly healed and cleansed, return to their former course of life, and to all the impurity of it, like the dog to its vomit, and the swine to its wallowing in the mire, Proverbs 26:11; and so their last state is worse than the first, Matthew 12:45, as in this case; at first it was a boil, and then thought to be cured, and afterwards arises out of it a plague of leprosy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Lower than the skin - Rather, reaching below the scarf skin.