Leviticus 13:5

The main purpose of isolating someone was to find out if a person was sick. It gave the priest time to watch the person’s symptoms.

a skin disease: The Hebrew word tsaraʿat refers to more than Hansen’s disease (leprosy), which is rare and severely disfiguring. In Leviticus, the word describes many different conditions. These include:

• an open sore (13:10),

• a boil (13:18),

• a burn (13:24),

• a sore on the head or chin (13:29),

• shiny white patches (13:38), or

• unusual baldness (13:40).

A key test was whether the condition spread to other parts of the body (13:5–8). If it did, they quarantined the person while the disorder lasted (13:46). Not only people, but also clothing and even buildings could become infected (13:47–59; 14:33–53).

Regarding regulations for infections, the idea of "normal" and "abnormal" is important (see “Clean, Unclean, and Holy” Theme Note). Infections in people, clothing, or buildings are not normal. They indicate disease and death. This is the opposite of wholeness. So, infections make a person ceremonially unclean.