Leviticus 13:47-52
Impurity can affect not only people but also possessions, requiring careful discernment and decisive action.
47 “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment;
48 whether it is in warp or woof; of linen or of wool; whether in a leather, or in anything made of leather;
49 if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the leather, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of leather; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest.
50 The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days.
51 He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean.
52 He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, in which the plague is, for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.
Impurity can affect not only people but also possessions, requiring careful discernment and decisive action.
This passage introduces regulations for diagnosing defiling mildew in garments and fabrics, extending the purity system beyond the human body to objects within the covenant community.
This unit occurs within the extensive diagnostic complex of Leviticus 13 and 14. It immediately follows the detailed legal instructions regarding the diagnosis, exclusion, and social containment of human skin diseases in verses 1-46. The passage shifts from corporate, personal diagnoses to environmental contaminants, focusing specifically on woven fabrics and leather goods. It precedes the instructions for cleansing garments that can be salvaged in verses 53-59, and it logically prepares the reader for the diagnosis of contaminated structural houses outlined in Leviticus 14.
The wilderness encampment of Israel, structured symmetrically around the tabernacle, where the immediate presence of God dictates absolute institutional purity.
Priestly Examination of Skin Disease, Uncleanness, and Contaminated Garments
The holy LORD requires His priests to discern clean from unclean carefully, protecting both His holy dwelling and His covenant community from defiling conditions.