Essay for Deuteronomy 24:8
הִשָּׁ֧מֶר בְּנֶֽגַע־הַצָּרַ֛עַת לִשְׁמֹ֥ר מְאֹ֖ד וְלַעֲשׂ֑וֹת כְּכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁר־יוֹר֨וּ אֶתְכֶ֜ם הַכֹּהֲנִ֧ים הַלְוִיִּ֛ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּיתִ֖ם תִּשְׁמְר֥וּ לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ (ס)
Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you, as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.
The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox
As detailed in Lev. 13–15, tzaraat was some kind of skin condition that rendered a person temporarily unfit to be in the sacred camp. It was formerly identified with, and translated as, leprosy, but that is now felt to be incorrect by virtually all scholars. The law recurs here, among examples of injustice, because the disease was often viewed as the result of a person’s wrongful behaviors.
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