Comentário sobre Levítico 13:12

מראשו FROM THE HEAD of the man ועד רגליו AND UNTO HIS FEET,

AND IF THE LEPROSY BREAK OUT ABROAD IN THE SKIN, AND THE LEPROSY COVER ALL THE SKIN OF THE PLAGUE¹⁰²It is clear from Ramban’s words further on, that he interpreted the Hebrew eth kol or hanega literally: “all the skin of the plague.” It is generally translated though: “all the skin of him that hath the plague.” As explained further, Ramban also understands the verse to apply only where the leprosy covered the whole body, while the expression all the skin of the plague serves to teach us some new matter, as stated in the text. FROM HIS HEAD EVEN TO HIS FOOT … [HE IS CLEAN]. Now the breaking out of the leprosy is not deemed a symptom of purity, until it spreads over the entire body, except for the places which the Sages enumerated in the Mishnah,¹⁰³Negaim 8:5. which do not prevent a person who has turned completely white [from being pronounced pure]. If so, what is the meaning of the phrase all the skin of the plague [which would indicate that only the area of the plague need be turned white]? Rather, the meaning thereof is as follows: “and the leprosy cover all the skin of the plague and from his head even to his foot.” Scripture is thus stating that the place of the plague and the whole body have turned white, but if the whole body has become white, and the appearance of [the area of] the plague has turned to bohak¹⁰⁴Further, Verse 39. “Lentil-like spots, and between the spots the flesh shows bright with a pure brightness” (Rashi, ibid.). Now the verse there concludes that bohak is pure. But Ramban here points out that if the leprosy broke out and covered all the person’s body, except that the original place of the plague turned into bohak, he is impure, since before the rule of the present verse applies, the leprosy must spread also to cover the skin of the plague. The same rule applies even if the skin of the plague became completely healed, as mentioned next in the text. or it became healed, the person is impure.

ואם פרוח תפרח הצרעת, וגו., “if the tzoraat will erupt on the skin, etc.” the Torah describes a continuous spread of the affliction until eventually the entire skin of the body is covered with that affliction. When the Torah used the expression את כל עור הנגע, “the entire skin of the affliction,” an expression that seems somewhat confusing, it means that the entire area of the body’s skin, including head and feet, is covered with the affliction. If the area where the affliction had started either did not turn properly white, or became healthy looking again the person is ritually unclean. According to the plain meaning of the text the reason for the apparent paradox that when covered with the affliction from head to toe, the affected person is considered ritually pure, is that the very spread over the entire body of this affliction is a sign that it does not penetrate further into the body, proof that the person is on the way to a complete recovery, seeing the problem is only skin-deep.