Lev 13:11 | NETfull | STEP | it is a chronic disease on the skin of his body, so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. The priest must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean.

Leviticus 13:11

11 it is a chronic ^{▼▼ The term rendered here “chronic” is a Niphal participle meaning “grown old” (HALOT 448 s.v. II ישׁן nif.2). The idea is that this is an old enduring skin disease that keeps on developing or recurring.} disease on the skin of his body, ^{▼▼ Heb “in the skin of his flesh” as opposed to the head or the beard (v. 29; cf. v. 2 above).} so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. ^{▼▼ This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).} The priest ^{▼▼ Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean. ^{▼▼ Instead of just the normal quarantine isolation, this condition calls for the more drastic and enduring response stated in Lev 13:45–46. Raw flesh, of course, sometimes oozes blood to one degree or another, and blood flows are by nature impure (see, e.g., Lev 12 and 15; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 191).}