Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Leviticus

[Greggy]

why does God in leviticus 14:34 and onward say he will put leprosy in a house and then say how to treat it?

Does he just mean in case of a punishment on the people, this is how to deal with the aftermath? or maybe does he just mean if he allows it to fall upon them, that is how they would deal with the aftermath?

[jimwalton]

The term is more accurately understood as fungus or mold in a house.

In the ancient world, such fungal infections were perceived to be an ill omen sent by the gods. Mesopotamian rituals target fungus growths in a number of different contexts. The wall containing the fungus was believed to be the indicator of which member of the family would die. The fungus was an omen of the coming of demons and their troubles.

There is no notion of any of that understanding here in Israel. Instead, the laws of Leviticus 14.34-35 pertain to ritual procedures to cleanse the house of the mold. It was a health problem and nothing pertaining to individual sin or an infliction that God had caused. If it were a sin problem, the text would specify what sacrifices or ritual bathing were necessary for the individual to become ritually clean. Instead, it's about the house. The infection has been diagnosed and treated in a practical, even scientific, way. Human causality is not indicted.