Leviticus 13:32

Summary

The verse describes the priest's examination of a skin condition (nethek, "scall") on the seventh day, checking three specific signs: whether it has spread, whether yellow hair has appeared in it, and whether it appears deeper than the surrounding skin.

Key words

• ra.'Ah ("he will see", H7200G) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative chain of priestly actions begun in earlier verses; functions as "he shall examine."
• ne.Ga' ("plague", H5061) — masculine singular noun with definite article and object marker, naming the general skin affliction under observation.
• fa.Sah ("it has spread", H6581) — qal perfect (completed aspect), negated by lo' ("not", H3808), stating that the spreading has not occurred by this point in time.
• Ne.tek ("scall", H5424) — masculine singular noun, repeated twice (items 17 and 28), the specific technical term for this type of skin condition, distinct from the general nega'.
• 'a.Mok ("[is] deep", H6013) — adjective describing depth, negated by the construct 'ein ("not", H0369), forming the phrase "there is no deepness."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on ra.'Ah, continuing the sequential action of the priest's inspection process established in the surrounding legal text. The object of his inspection, ha-nega' ("the plague"), is marked with the definite article and the object marker 'et, indicating a specific, previously introduced condition. The temporal phrase ba-yom ha-shevi'i ("on the seventh day") sets the timing of this second examination.

The core of the verse consists of three parallel negated clauses introduced by ve-hinneh ("and behold"), each checking a diagnostic criterion using perfect-tense verbs to describe completed (non-)events: lo'-fasah ha-netek ("the scall has not spread"), lo'-hayah bo se'ar tzahov ("there was no yellow hair in it"), and the final nominal clause mar'eh ha-netek 'ein 'amok min-ha-'or ("the appearance of the scall is not deep from the skin"). This last clause uses the construct noun 'ein rather than a finite verb, producing a static, descriptive negation rather than an active one — grammatically distinct from the two preceding verbal negations with lo'. The construct form mar'eh ha-netek ("appearance of the scall") ties the visual assessment specifically to how the netek looks in relation to the surrounding 'or ("skin", H5785), using the comparative preposition min ("more than", H4480A).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew netek ("scall") with the Greek term for "the fracture/outbreak" (θραῦσμα), a different image than the Hebrew term, which specifically denotes a scaly or scabby condition. The Vulgate's macula ("spot") is a more generic term than the Hebrew netek, losing the specificity of the Hebrew technical vocabulary for this skin condition.