Leviticus 13:45

Summary

Leviticus 13:45 describes the required outward state of a person afflicted with the skin condition tzaru'a ("one who is afflicted", H6879): torn garments, unbound hair, a covered upper lip, and the verbal declaration "unclean, unclean" repeated aloud.

Key words

• tzaru'a ("[one] who has a serious skin disease", H6879) — qal passive participle, masculine singular; names the subject not by an active verb but by the state inflicted upon him.
• nega ("plague", H5061) — the noun for the affliction itself, referred to via the relative clause "whom the nega is on him" ('asher bo ha-nega).
• ferumim ("torn", H6533) — qal passive participle, masculine plural, agreeing with "his garments" (begadav); describes the required condition of the clothing, not an action he performs.
• paru'a ("let loose", H6544B) — qal passive participle, masculine singular, paired with rosho ("his head"); denotes hair left unbound/loosened.
• yiqra ("he will call out", H7121I) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular; the final verb governing the doubled cry tame' tame' ("unclean", H2931 repeated).

What the text says

The verse opens with the subject ha-tzaru'a modified by a relative clause, 'asher bo ha-nega ("whom the plague is on him"), which restates the affliction using the noun nega rather than repeating the participle. The main body of the verse consists of three parallel clauses, each built with a body part or possession as topic followed by yihyeh ("it will be", H1961, qal imperfect) plus a passive participle: "his garments will be ferumim", "his head will be paru'a", and — shifting to an active verb — "he will cover (ya'teh, H5844A) over the safam" (H8222, "moustache/upper lip"). The switch from passive participles (describing states of the clothes and hair) to an active imperfect verb for the mouth-covering marks a shift from passive description to a required action taken by the person himself.

The verse closes with the adjective tame' (H2931) doubled — tame' tame' — before the single verb yiqra. The repetition of the identical adjective, rather than a single occurrence, is the marked feature of the Hebrew here.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew specifies covering over the safam ("moustache/upper lip", H8222); the LXX renders this as covering peri to stoma ("around the mouth"), and the Vulgate as os veste contectum ("mouth covered by a garment") — both broaden the specific term "moustache" to the more general "mouth." For rosho paru'a ("his head let loose/unbound"), the LXX gives hē kephalē autou akalyptos ("his head uncovered"), and the Vulgate caput nudum ("head bare") — both shift from "unbound/loosened" to "uncovered/bare." Where the Hebrew repeats the same adjective tame' tame', the Vulgate uses two different words, contaminatum ac sordidum ("contaminated and dirty"), rather than repeating one term.