Lexicon
צָרַ֫עַת
tsa.ra.at
H6883
H:N-F Hebrew

leprosy

35
Occurrences
4
Books
Hebrew
Language

tsa.ra.at denotes a condition or plague identified in persons and also in garments and houses.

The term most often identifies a bodily condition examined by priests, marked by visible features, spread, uncleanness, healing, or purification. The same noun also labels a plague found in garments and skin articles, and in a house, where inspection determines whether the object or house is unclean.

Senses in use

  1. Bodily condition subject to priestly examination · dominant

    In Leviticus 13:2, the feminine singular absolute noun occurs where an elevation, scab, or bright spot in a person's skin becomes a plague and the person is brought to a priest. Leviticus 13:25 and Leviticus 13:27 place it in rulings about white hair, a deeper appearance, or spreading in the skin, followed by a declaration of uncleanness; Leviticus 14:3 speaks of the plague having been healed from the affected person.

  2. Plague affecting garments or skin articles · occasional

    In Leviticus 13:47, the feminine singular absolute noun identifies a plague in a wool or flax garment. Leviticus 13:49 and Leviticus 13:51 describe its appearance or spread in a garment, skin, warp, or mixture; the APB renders the latter clause as a plague that is unclean, and Leviticus 13:52 orders the affected item burned.

  3. Plague found in a house · rare

    In Leviticus 14:34, the feminine singular absolute noun occurs in the statement that a plague will be placed in a house in the land of possession. Leviticus 14:44 describes the priest's inspection: if the plague has spread in the house, the APB renders it as a malign condition and declares the house unclean.

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses “leprosy,” often within phrases such as “plague of leprosy,” and also uses “malign leprosy” for garments and a house. These renderings confirm the clauses' overall presentation rather than fixing a separate English equivalent in every instance.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture