Tzaraath (Hebrew: ṣāraʿaṯ), variously transcribed into English and frequently translated as leprosy (though it is not Hansen's disease, the disease known as "leprosy" in modern times), is a term used in the Bible to describe various ritually impure disfigurative conditions of the human skin, clothing, and houses. Skin tzaraath generally involves patches that are white and contain unusually colored hair.D. L. Kaplan, "Biblical leprosy: an anachronism whose time has come", J Am Acad Dermatol 1993 Mar;28(3):507-10. doi: 10.1016/0190-9622(93)70071-z. Clothing and house tzaraath consists of a reddish or greenish discoloration.,
The laws of tzaraath are given in depth in chapters 13–14 of Leviticus, and several Biblical stories describe individuals who have contracted tzaraath.
Name
Variant transcriptions of the name into English include saraath, zaraath,. tzaraat,. tsaraat, tzaraas, tzoraas, and tsaraas.
The Hebraic root tsara or tsaraath ( "to be struck with leprosy, to be leprous"), and the Greek lepros (), refer to conditions other than Hansen's disease. The editors of the Septuagint translated the term tzaraath with Greek lepra (), which in classical sources referred to psoriasis and similar skin conditions; at the time Hansen's disease was known in Greek by a different term (elephantiasis graecorum). The connection with the bacterial infection now known as Hansen's disease increased as the latter disease spread more widely, and was firmly established by Islamic works on medicine in the 9th century. The classical Greek term lepra stems from the noun lepis (a scale (of a fish)), which in turn stems from the verb lepó (to peel), hence 'leprosy' (literally, morbid scaliness).Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon article , Ion. cites "A. leprosy, which makes the skin scaly, Herodotus Histories 1.138, Hippocrates Aphorisms 3.20 (plural), Prorrh.2.43 (pl.), Epid.5.9 (sg.), Morb.1.3 (sg.), Arist.Pr.887a34, Theophrastus Characters 19.2, Sud.14, LXX Leviticus 13.2. Variants of the word leprosy conflating tzaraath with Hansen's disease were used from the earliest English translations of the Bible, including Wycliffe's, Tyndale's, and Coverdale's.
The linguistic root of tzaraath (צרע) may mean "smiting";Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica, "Leprosy, Leper", p.2763-2768 the Arabic cognate ṣaraʕa () has a similar meaning.Lanes Lexicon: صرع Alternatively, tzaraath may be derived from the Hebrew word (wasp), based on the idea that tzaraat affects the skin in a manner resembling a wasp's sting.John F. A. Sawyer, "A Note on the Etymology of ṣāra'at", Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 26, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1976), pp. 241–245 Other theories suggest a connection to the roots שרע ("to spread") or זרע ("seed", i.e. a growth).Daat Mikra, Vayikra p.217-237
The manifestation of tzaraath is termed a negah () "affliction", nega'im (plural: )., etc.
Affliction of the body There are three varieties of nega'im that relate to human flesh: on the skin () in a boil () or burn () bald patches or lesions of the scalp or beard (), in which case the lesion is called a נתק (netek)
Skin patches White patches of the skin are confirmed as tzaraath by the occurrence of one of three signs:Mishnah Nega'im 3:3 white hair (והיא הפכה שיער לבן) – if at least two hairs within the confines of the negah turn white healthy flesh (ומחית בשר חי) – if skin of a normal appearance appears within the confines of the patch spreading (ואם פשה תפשה המספחת בעור) – if the patch became enlarged since the time of the initial examination by the Kohen
Tzaraath skin patches can come in three varieties (): se'et ("a rising" or "discoloration"Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus, 773-779), sapahat ("a gathering"), and baheret ("a bright spot"). The meaning of these terms is obscure, but they may suggest that tzaraat consists of an abnormal skin texture as well as color. However, rabbinic interpretation almost universally concluded that these three terms refer to different shades of color (white like wool or like snow, etc.) rather than different textures. The rabbis even argued the phrase "its appearance is deeper than the skin of his flesh" () refers to color ("deeper" presumed by the rabbis to mean "of lighter color"). As se'et and baheret (both terms which may refer to color and not texture) are later discussed individually (, ), while sapahat (apparently referring to texture) is not, sapahat may be considered a possible feature of se'et or baheret rather than an individual condition; in which case, the rabbinic interpretation may also be the original meaning of the verses.
Paradoxically, if the tzaraat covers a person's entire body, it is considered pure, and no isolation or purification ritual is needed. However, according to a minority interpretation, it is not the entire body, but the entire lesion (including any "islands" of previously healthy skin within the lesion) which must be covered by tzaraat in order to have this pure status.חידת הצרעת הטהורה | ד"ר נריה קליין
Boils and burns Boils and burns, as occur naturally as a result of an abscess, blunt force trauma or thermal insult to the skin, are not tzaraath and do not carry impurity. During the healing phases of these wounds, however, if certain signs that mimic those of the aforementioned patches appear, tzaraath may occur.
Confirmation is by the occurrence of one of two signs:Mishnah Nega'im 3:4 white hair (ושערה הפך לבן and נהפך שער לבן בבהרת) – similar to that in patches, spreading (ואם פשה תפשה בעור and אם פשה תפשה בעור) – similar to that in patches,
Scalp or beard The initial symptom of this type of tzaraath is patches of hair loss. According to Maimonides, scalp and beard tzaraath is characterized by hair loss without any change to the skin of the bald spot.Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Taharah, Hilchot Tuma'at Tzaraath 8:1 The Tosefta, however, maintains that the skin of the bald spot becomes altered.
There are two confirming signs:Mishnah Nega'im 3:5 thin yellow hair (ובו שער צהב דק) – if at least two-and-a-half hairs from within the bald patch turn yellow () spreading (והנה פשה הנתק בעור) – if the balding spreads, according to Maimonides. According to Abraham ben David, who quotes the Tosefta, this spreading would refer to spreading of a skin change as well ().
While baldness is not a form of tzaraath, patches that occur on a bald scalp may be tzaraath if they meet the criteria mentioned by the Torah. Such an eruption on a bald scalp must appear in a distinct fashion, but is regulated by rules similar to that of tzaraath on the skin; however, it can only occur on men. For a scalp eruption to be tzaraath, the lesion must be a white patch tinged with red (נגע לבן אדמדם). This can occur in one of two places: within what are referred to as a man's posterior baldness (קרחת) and anterior baldness (גבחת).
Inspection and pronouncement To determine whether a skin condition is indeed tzaraath, the afflicted individual must visit a kohen (a priest, possessing direct male lineage to Aaron). The kohen, trained in examining lesions and diagnosing tzaraath, examines the lesion according to the previously mentioned criteria, and determine whether it meets the specifications of tzaraath. If during the initial examination the lesion meets the criteria for tzaraath, the kohen pronounces the individual ritually impure (tamei, טמא).
If the criteria are not met by the lesion during the initial examination, the individual is confined to his home for seven days, pending a follow-up examination. If the criteria for tzaraath are again not met and the lesion has not spread, there is a difference in protocol depending on the type of lesion. For skin patches, another confinement period of seven days is imposed. For boils or burns, the kohen declares it merely a צרבת (tzarevet, "scar") and there are no further examinations. For bald patches or lesions of the scalp or beard, another confinement period of seven days is imposed. However, prior to this second confinement period, the individual is shaved around the lesion, but not in the lesion itself; according to the rabbis, a rim of two hairs surrounding the bald spot is left, to make any spreading recognizable.; this is especially necessary according to Maimonides, who asserts that these lesions manifest as pure hair loss without any concomitant skin eruption.
After the second confinement period of seven days, those with skin patches or bald patches are re-evaluated once more. If the criteria for tzaraath have still not been met, the individual is declared pure. He or she, must, however, wash both his or her body and garments; due to the confinement, he or she is considered impure in some sense.
If the lesion was declared ritually pure and later it spread, it must be shown once again to a kohen, who will then pronounce it tzaraath.
If, however, the criteria for tzaraath have been met, either during the initial inspection or at either of the two follow-ups (when applicable) or even after a previous pronouncement of purity, the individual is declared impure. The individual is declared impure even if the lesion did not worsen or spread but remained the same—the skin eruption must become dimmer in appearance for it to be declared pure at the second follow-up examination. and commentary of Rashi
The biblical emphasis appears to be on the ritual impurity that results from a diagnosis of tzaraath, not on any possible medical danger. The commands repeatedly discuss the sufferer's "pure" or "impure" status, only rarely mentioning "healing", and no Biblical story of tzaraath appears to involve the danger of death to the afflicted person.
Impure status The individual who is declared impure with tzaraath is referred to as either a tzarua (צרוע) or a metzora (מצורע). and , respectively Such individuals must live alone outside the confines of their community, and call out [ritually] impure, [ritually] impure. They must tear their garments, keep their hair unkept or uncut (פרוע), and cover their upper lip; these practices are expressions of mourning.; see also where lip-covering indicates mourning. In a different interpretation, the mouth must be covered, to prevent contagion.
A few medical historians, such as Arturo Castiglioni, regard this as the first model of sanitary legislation.Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine (p. 71) Nevertheless, some (though not allLeviticus Rabbah 16:3 - one must distance oneself from a leper, and distance further when the wind is blowing) Talmudic laws treat tzaraath as noncontagious: non-Jewish victims of tzaraath were not considered ritually impure;Mishnah Nega'im 3:1, 11:1 in special circumstances (during a holy day, or for a bridegroom after his wedding) the kohens inspection could be delayed until after the celebrations;Nega'im 3:2 in cases where white hair is a sign of tzaraat, if the white hairs were plucked before the inspection then the person was not declared impure.Mishnah Negaim 8:4 Similarly, in the Biblical description of house-tzaraath, individuals are encouraged to remove their belongings from the house before the house and its contents are pronounced impure.
Purification ritual
Once the metzora'''s lesion vanishes, he is evaluated by a kohen, who leaves the community to examine him. When the priest had certified that tzaraath had been cured, the biblical text requires that the formerly infected person (metzora) undergo a number of ritual events, some occurring immediately, and some occurring a week later.