Leviticus 13:47-59

Concerning clothing: when a leprous disease appears in it, in woolen or linen cloth, in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, if the disease shows greenish or reddish in the garment, whether in warp or woof or in skin or in anything made of skin, it is a leprous disease and shall be shown to the priest.¹ The priest shall examine the disease, and put the diseased article aside for seven days.² He shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the cloth, in warp or woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, this is a spreading leprous disease; it is unclean. He shall burn the clothing, whether diseased in warp or woof, woolen or linen, or anything of skin, for it is a spreading leprous disease; it shall be burned in fire.³ If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has not spread in the clothing, in warp or woof or in anything of skin, the priest shall command them to wash the article in which the disease appears, and he shall put it aside seven days more. The priest shall examine the diseased article after it has been washed. If the diseased spot has not changed color, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in fire, whether the leprous spot is on the inside or on the outside. If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has abated after it is washed, he shall tear the spot out of the cloth, in warp or woof, or out of skin.⁴ If it appears again in the garment, in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading; you shall burn with fire that in which the disease appears. But the cloth, warp or woof, or anything of skin from which the disease disappears when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and it shall be clean. This is the ritual for a leprous disease in a cloth of wool or linen, either in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, to decide whether it is clean or unclean.

1 The nature of a disease that shows both on human skin and on all sorts of clothing is striking. My Study Bible suggests that it must be a fungus, mold, or mildew infestation. With the limited extent to which such infestations visibly travel between clothing and people, I wonder if perhaps the disease on people and the disease on clothing are two different things.

2 As with a person, the first step is a quarantine process.

3 The solution to a spreading leprous disease is to burn the item. This should be effective for preventing further spreading.

4 Clothing must be fairly important to watch it so closely for so long and preserve everything other than the torn-out part.


Take-home: The procedures for determining whether a piece of clothing is clean or unclean from leprous disease are given. Priests are again the gatekeepers for the determination. The result would be a quite thorough, though rather intense, means of keeping mildew infestations from spreading.