The covenantal significance and serpentine nature of biblical “leprosy.”
“They shall take up serpents…” (Matthew 16:18)
The linguistic root of the word translated “leprosy” [tsara’ath] may mean “smiting.” The curse of leprosy came as a “stroke,” which aligns it with the plagues the Lord brought upon Egypt at the hand of Moses. This, however, gives us no clue as to what this disease actually was.
The “whiteness” of this condition most certainly links it to the “whiteness” of death. The purification rites for a person contaminated by a corpse are similar to those for a person with “leprosy.” Moreover, when Miriam is struck with the condition, Aaron begs that she not become like a still born child “whose flesh is half eaten away.” However, there is another feature of this “leprosy” which traces this “death” back to Eden.
Whereas the Hebrew word denotes being struck with a plague, it is described in Akkadian with a word which means “scaly” or “covered with dust.” Scales and dust tie it to the curse upon the serpent in Genesis 3. Leviticus 13 also refers to a “dry scall,” so rather than naming an actual disease it describes a symptom: scaled skin.1Jacob Milgrom translates the biblical “leprosy” as “scale disease” in his Leviticus 1-16, 768–889. In his Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East, Oppenheim quotes the word … Continue reading
This might help explain the language connected to it in 2 Kings 5, where the leprosy of the faithful, obedient Gentile is transferred to the lying, thieving Israelite, as his ironic Covenant “inheritance”:
The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. (2 Kings 5:27 [KJV])
Naaman comes from the Hebrew verb naem, which means “pleasant, beautiful,” with the idea of “gracious” or “well formed.” (As with some other biblical characters, it may not actually be the real name of the person described in the narrative.) It seems that Naaman is the “bridal man” in this story, as Jacob and David and Solomon in earlier history. But his whiteness is the whiteness of a curse, a de-formity. A scaly one smitten, a “cleaving,” and “seed for ever” are reminders of Genesis 2 and 3. For his covetousness, Gehazi’s lineage would image the seed of the serpent.
The whiteness of “leprosy,” I believe, pictures priestly linen and burial clothes. It is a spreading “leaven of death” that affected people, clothes and houses. If the link between these possibly very different problems is a dusty or scaly appearance, then the Levitical directions concerning physical blights are clearly seen as “trainer wheels” for ethical ones.
It is fascinating that a smitten Israelite, once he became completely white, could be pronounced holy by the inspecting priest. This was a sign that justice had been entirely satisfied.2The same goes for the whiteness of bones, which I believe were also “holy,” though they still communicated uncleanness. See “Bone and Flesh” in Michael Bull, God’s Kitchen: Theology You … Continue reading
Since whiteness denotes a “bridal” purity in the people of God, why is it associated with a curse upon the skin?
When Jesus’ robe became “shining” at His transfiguration, He became like the teacher in the Garden of Eden, the serpent, the “shining one.” He had kept the Law and was qualified for His final battle. Presumably Adam would also have received a white robe had he defeated the serpent. This forfeited robe was symbolically the glorious skin of the serpent, a token given to him as a mantle of victory. Just as the Pharaohs of Egypt wore a cobra crown as a “third eye” of wisdom, so the Man who out-crafted the wisest beast wore its now white pelt as a memorial, a public testimony to its death.
The defeat of the serpent required the completion of the Triune Office, priest, king and prophet, in a single man. Adam did listen to God with a priestly ear, but he failed to rule over sin as a faithful king, and failed to testify against the serpent as a true prophet.
PRIEST: Priestly bread and priestly robes were white. Manna, the bread intended to humble Israel, was white. |
KING: The thrones of Solomon, the wisest earthly king, and of Christ, the wisest heavenly king, are also white, the colour of “eye and tooth.”3See “Horns of Moses” in Michael Bull, God’s Kitchen. |
PROPHET: If Adam had been a faithful prophet, he would have received the fruit of the Land and the fruit of the womb unhampered by the curse. The color of “seed” is also white, and as the fruit of righteousness Christ is holy seed, holy flesh and holy skin. |
THE TRIUNE MAN: The High Priest wore linen on the Day of Atonement, but removed it after the blood was sprinkled in the Most Holy Place. This pictured the death of Christ. Shedding the cursed skin of the serpent, the linen burial clothes were left in the ground, in the dust. |
So, is a white robe a symbol of life or death? Whiteness, true or false, has to do with “legal witness” under the Covenant Oath. The first mention of leprosy in the Bible is in Exodus 4. If “leprosy” described a scaly skin, this would unite for us the two “witnesses,” the miraculous signs, given to Moses for the court of Pharaoh, the serpent king. If these two signs failed, Moses was to perform a third, which anticipated the pollution of Egypt’s river of life (Exodus 4:1-9):
| PRIEST: GARDEN Rod > Serpent > Rod (Serpentine Tree: Adam) |
| KING: LAND Hand > Scaly Hand > Hand (Serpentine Flesh: Cain) |
| PROPHET: WORLD Bowl of River Water > Land > Blood (Serpentine Offspring: Noah) |
In the New Testament, Herod’s Jerusalem has grown into another Egypt. The cross of Christ is the serpentine tree, the self-exaltation of the Jewish rulers is the serpentine flesh (the seed of their father, the devil). The false doctrine of the Judaizers was a flood intended to carry away the Church (Revelation 12:15), but it led to the shedding of innocent blood, the martyrdom of the apostles. The “days of Noah” flood came suddenly in the form of Gentile armies (Daniel 9:26).
The preaching of the apostles resulted in the “bowls” of Covenant wrath being poured out upon the Land, which included the first Mosaic curse:
Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. (Revelation 16:12)
SCALED EYES
The Physical Levitical curses pictured Social and Ethical curses. The curse “May you be stricken with leprosy and blindness” is of very ancient origin, which might explain why Paul had scales fall from his eyes—a sort of “circumcision” of the serpent. After all, this is what the Gospel is doing now: cutting off the evil one by opening the eyes of those who hear it. Like Adam, Paul’s eyes were opened to the truth. Pentecost moved the “scale” from Physical to Ethical, from flesh to sight. The blindness which came upon Israel according to the flesh was the uncleanness of the dust, a “scaly” leprous mind. The ceremonial whiteness of Israel’s rites became the whiteness of Gehazi, the sepulchre, and Lot’s wife—a memorial to a cutting off. It was a skin that should have been shed and left in the grave.
This is a chapter from Michael Bull, Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.
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References
| ↑1 | Jacob Milgrom translates the biblical “leprosy” as “scale disease” in his Leviticus 1-16, 768–889. In his Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East, Oppenheim quotes the word which has been translated leprosy as “covered with dust” or “scaly.” The Akkadian word “epqu”, which was translated leprosy in the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, also means “scaly.” |
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| ↑2 | The same goes for the whiteness of bones, which I believe were also “holy,” though they still communicated uncleanness. See “Bone and Flesh” in Michael Bull, God’s Kitchen: Theology You Can Eat & Drink. |
| ↑3 | See “Horns of Moses” in Michael Bull, God’s Kitchen. |
