Leviticus - Chapter-13

Chapter Summary

Laws concerning those afflicted with leprosy.

Discussion Questions for Leviticus, Chapter 13

  1. What might be the practical reasons for excluding lepers from the Israelite community? How does the concern for physical purity inform our understanding of the importance of spiritual purity?
  2. In this passage, there is no clear separation between the religious and the medical. How is our society different today and what implications might this have on religion today?
  3. In this passage, the priest merely pronounces a man clean and doesn't do anything to heal them. What might the causes of healing be? Why is it not enough that someone be healed but that the priest recognize the healing?
  4. What can we learn about spiritual health from this passage's concern for physical health?
  5. What stories do we have elsewhere of lepers being healed? How do those passages help us understand Leviticus 13 better?
  6. Have you or someone you know experienced a disease that isolated them from a community? What echoes of that do you see in this passage?
  7. What do we learn about God's view of leaders from the fact that the priests were to spend so much time with the sick?
  8. If a person is already sick, why would it be important for the priest to pronounce them as sick? What do we learn about God that he is concerned with these things?
  9. Do you think this passage is oppressive to the sick? Why or why not?
  10. Look at 1 Corinthians 15, which describes the imperishable resurrection body of believers. How would you use Leviticus 13 and 1 Corinthians 15 to explain a Biblical view of sickness to someone not familiar with the Bible?

Key Words/Phrase

Leprosy, v. 2.

Characters

God, Moses, Aaron.

Strong Verse(s)

45,46.