Leviticus 13:31

Lev 13:31; Lev 13:33. No black hair — For had that appeared, it had ended the doubt, the black hair being a sign of soundness and strength of nature, as this yellow hair was a sign of unsoundness. He shall be shaven — For the more certain discovery of the growth or stay of the plague.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. No black hair — It is evident that the word “black” must here refer to the “yellow,” the colour betokening the leprosy. The words are different in the Hebrew, but the Seventy, Luther, Keil, Knobel, and Canon Cook render them both yellow. Thus they make Lev_13:31 harmonize with 30, 32, and 36. Since the original words for yellow and black differ in only one letter, there is, probably, a clerical error in the latter.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(31) It be not in sight deeper than the skin.—Better, its appearance is not deeper than the other skin. If the first symptom which manifests itself in the depression of the affected spot is absent.

And that there is no black hair in it.—Better, but there is no black hair in it; that is, the healthy black colour of the hair is absent, which is a suspicious sign. The phrase, “there is no black hair in it,” is another way of saying “there is yellow hair in it.” The presence of yellow hair, however, on the first inspection, though suspicious, did not necessarily indicate by itself leprosy, since the hair sometimes turned yellow temporarily in the case of an ordinary ulcer, and resumed its natural black colour when the patient returned to his usual health. Hence, the absence of the black hair was simply a suspicious symptom, which required the attention of the priest, for which reason the patient had to be put in quarantine for seven days. The alteration of the word “black” into “yellow,” which has been adopted by those commentators who follow the LXX.,is therefore unnecessary. Indeed, if this reading be adopted, both the unfavourable symptoms mentioned in Lev_13:30, which indicate leprosy—viz., (1) the depression of the affected spot, and (2) the discolouring of the hair—would be absent. There would be no reason for quarantine, as the priest in the absence of these criteria would have to pronounce the man clean. (See Lev_13:37.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague,.... To see whether it has got any deeper, or spread any further, and has any hair growing in it, and of what colour, that he might be also able to judge whether it was a leprosy or not:

and, behold, if the scall spread not; was neither got into the flesh, nor larger in the skin:

and there be in it no yellow hair; that is, a thin yellow hair, for such only, as Ben Gersom observes, was a sign of leprosy in scalls, as in Lev 13:30; and the same writer observes, that "and" is here instead of "or", and to be read, "or there be in it no yellow hair"; since a scall was pronounced unclean, either on account of thin yellow hair, or on account of spreading:

and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; but be just as it was when first looked upon.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

There is no black hair in it More probably, there is no yellow hair in it.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Black. The Hebrew, Samaritan, &c., prefix "not," which ought probably to be away, as the natural colour of the hair, in that country, is black; while yellow, or white hair, give reason to suspect leprosy; and (ver. 32,) the Hebrew says, "if there be no yellow hair in it," which insinuates that it was black before. The Septuagint have explained both verses in the same sense, as they found the negation also. If we admit it, we may distinguish black hair from that which approaches to brown, or light-coloured hair. When therefore a person, who had before black hair, has experienced some change, he must be shut up seven days; after which, if his hair be not become yellow or reddish, he must be shaved, &c. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And that there is no black hair in it; for had that appeared, it had ended the doubt, the black hair being a sign of soundness and strength of nature, Lev 13:37, as the yellow hair was a sign of unsoundness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

No black hair - For had that appeared, it had ended the doubt, the black hair being a sign of soundness and strength of nature, as the yellow hair was a sign of unsoundness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses and Aaron what the people must do when someone has a skin disease.

translationWords

priest

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ושער שחור אין בו AND THERE IS NO BLACK HAIR IN IT [THE PRIEST SHALL SHUT HIM UP] — Consequently, if there is black hair in it, he is clean, and does not require to be shut up — for black hair is a characteristic of cleanness in cases of נתקים, as it is stated, (v. 37) “if there is black hair grown up in it … [he is clean]” (Sifra, Tazria Parashat Nega'im, Chapter 8 9).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.