λέπρα

From the study of Matthew 8:3

Range of meaning

In ordinary Greek medical writing, lepra meant a scaly, flaking skin condition. The word is related to lepis, 'scale.' In Jewish Greek, through the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), it became the standard term for Hebrew tsara'at in Leviticus 13–14. That category covered several kinds of skin eruption, plus mould or mildew in fabric and on house walls (Lev 13:47–59; 14:33–53). It was defined by ritual impurity, not by a single diagnosis.

Against the English

Every major English version says 'leprosy', and modern readers hear Hansen's disease: the bacterial infection that destroys nerves and causes disfigurement. Some translations note in the margin that the Greek covers various skin diseases.

How it drifted

Latin lepra carried the word into medieval Europe, where it came to mean Hansen's disease. Leper houses and the 19th-century identification of the bacterium fixed that meaning. Greek medicine itself had a different term for Hansen's disease: elephas or elephantiasis.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint, Lev 13–14 uses lepra throughout for tsara'at, including for garments and houses. Num 12:10 (Miriam) and 2 Kgs 5 (Naaman) use it too. Hippocratic and Galenic writers use lepra for scaly skin conditions and keep it separate from elephantiasis. Archaeology shows Hansen's disease did exist in the region by Jesus' day: bacterial DNA was found in a 1st-century CE burial near Jerusalem (the Akeldama tomb). So this man may have had it, but the word does not require it.

From the study of Luke 5:12

Range of meaning

In Greek medical writing (Hippocrates, later Galen) lepra meant a scaly, flaking skin condition, roughly what we would call psoriasis or similar. The disease we now call leprosy (Hansen's disease) was usually called elephantiasis by Greek doctors. In Jewish Greek, lepra was the Septuagint's standard word for Hebrew tsara'at (Lev 13–14). Tsara'at covered a wide range of visible skin conditions: swellings, scabs, shiny spots, raw flesh, whitened hair. It could even be applied to mould or mildew on clothing and houses (Lev 13:47–59; 14:33–53). The category was set by how a condition looked and what it did to a person's purity, not by its medical cause.

Against the English

English 'leprosy' now names one specific bacterial disease (Mycobacterium leprae), with nerve damage, numbness and disfigurement of hands, feet and face. Most English versions keep 'leprosy'. Some (NLT, CSB footnotes, NRSV notes) point out that the Greek covers various skin diseases. The BSB's 'covered with leprosy' and the NIV's similar wording take 'full of' as 'all over the body'.

How it drifted

Medieval Latin lepra came to mean Hansen's disease, partly through Arabic medical texts and the leprosaria (leper houses) of medieval Europe. When the English Bibles were translated, 'leprosy' already carried that meaning. Modern medicine then fixed the name on Hansen's disease in particular.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Lev 13–14 uses lepra for tsara'at on skin, garments and houses. Josephus (Antiquities 3.261–268) describes people with lepra being sent out of cities and living 'in no way different from a corpse'. The Mishnah tractate Nega'im ('Plagues') spells out how priests examined these conditions in great detail. Hansen's disease did exist in the region in this period: a 1st-century tomb in Jerusalem's Akeldama area produced DNA of M. leprae (Gibson et al., 2009). But skeletal and textual evidence shows that biblical lepra was a broader category than that one disease.

From the study of Mark 1:42

Range of meaning

In ordinary Greek, and in Greek medical writers from Hippocrates on, lepra meant a scaly, flaking skin condition. The name comes from lepis, "scale", and the conditions it covered look like what we now call psoriasis or eczema-type disorders. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) it renders Hebrew tsara'at, the condition described in Leviticus 13–14. That covers several kinds of patches, swellings, raw flesh, whitening hair and spreading scale. Leviticus also uses tsara'at for mould or mildew on garments and on house walls (Lev 13:47–59; 14:33–53).

Against the English

English "leprosy" today means Hansen's disease, a bacterial infection that causes numbness, nerve damage and disfigurement. Most modern translations keep "leprosy" and add a footnote explaining that the Greek word covered various skin diseases. NLT keeps "leprosy" in the text. Some scholars and versions prefer "skin disease" or "scale disease".

How it drifted

Greek physicians such as Aretaeus and Galen called Hansen's disease elephantiasis, not lepra. The two terms merged in the Middle Ages, when medical texts translated from Arabic into Latin used lepra for Hansen's disease. After that, Bible readers in Europe pictured the medieval leper with bell and clapper whenever they met the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Leviticus 13–14 (dozens of uses); Numbers 12:10–12 (Miriam, "like one dead"); 2 Kings 5 (Naaman); 2 Chronicles 26:19–21 (Uzziah isolated until death). Josephus (Against Apion 1.281; Antiquities 3.261–268) describes people with lepra being kept outside cities. The Mishnah tractate Nega'im is devoted to the rules. Hansen's disease did exist in the region: there is skeletal evidence from Ptolemaic Egypt, and a 1st-century CE tomb near Jerusalem has yielded DNA of the leprosy bacterium. So the man could have had it, but the word does not tell us.