(37) But if the scall be in his sight at a stay.--Better, But if the appearance of the scall hath remained the same.

And that there is black hair grown up therein.--Better, And if black hair hath, &c. If, in addition to its not spreading, the healthy colour of the hair has returned, it shows that the patient is cured of the leprosy, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. (See Leviticus 13:31.) According to the adminstrators of the law, there had at least to be two black hairs, of such a length that the top could bow towards the root. If two hairs grew up on the healed scall, one black and the other white or yellow, or one long and the other short, the patient could not be declared clean.

13:18-44 The priest is told what judgment to make, if there were any appearance of a leprosy in old sores; and such is the danger of those who having escaped the pollutions of the world are again entangled therein. Or, in a burn by accident, ver. 24. The burning of strife and contention often occasions the rising and breaking out of that corruption, which proves that men are unclean. Human life lies exposed to many grievances. With what troops of diseases are we beset on every side; and thy all entered by sin! If the constitution be healthy, and the body lively and easy, we are bound to glorify God with our bodies. Particular note was taken of the leprosy, if in the head. If the leprosy of sin has seized the head; if the judgment be corrupted, and wicked principles, which support wicked practices, are embraced, it is utter uncleanness, from which few are cleansed. Soundness in the faith keeps leprosy from the head.But if the scall be in his sight at a stay,.... If in a few days, or in a short space of time after this, it should appear that the scall is at a full stop, and does not spread any further at all:

and that there is black hair grown up therein; which is a sign of health and soundness, and so of purity; yea, if it was green or red, so be it, it was not yellow, according to Jarchi, it was sufficient:

the scall is healed; from whence it appears that it had been a leprous scall, but was now healed, an entire stop being put to the spread of it; and though yellow hairs might have appeared in it, yet, as Gersom observes, two black hairs having grown up in it, it was a clear case that the corruption of the blood had departed, and it had returned to its former state:

he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; he was clean before, and is the reason why he pronounces him so; wherefore it is not the sentence of the priest, but the truth of his case that makes him clean; teaching, as Ainsworth observes, that the truth of a man's estate, discerned by the word and law of God, made the man clean or unclean, and not the sentence of the priest, if it swerved from the law.