4. Contagious with Life: Jesus Heals a Leper (Mark 1.39–44)

51 snips

Mar 10, 2025

The podcast explores the significance of Jesus touching a leper, raising questions about societal exclusion and ritual purity. It delves into ancient interpretations of leprosy laws and their implications on Jesus' actions. Listeners learn that lepers could attend synagogues and that Jesus’ touch was not considered sinful, challenging common misconceptions. The discussion also examines whether Jesus purified the leper or simply healed him, proposing that his actions served as a testimony to the priests while respecting Levitical regulations.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

What Lepra Really Means

The Greek term lepra (not modern leprosy) covers various skin afflictions that cause ritual impurity, not Hansen's disease.
These conditions were regulated by Leviticus 13–14 and required priestly inspection but did not mean total social exile.

INSIGHT

Healing Versus Ritual Purification

Leviticus 14 prescribes staged purification after healing, including birds, cedar, hyssop, and sacrifices.
Healing the condition and ritual purification are distinct legal stages with different actors and actions.

INSIGHT

Touching Leproi Was Not Sinful

Touching a lepros did not violate Torah law; ritual impurity is not sinful and is routinely remediable by immersion.
Jesus' touch in Mark therefore isn't portrayed as law-breaking but as compassionate healing.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Lepers weren't "excluded" from all of society in ancient Judaism. So what is the significance of Jesus touching a leper?

The focus of this episode is the scene where Jesus "purifies" a leper through touch in Mark 1.39–44. This short passage raises numerous questions: Did Jesus disregard the torah when he touched the leper? What was the leper doing in the synagogue if lepers were marginalised and excluded from society? In healing the leper, did Jesus usurp the role of the priests? If Jesus purifies him, why does Jesus tell him to go make offerings "for his purification". And how does this function as a "witness" to the priests?

To approach these issues, we provide a detailed examination of the leprosy legislation in Leviticus 13–14 and its interpretation in ancient Judaism, and, as usual, we do a bit of myth busting along the way. For example: Lepers, it turns out, were only excluded from particular spaces, not all of society, and they could actually attend synagogue services! We also get into a detailed discussion of Jesus' limits as a Judahite and what that means for his relationship with Levitical priests.

The episode closes with three final questions: Did Jesus contract impurity from touching the Leper? Would Jesus disagree with the “exclusionary” facet of lepra legislation? And does this scene portray Jesus as being contagious with holiness?

—————

Primary Sources in This Episode:

The Temple Scroll (11QTemple/11Q19) 48.14–17. Link: http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/temple

Mishnah, Negaim 13: https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Negaim.13.1?lang=bi

Tosefta, Keilim Kamma 1.11: https://sefaria.org/Tosefta_Kelim_Kamma.1.11?lang=bi

Josephus, Antiquities 3.264 [not 3.246!]: https://lexundria.com/j_aj/3.264/wst

Secondary Sources in This Episode:

Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Bible (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991): https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300139402/leviticus-1-16/

Matthew Thiessen, Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020): https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/jesus-and-the-forces-of-death/399984

Yitzhaq Feder, "The Wilderness Camp Paradigm in the Holiness Source and the Temple Scroll: From Purity Laws to Cult Politics", Journal of Ancient Judaism 5 (2014): 290–310: https://brill.com/view/journals/jaj/5/3/article-p290_2.xml?language=en