The Institution of Quarantine

Reading:   Leviticus 13:1-28

Continuing on with the lectures of clean and unclean, we now turn to the first few verses of Leviticus thirteen where God speaks with Moses and Aaron concerning leprosy, plagues, boils and other such skin ailments...

LEVITICUS 13:2, 4

2 When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: 

4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: 

It is fascinating to read this chapter in that it deals with various ailments and the subsequent quarantines that are assigned to each; isolating infections!  Sending the ill to quarantine-like isolation areas in order to wait-out infections is awesome...I'm not going to give too much away because I can only write about the verses I read for today's blog (the meat of this topic comes in later verses so please read tomorrow for the full story).  Anyway, the priest shall, "...shut up him that hath the plague seven days." This verse plainly sets the precedent of quarantine.

The idea of quarantine is paramount in the reading and a great lead-in for tomorrow so, looking up the meaning...

Quarantine: A strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease

We find that the primary purpose of isolating someone, in medical terms, is to "...prevent the spread of disease."  Was this purpose adequately explained to Aaron and Moses or was it deemed simply as an act of removing the unclean as a course of religious duty?  I don't know but, either way, it certainly was visionary and millennia ahead of its time in medical knowledge.

Side note:  Guess what the eighth definition of quarantine is?  You're going to laugh but I'm not pulling your leg, this is a direct quote from Dictionary.com, ready...the eighth definition of quarantine is:   A period of forty days

I know!  It's crazy!  The number is popping up everywhere - I should have enjoyed myself a little more during my fortieth year on earth but who knew?!

~Kipling