In the Levitical, and in every other account of the disease, it is significant that there is no mention, or hint, of any loss of sensation in connection with the disorder, of any affection of the nerves, nor of any deformity of the body; no provision is made for those who were unable to take care of themselves, nor is there a tittle of evidence, or the barest hint given, that the disease was either contagious or dangerous. Only two persons in the whole of the Bible are stated to have died from the disease, and in each of these cases, it was specially so ordained by the Almighty, as a specific punishment for a particular sin. Cures were not only possible, and common, but they were the rule. Josephus speaks of Leprosy in a man as but “a misfortune in the colour of his skin.” S. Augustine said that when Lepers were restored to health, “they were mundati, not sanati, because Leprosy is an ailment affecting merely the colour, not the health, or the soundness of the senses, and the limbs.”
It is a most curious, and interesting problem which has yet to be solved, why a man should be “unclean” when he was but partially covered by the disease, and yet, when he was wholly covered with it, he should be “clean.”
That no argument in support of contagion can be drawn simply from the sentence of expulsion from the camp, is evident from Numbers v., 2-4; for Lepers, and non-Lepers, are equally excluded on the ground of “uncleanness.” The laws of seclusion applied as rigorously to the uncleanness induced by touching a leper, or even a dead body, as well as in other cases, where no question of contagion could exist. It appears more than probable that the “cleansing” was merely a ceremonial, ordained for those attacked by the disease at a certain stage, implying some deeper meaning, than I for one, am able to discern. I therefore leave it to the theologian to whom it appertains, rather than to a humble and enquiring layman as myself.
That the descriptions of the various forms of skin disease were intended, not to denote differences in their nature or pathology, but to enable the priests to discriminate between the “clean” and “unclean” forms, is manifest. They were intended purely for practical use.
The first allusion—the only one in the Bible—we have to a Lazar, or Leper house, occurs in 2 Kings, xv., 5, “And the Lord smote the King so that he was a Leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a ‘several’ house.”
THE LEPROSY OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
The Leprosy of the Middle Ages known as Elephantiasis Græcorum, Lepra Arabum, and Lepra tuberculosis, is not yet extinct. It is very curious that whilst Lepra Arabum is the same as Elephantiasis Græcorum or true Leprosy, the Elephantiasis Arabum is a totally distinct disease. The former is the most loathsome and revolting of the many awful and terrible scourges, with which the Almighty, in his wisdom, has seen fit, from time to time, to visit mankind.
It is, I believe, a singular fact, that the Jews, “the chosen people of God,” have a special immunity from the disease, being less predisposed than other races. Dr. V. Carter says that during a period of seventeen years, out of a very large number of cases in Bombay, he had seen only four cases, and but one death among Jews, that is of Elephantiasis Græcorum.
Belcher on “Our Lord’s Miracles,” says that in Tangiers at the present day, the two diseases are found, the Lepra Hebræorum prevailing chiefly among the Jewish residents, and presenting exactly the symptoms as described in Leviticus. On the other hand, in Syria, Elephantiasis Græcorum is unknown among the Jews.
It appears to have been very prevalent in this country; but when, and how it was introduced, is not known. Some certify it was brought back by the Crusaders, being the only thing they ever did bring back. But it existed here long anterior to the days of the first crusade. The City of Bath is said to have originated from an old British King afflicted with Leprosy, who being obliged, in consequence, to wander far from the habitation of men, and being finally reduced to the condition of a swineherd, discovered the medicinal virtues of the hot springs of Bath, while noticing that his pigs which bathed therein were cured of sundry diseases prevailing among them.