Deeper than the skin: see verse 3.

Yellow and thin: New American Bible translates “fine yellow hair,” and New English Bible “hair [that] is yellow and sparse.” The word translated thin may also mean “small,” or in some cases “withered.” But here it is probably better to think in terms of an area where there are less hairs and where the hairs are yellow.

It is an itch: the word used here literally means “a tearing off,” something so annoying that the person who has it cannot keep his hands off it. Various attempts have been made to identify this with skin diseases known today. Here is a sampling of what modern versions have done with the word: “a scurf” (New English Bible), “a scall” (New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible), “tinea” (Jerusalem Bible), “ringworm” (An American Translation, Moffatt, and almost all French versions). Only New International Version goes along with the general term itch in Revised Standard Version. Translators should probably use their own equivalent of “ringworm,” or a more general expression as in Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .