Examine him again on the seventh day: or “seven days later the priest shall examine him a third time,” since this is actually the third examination. Or this verse may begin with “At the end of this second period (of isolation).”

Dim: or “faded” in Good News Translation, New English Bible, New International Version, and New Jerusalem Bible. This seems to indicate that the area is getting better and that the inflammation has virtually disappeared.

Pronounce him clean: see the opposite in verse 3.

It is only an eruption: the priest is convinced that the skin problem is not a serious one—not of the type that is greatly feared and must be considered unclean. He therefore requires only that the person wash his clothes (see 11.25), and he will again be allowed into the fellowship of the community.

The relationship between pronounce him clean and be clean in this verse is confusing, but in all probability the washing of the clothing simply completes the process already begun. Some may wish to translate the latter “he will be completely clean” or “his cleansing will be finished.”

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 .