M’tzora – Study Notes
The Torah parasha for M’tzora can be found at here.
M’tzora means “a person afflicted with tzara’at”. Tzara’at is any of several skin disorders. Most English bible translations use “leprosy” in place of tzara’at, but leprosy is only one (and one of the worst at that) skin disorder.
One of the striking things about this parasha is that the m’tzora is brought to the cohen (Priest) instead of going to the cohen himself/herself.
He is to be brought to the cohen
Most afflictions like this can be attributed to sin. That’s certainly nothing new, but what sin is so bad that the sinner is brought to the priest instead of making his/her own way there? This is where a knowledge of Hebrew comes in.
M’tzera is the sin of speaking evil about someone. M’tzera and m’tzora are both spelled the exact same. The difference is determined by context. In cases like this, you can be gauranteed that there is a relationship between the two words. In this case: M’tzera causes a person to become m’tzora.
So why should a person who speaks evil about someone else be taken to the cohen? Well, if you were talking behind someone’s back (i.e. – gossiping) would you want to voluntarily confess it to the person you were talking about and the priest? Probably not. So when a person was found to have tzara’at, they would be brought before the cohen.
Not only that, but m’tzera is an incidious sin. It actually muliplies and spreads. Which is interesting why this parasha comes up at this time of year. Pesach (Passover) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the two are actually seperate Holy Days) are quickly approaching. This is the time of year when we concern ourselves with ridding our homes of all chametz (leavening agents). Leaven is commonly used in Scripture as a picture of sin.
Here’s something else that’s interesting, after the m’tzora was brought to the cohen, then they went outside the camp.
and the cohen is to go outside the camp and examine him there.
So the m’tzora was brought to the cohen inside the camp, they both then go outside the camp, and then the cohen examines the afflicted. I can see two possible reasons for this:
1) To show the people that the sin of m’tzera was serious and being dealt with.
2) To show that the afflicted was still redeemable and could become clean again.
I’m not saying that these are the only two reasons, just the only two I see right now.
So why is m’tzera so bad of a sin that a person is afflicted with one or more skin diseases, including the possibility of leprosy? Could it be that “For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart.” (Matthew 12:34)? A person who speaks evil of another obviously has some serious hate issues with the person they are speaking ill of or with themselves (i.e. – they may be envious of the other person).
“Speaking evil” seems like a simple enough phrase to understand. If I said that a person was a pedophile (and they weren’t), then that would obviously be speaking evil about that person. But what if the person really was a pedophile? Would I be speaking evil of them if I whispered about it behind their back, informing their friends and neighbors? Honestly, yes. Even if it is true, it is speaking evil of someone. The only acceptable thing is to openly and honestly confront the person about the issue.
More to come….
Tags: Bible, Bible Study, M'tzora, Metzora, Torah, Torah Study
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