Leviticus 13:5 Commentary - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

(5) And the priest shall look on him.—If at the end of a week there is no alteration in the symptoms, the case must be adjourned for another seven days. The same priest who inspected it at the first must examine it again, as another one could not tell whether it has spread or not. If the priest died in the interim, or was taken ill, another priest could examine the patient, but could not pronounce him unclean. If the seventh day happened to be a Sabbath or feast day, the case had to be put off to the following day.

If the plague in his sight be at a stay.—Better, if the plagued spot remain the same in its colour, that is, if the suspicious spot which caused the individual to be shut up had not altered its complexion. The expression here translated “sight” is the same which is rightly rendered by “colour” in the Authorised Version in Lev. 13:55 of this very chapter. (Comp. also Num. 11:7.) It will thus be seen that though the affected spot had not spread, still it retained its unhealthy and suspicious complexion.