4/26/17
‫ ְּמ ֹצ ָרע‬.
M’TZORA - PERSON AFFLICTED WITH TZARA’OT
…. .
TORAH
HAFTARAH
.
.
.
– VAYIKRA (LEV) 14:1 – 15:33
– M’LAKHIM BET (2 KINGS) 7:3 – 20
These are the people that are
“in effect dead persons”.
Antiquities III: 261
* Note that the term “motzi sheim ra (MOH-tsee SHAYM RAH) describes a person
who "spreads a bad report"; that is, who tells disparaging lies. It is the worst of the sins
involving speech and is likened unto tzara’at by the Rabbis.
2 Kefa (Peter) 3:3-7
3 First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires
4 and asking, "Where is this promised 'coming' of his? For our fathers have died, and
everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But, wanting so much to
be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by G-d's Word that long ago there
were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters,
6 and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and
destroyed. 7 It is by that same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been
preserved, are being kept for fire until the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be
destroyed.
1
M’LAKHIM BET (2 KINGS) 7
1 Elisha answered, "Listen to the word of ADONAI. Here is what ADONAI says: 'Tomorrow,
by this time, six quarts of fine flour will sell for only a shekel, and half a bushel of barley for a
shekel [in the market] at the gate to Shomron." 2 The servant on whose arm the king was
leaning answered the man of G-d: "Why, this couldn't happen even if ADONAI made
windows in heaven!" Elisha answered, "All right, you yourself will see it with your own eyes;
but you won't eat any of it!"
3 Now there were four men with tzara‘at at the entrance to the city gate, and they said to
each other, “Why should we sit here till we die?
Ref: Vayikra (Lev) 13:45-46; Sh’mot (Exo) 33:7
Is there any symbolism that the 1) leper and the 2) Tent of Meeting were both outside the
gate? Ref: Messianic Jews (Heb) 13:12-13
What diseases do we today have diseases that “isolate” people from society? How do we
integrate them back into our society?
4 If we say, ‘We’ll enter the city, then the city has been struck by the famine, so we’ll die
there. And if we sit still here, we’ll also die. So let’s go and surrender to the army of Aram; if
they spare our lives, we will live; and if they kill us, we’ll only die.” 5 They got up during the
twilight (‫ֶשף‬
ֶ ‫ )<נ‬to go to the camp of Aram. But when they reached the outskirts of the camp
of Aram, they saw no one!
“twilight” Strong #: 5399 ‫ֶשף‬
ֶ ‫ נ‬nesheph Meaning: 1) twilight 1a) evening twilight 1b)
morning twilight
Tehillim (Psa) 119
147 I rise before dawn (‫ֶשף‬
ֶ ‫ )<נ‬and cry for help; I put my hope in your word.
Iyov (Job) 3
8(9) may the stars of its twilight (‫ֶשף‬
ֶ ‫ )<נ‬be dark, may it look for light but get none,
may it never see the shimmer of dawn6 For ADONAI had caused the army of Aram to hear (‫יע‬
ֹ ‫ – ִה ְּש ִמ‬sh’ma) the sound of chariots
and horses; it sounded like a huge army; and they said to each other, “The king of Isra’el
must have hired the kings of the Hitti and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.”
Was this the L-RD’s army or just imaginary sounds?
2
7 So they jumped up and fled in the twilight, leaving their tents, horses, donkeys and the
whole camp just as it was, and ran for their lives. 8 When these men with tzara‘at reached
the outskirts of the camp, they entered one of the tents, ate and drank; then took some
silver, gold and clothing; and went and hid it. Next they returned and entered another tent,
took stuff from there, and went and hid it.
These men were dying so why hide the enemies goods?
9 But finally they said to each other, “What we are doing is wrong. At a time of good news
(‫ ְּבש ָרה‬good tidings) like this, we shouldn’t keep it to ourselves. If we wait even till morning,
we will earn only punishment; so come on, let’s go and tell the king’s household.”
Was the motive of the four men with tzara‘at right or wrong?
What else can you think of that is called the “good news”? Matthew 4:23; Luke 2:10
10 So they came and shouted to the gatekeepers of the city and told them the news: “We
went to the camp of Aram, and no one was there, no human voice––just the horses and
donkeys tied up, and the tents left in place.” 11 The gatekeepers called and told it to the
king’s household inside. 12 Then the king got up in the night; he said to his servants, “I’ll tell
you what Aram has done to us. They know that we’re hungry, so they’ve gone outside the
camp and hidden in the countryside, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we’ll take
them alive and then get inside the city.’”
Why didn’t the king believe what Elisha had said in verse 1 above? Ref: verses 2 & 17
13 One of his servants answered, “I suggest letting some men take five of the remaining
horses that are left in the city––they’re like everything else in Isra’el that remains, like
everything else in Isra’el, practically finished––and we’ll send and see.”
Why does the king need to be reminded of the situation he is in?
14 So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of Aram, saying,
“Go, and see.” 15 They went after them all the way to the Yarden (Jordan), and found the
entire distance strewn with clothing and other articles Aram had thrown away in their haste.
The messengers returned and told the king.
What would cause the Aram soldiers throw away their clothing and other articles all the way
to the Yarden (Jordan)?
16 Then the people went out and ransacked the camp of Aram––with the result that six
quarts of fine flour was sold for only a shekel and half a bushel of barley for a shekel, in
keeping with what ADONAI had said.
3
17 The king put the servant on whose arm he had leaned in charge of the gate, and the
people trampled him down in the gateway, so that he died, as the man of G-d had said he
would, who spoke when the king came to him.
What does it mean to “lean” on someone? Ref: Yesha’yahu (Isa) 36:6
Have you ever trusted in someone who gave you wrong advise?
18 For the man of G-d had said to the king, “Tomorrow by this time six quarts of barley will
sell for only a shekel and half a bushel of fine flour for a shekel (in the market) at the gate of
Shomron”; 19 the servant had answered the man of G-d, “Why, this couldn’t happen even if
ADONAI made windows in heaven!” and Elisha had said, “All right, you yourself will see it
with your own eyes; but you won’t eat any of it!”
What are the “windows in heaven”? Ref: B’resheet (Gen) 7:11. Is this sarcasm by the
servant?
20 That is exactly what happened to him, because the people trampled him down in the
gateway, so that he died.
What is the lesson from this? Hint: Think about how the story began and ended!
The curse upon unbelief is great.
Tehillim (Psa) 1
1 How blessed are those who reject the advice of the wicked, don’t stand on the way of
sinners or sit where scoffers sit!
A PARTIAL LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HAD TZARA’AT (LEPROSY):
* Moshe – Exodus 4:1-9, * Miriam – Numbers 12:1-16, * Naaman – 2 Kings 5
* Gehazi – 2 Kings 5, * King Uzziah – 2 Chronicles 26
PART OF THE PURIFICATION OF PERSONS WITH TZARA’AT
.‫מיִםֹחיִ ים‬-‫ֹעל‬,‫חֶ ֶרש‬-‫כְּ ִלי‬-‫אֶ ל‬--‫הצִ ּפֹור ָהאֶ חָ ת‬-‫ֹאֶ ת‬,‫ְּשחט‬
ָ ‫ֹו‬,‫ֹהכהֵ ן‬,‫וְּצִ וָה‬
‫ה‬
living - water
Vayikra (Lev) 14
5 The cohen is to order one of the birds slaughtered in a clay pot over running (living) water.
Yirme’yahu (Jeremiah) 17
13 Hope of Isra’el, ADONAI! All who abandon you will be ashamed, those who leave you will be
inscribed in the dust, because they have abandoned ADONAI, the source of living water.
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