13:2 plague of leprosy. The dread disease of leprosy in ancient times was not only loathsome, but contagious and incurable. Therefore, the seemingly cruel isolation of the leper was necessary for the survival of the tribe. Because of the malady’s character, the Scriptures make it also to be a type of the dread disease of sin, which also is humanly contagious and incurable, eventually becoming loathsome and lethal (compare Psalm 38:3-11; Isaiah 1:6; James 1:15).