The priest is to examine them, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease. The spread after the clean declaration confirms the defiling disease: the priest who declared clean must now declare unclean. The priest's authority to reverse a previous declaration communicates the examination process's integrity: the priest declares according to what is observed, not according to what was previously declared. The reversal is not a failure of the system but its proper functioning — the declaration follows the condition, not the condition following the declaration.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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