Lepers and Leprosy in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Moses

According to Scripture, Moses temporarily had leprosy on his hand after he had requested God to give him a miraculous sign to show the Pharaoh as he prepared to request permission for the Israelites to make a mass exodus out of Egypt.

According to Scripture, Moses was given three signs to show the Pharaoh. The first sign involved turning a rod into a serpent when it was cast on the ground.

As a precursor to the second sign, God asked Moses to put his hand in his cloak and when he pulled it out was "leprous, like snow."

The third sign involved taking water from the Nile River and pouring it on dry land, with the water turning into blood.

Details can be found in Exodus 4:1-9.

Answer: Miriam

Miriam was afflicted with leprosy, but ended up being cleansed and re-instated into the Israelite camp seven days later. According to the KJV and the NKJV, the grumbling about her brother Moses' selection of an Ethiopian woman as his wife caused serious problems for Miriam. (The NIV uses the word Cushite, rather than Ethiopian.) Details about her grumbling, as well as that of Aaron, are found in Numbers 12:1. No name is given for Moses' Ethiopian wife.

Numbers 12:5 tells of Miriam and Aaron stepping forward and the LORD coming down in a pillar of cloud. When the pillar of the cloud had disappeared, Aaron noticed his sister Miriam was leprous and "as white as snow". After Moses pleaded to God to cure Miriam of her leprosy, she was cleansed and reinstated into the Israelite camp after a seven-day absence.

The fact Miriam's name appears before Aaron seems to indicate she was complaining much more than Aaron.

No one knows for certain, but many theologians believe Miriam was the one who watched from a distance when Moses was placed in a basket along the banks of the Nile River, as per Exodus 2:4. Miriam is known for leading a victory song by the women after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. According to Exodus 15:20, she took a tambourine in her hand and "all the women followed her with, tambourines and dancing."

Answer: Naaman

The story of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, being cleansed of leprosy is found in 2 Kings 5:1-26. After coming down with the disease, Naaman followed the advice of a Jewish slave girl who served his wife. In 2 Kings 5:3, the unnamed slave girl told him to see the "prophet in Samaria." The end result is this: Elisha the prophet told Naaman to bathe himself seven times in the Jordan River. Afterward, he was cleansed of the dread disease. 2 Kings 5:15, in the NKJV Bible, states: "And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, 'Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant'." Elisha, however, refused to accept any gift.

Incidentally, Luke 4:16-27 tells of Jesus as being in a synagogue in Nazareth, His hometown, and stating "many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

Answer: Uzziah

After having an altercation with no less than eighty priests of the LORD, Scripture tells of Uzziah, also known as Azariah, being afflicted with leprosy until the day he died.

Scripture states the king was banned from the temple of the LORD and Jotham, his son, had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. Uzziah became king at the tender age of 16 and started well. However, after he became powerful, his pride apparently led to his downfall. Similar to other kings, Uzziah was unfaithful to the LORD, Scripture states.

2 Chronicles 26:19-20 tells of Uzziah becoming furious with the priests and leprosy breaking out on his forehead. According to Verse 18, the priests had told the king he was not authorized to burn incense in the temple. Despite the warning, a defiant Uzziah went ahead and burned incense anyway.

"And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the incense altar," Scripture states. "And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the LORD had struck him."

Answer: Gehazi

Yes, Gehazi is the correct answer. After Naaman, a commander of the Syrian army, was cured of leprosy he offered Elisha a reward which the prophet declined. Scripture reports Gehazi caught up with Naaman after his departure and asked to receive a talent of silver and two sets of clothing. Naaman promptly responded to Gehazi's request, giving him two talents of silver and two sets of clothing.

Later, Gehazi would deny his actions to Elisha and after he left the prophet's presence, Scripture reports he was leprous, as white as snow. The account of Gehazi being afflicted with leprosy is found in 2 Kings 5:20-27.

Answer: 4

2 Kings 7:3-8, tells of four lepers being the first to find out the Syrian army had ended its siege of Samaria. Scripture states the siege resulted in a severe famine and the four lepers opted to visit the camp of the Syrian army, even though it could very well have resulted in their execution. "If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die," was the rationale behind their decision.

However, to the amazement of the lepers, when they arrived at the Syrian camp they found it completely empty. Verse 6 states, the LORD had caused the army of the Syrians to hear "the noise of chariots and the noise of horses" and they fled in fear. Scripture goes on to tell of the four lepers going into tents and eating and drinking and taking with them silver, gold and clothing.

Shortly afterwards, they returned to their city and informed the gatekeepers the Syrian had fled.

Answer: Leviticus

The word leprosy and its various forms (leprous, leper and lepers) can be found more times in Leviticus than any other book in the Christian Bible. Using the NKJV, the word leprosy appears seventeen times in Leviticus, while the word leprous appears fifteen times and leper five times. That's a total of thirty-seven times.

No other book comes close. The book with the second most mentions of the disease is 2 Kings. The word leprosy is found six times in 2 Kings while leprous is found twice and leper three times for a total of eleven times.

The reason Leviticus mentions leprosy so many times is because the book contains detailed instructions from God pertaining to dealing with people afflicted with the disease.

Answer: The leper was cleansed immediately

According to Matthew 8:1-4, an unnamed leper who worshiped Jesus was healed immediately. Verses 2 and 3 in the NKJV state: "And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately his leprosy was cleansed."

A similar account can be found in Luke 5:12-16.

Answer: Border of Israel and Samaria

The mass cleansing took place on the border of Israel and Samaria. However, no specific location is given. Luke 17:12 simply states Jesus encountered the ten lepers as He entered "a certain village".

It would only make sense for lepers to be outside a village as they would not be allowed inside. And if they were in a remote area, there would be a substantially lesser chance of getting some type of assistance from people.

It's interesting to note Jews and Samaritans largely despised each other and often stayed within their jurisdictions to avoid having interactions with each other. However, it was different for lepers. It was strictly a case of misery loves company and it would not be uncommon for Jewish and Samaritan lepers to be in a group in the region Jesus was traveling through.

Answer: Samaria

The thankful leper was a Samaritan. This is noteworthy because Jews and Samaritans largely despised each other in Biblical times. However, as explained in the answer to the previous question, it would not be uncommon to see Jewish and Samaritan lepers living together, especially along the border between Galilee and Samaria.

The lepers were despised by everyone, it seems, and it made sense for them to live together. Although there was a major rift between the Jews and Samaritans in Biblical times, the four Gospels tell about Jesus looking favorably upon the Samaritans. Some examples that leap to mind are the Samaritan woman at the well and the Parable of the Good Samaritan.