title: Leprosy in the Bible.
abstract: For many years, the biblical term tzaraat has referred to leprosy. In fact, the disease or diseases described under this name have no relationship to leprosy, as it was known in the Middle Ages or today; moreover, the term referred not only to skin disease, but also to the state of the ritual impurity and punishment for the sins. Although the real nature of tzaraat remains unknown, the differential diagnosis might include the following: Psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, favus, dermatophyte infections, nummular dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, pityriasis rosea, crusted scabies, syphilis, impetigo, sycosis barbae, alopecia areata, furuncles, scabies, neurodermatitis, scarlet fever, lupus erythematosus, lichen sclerosus et atrophicus, folliculitis decalvans, morphea, sarcoidosis, and lichen planopilaris. Leprosy became interchangeable with the biblical leprosy due to two inaccurate translations: The Hebrew tzaraat was first translated into Greek as leprosy in the sixth century, and later, the word leprosy was translated into Arabic as lepra in the ninth century.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Poznan City Hospital, ul. Szwajcarska 3, 61-285 Poznań, Poland of Ophthalmology, Poznań City Hospital, Poland; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Warmia and Mazury, ul. Żołnierska 14 C, Olsztyn, Poland. Electronic address: ae.grzybowski@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grzybowski
authors.affiliation: Domestic and Specialized Medicine Centre "Dilmed", ul. Bohaterów Monte Cassino 3, 40-231 Katowice, Poland. Electronic address: dilmed@wp.pl.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nita
mesh_terms: D001633:Bible; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000266:history*