What is Leprosy? What Does the Bible Say about Leprosy and Lepers?
What is Leprosy?: Also known as Hansen s disease, leprosy is a skin infection caused by a mycobacterium. Leprosy was at one time incurable and lepers were segregated into colonies; today the infection is readily cured it s just a matter of reaching victims of the disease and fighting the social taboos surrounding it. Leprosy is rare in the West yet widely known through biblical references. Biblical references to leprosy, however, are to a wide array of skin diseases, few if any of which are Hansen s disease.History of Leprosy: Because of ancient references going back to at least 1350 BCE in Egypt, leprosy is sometimes referred to as the oldest recorded disease or the oldest known disease. In one form or another, leprosy appears to have stalked human beings for millennia, always causing those who suffer from it to be ostracized from their communities and encouraging the belief that sufferers are being punished by the gods.Leprosy in the Old Testament: In the Old Testament of the Bible,
