leper
noun (a leper, lepers)
Everyday
- A person who has leprosy, an illness of the skin and nerves. tree →
- (Bible) In Bible times lepers had to live apart and call out «Unclean!»; Jesus touched and healed lepers. tree →
- (figurative) A person that others avoid or reject: «He was treated like a leper.» tree →
In the lessons
In religion lessons Jesus healing ten lepers, with only one coming back to say thank you, teaches gratitude; touching the leper shows compassion for outcasts. Today people prefer to say «a person with leprosy», because «leper» can be hurtful. Phrases: «treated like a leper», «the ten lepers», «leper colony».
Examples
- Jesus healed ten lepers. tree →
- Only one leper came back to thank Jesus. tree →
- Jesus touched the leper, and he was healed. tree →
- In old times lepers lived outside the town. tree →
- After the argument he felt like a leper at school. tree →
- Father Damien worked in a leper colony. tree →
- This king was a leper, and all his doctors had been unable to cure him, when a very clever physician came to his court. tree →
Note
Countable. The illness is leprosy. Today «a person with leprosy» is kinder and more correct. Do not confuse with «leopard» (big spotted cat).
In Jewish tradition
A leper was brought to the priest for examination and, if found unclean, lived outside the camp until healed and cleansed.
Interpretation. The Rabbis taught that this disease came as a sign for evil speech, and the priest, not a doctor, judged it.
Examples
- This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest. (Torah LEV.14.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; (Torah LEV.14.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath an issue, he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. (Torah LEV.22.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a house set apart. (Prophets 2KI.15.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.' And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. (Prophets 2KI.5.27, JPS 1917) tree →
- So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said: 'He is a leper'; and Jotham his son reigned in his stead. (Writings 2CH.26.23, JPS 1917) tree →
Note
Countable. The illness is leprosy. Today «a person with leprosy» is kinder and more correct. Do not confuse with «leopard» (big spotted cat).
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «leper» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «leper» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «leper» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «leper» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/leper/