be washed: 2 Kings 5:10, 2 Kings 5:14; Psalms 51:2; 2 Corinthians 7:1, 2 Corinthians 12:8; Hebrews 9:10; Revelation 1:5; The plague of leprosy was inflicted immediately from the hand of God, and came not from natural causes, as other diseases; and therefore must be managed according to a divine law.
Miriam's leprosy, and Gehazi's and King Uzziah's were all the punishments of particular sins; and if generally it was so, no marvel there was so much care taken to distinguish it from a common distemper, that none might be looked upon as lying under this extraordinary token of Divine displeasure, but those that really were so.