Transliterated into Greek, where 'us' or 'os' is added to indicate the status of the noun, we get Lazarus. Hebrew uses the verb "to be" with a lamed ('L') so that he "became a leper" reads "haytah l'zara". Most information from The Bible supports the fact that leprosy was a disease one caught because it was contagious or 'in the air'. No one was born with leprosy, though one man was born blind. grammatically, to say someone "became a leper". The next point is to understand what Hebrew does. The key here is to consider the Hebrew word for "leper". These famous and well-known Biblical event-accounts are perhaps the most enigmatic, probably because of the emotions of the women at Jesus' feet, but a solution to this enigma may provide a key to unlocking others. The accounts do seem to comprise a conundrum or enigma. On the other hand there seem to be so many differences that up to three different incidents, possibly in three different houses and three different towns at three different stages of Jesus' ministry occurred.Īmidst all this confusion, and the various assumptions different commentators use to try and bridge the gaps or make the connections, one seemingly innocuous point could possibly solve the puzzle. The six New Testament Gospel accounts: involving Lazarus the brother of Mary and Martha Simon the Leper, Simon the Pharisee and Lazarus the beggar feeding from the rich man's table and the woman or women who so spectacularly and "memorably" anointed Jesus' feet at such great cost on one hand seem to be related to each other. In other words, his social status would not have allowed him to be in such close proximity particularly to a wealthy or "rich man." Additionally, there is nothing in this story that alludes to Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, who Jesus raised from the dead, being the same person as Lazarus the beggar. If he was a leper, most likely he would not have been permitted to "be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores (v 21)." If he was a leper, being leprosy was contagious, neither of these actions would have been permitted. There is mentioned that Lazarus had "sores" (King James Version) but nothing is said about him being a leper. This story of Lazarus the beggar appears in Luke 16:19-31. The other Lazarus, who was raised from the dead, was not. Lazarus, in the story of the rich man and the beggar, was a leper.
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