and "Miriam was leprous (m'tzora'at, ), as white as snow." In , Moses warned the Israelites in the case of skin disease (, tzara'at) diligently to observe all that the priests would teach them, remembering what God did to Miriam. In 2 Kings , part of the haftarah for parashah Tazria, the prophet Elisha cures Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, who was a "leper" (metzora, ). In , part of the haftarah for parashah Metzora, the story is told of four "leprous men" (m'tzora'im, ) at the gate during the Arameans' siege of Samaria. And in 2 Chronicles , after King Uzziah tried to burn incense in the Temple in Jerusalem, "leprosy (, tzara'at) broke forth on his forehead". In early nonrabbinic interpretation The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources: Leviticus chapter 13 Philo taught that the skin disease in signified voluntary depravity. In classical rabbinic interpretation The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud: Leviticus chapter 12 Rabbi Simlai noted that just as God created humans after creating cattle, beasts, and birds, the law concerning human impurity in follows that concerning cattle, beasts, and birds in . Reading , “If a woman conceives,” Rabbi Levi said three things: It is only natural that if a person has given into another's keeping an ounce of silver in private, and the latter returns a pound of gold in public, the former will surely be grateful to the latter; and so is it with God. Human beings entrust to God a drop of fluid in privacy, and God openly returns to them completed and perfected human beings. Rabbi Levi said a second thing: It is natural that, if a person is confined without attention to a chamber, and someone comes and kindles a light for the person there, the former should feel gratitude towards the latter. So too is it with God. When the embryo is in its mother's womb, God causes a light to shine for it there with which it can see from one end of the world to the other. Rabbi Levi said a third thing: It is natural that, if a person is confined without attention to a chamber, and someone comes and releases the person and takes the person out from there, the former should feel gratitude