Text: Isaiah 52:11
OT Text Referred to: Leviticus 13:45
Subject: Depart! Depart! Do not touch!
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Longitudinal Theme
Significance: Isaiah 52:11's cry "Depart! Depart! Do not touch any unclean thing!" (אַל־תִּגְּעוּ טָמֵא, al-tigg'u tame) echoes the leper's required warning cry from Leviticus 13:45: the afflicted person must cry "Unclean! Unclean!" (טָמֵא טָמֵא, tame tame). Both passages use ritual-purity language and the repeated imperative form. In Leviticus, the unclean person warns others to stay away; in Isaiah, God commands His people to separate from Babylonian impurity. The exodus-from-Babylon is thus framed in purity language: leaving exile is like leaving a zone of contagion. The carriers of the LORD's vessels (52:11) must maintain strict separation from all defilement as they process out of pagan territory.