Quarantine

===Ancient===
An early mention of isolation occurs in the [[Biblical]] [[book of Leviticus]], written in the 7th century BC or perhaps earlier, which describes the procedure for separating out people infected with the skin disease [[Tzaraath]]. The medical nature of this isolation is, however, disputed. As traditional exegesis (dated 700 CE) sees it as a punishment for trespassing one of several negative commandment, most notably [[Lashon hara|Evil Speech]].<ref>Leviticus Rabbah 17 3</ref> A more recent hypothesis postulates that the infected are required to isolate themselves in order to prevent spread of disease{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} (although the Bible does not imply contagiousness of ''Tzaraath''):

{{blockquote|Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|13:45–46|NIV}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2020}}<ref>[https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oldtestament/section5/page/3/ Bible: The Old Testament – Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy] ''www.sparknotes.com'', ''...the Israelites' punishment for certain infractions is to isolate or expel the offending individual from the camp... ...Since uncleanness bars a person from approaching the sacred religious items, physical impurity places one farthest from the center of Israel...'' accessed 14 March 2020</ref>}}

Moses ordered that dwellings from which infected Jews had gone should be inspected before being occupied again, and that people recovering from contagious disease were not to be allowed to go abroad until examined.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leviticus 13:1-40 - NIV - The ... |url=https://www.christianity.com/bible/niv/leviticus/13-1-40 |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=www.christianity.com |language=en}}</ref>