The bible tells a story about four men who sat at the entrance of the city's gate dying with leprosy, an incurable disease which causes terribly visible swelling and sores on the skin, only then to eat inward to the bones. Because of this contagious and incurable disease, these lepers sat outside of the city because they were not permitted to live within the city. These men were faced with a fatal disease, were outcasts, and were starving because of a feminine in the land. Such a hopeless life and no perceived future, would make the average person throw in the towel and just give up on life -- but not these men.