Good Tidings That Plagues Affect Their Houses

The owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, “It looks to ma (nir'eh li)  as if there is (something) like a (nega)  mark (of tzara'at) in the house."     Leviticus 14:35

Ba’al haTurim connects our verse’s use of the words “nir’eh li” with that in an additional verse: “From afar the Lord appeared to me (nir’eh li)…” [Jeremiah 31:2]:

The common use of the phrase conveys that it is when one has distanced himself from God, so that He appears only from afar, he is likely to be struck with tzara’at. Indeed, Naḥmanides comments that a house can be stricken with tzara’at only when the Shechina leaves it.

Additionally, we can understand the lesson to be that when one looks afar to God and realizes that He is the source of the affliction (nega), it should begin the process of repentance, turning the affliction into a positive thing, as our Sages taught: “It is good tidings for them that plagues affect their houses.“