XIV. (1) AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES. — The regulations for the purification of the leper are delivered to Moses alone, who is to communicate them to Aaron and his sons, whilst the rules by which the distemper is to be discerned were given both to Moses and Aaron. (See Leviticus 13:1.) The reason... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS SHALL BE THE LAW OF THE LEPER. — That is, the manner in which an Israelite cured of his leprosy shall be purified and restored to the communion of the sanctuary on the day when he is pronounced clean. HE SHALL BE BROUGHT UNTO THE PRIEST. — He is to be conducted from his place of seclusion (see... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL GO FORTH. — To this appointed place the priest had to go to meet and examine the restored leper, and to satisfy himself that he was thoroughly cured.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall the priest command to take. — Literally, _And the priest shall command, and he shall take,_ that is, the leper shall take. To avoid the ambiguity as to the person, the translators of the Authorised Version adopted _the_ rendering in the text. As the relatives of the cured leper procured t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL COMMAND THAT ONE OF THE BIRDS BE KILLED. — Rather, _And the priest shall command, and he shall kill the one bird,_ that is, upon the priest ordering it, the cured leper is to kill the one which is the fairer and better bird of the two, as was the rule during the second Temple. N... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SHALL DIP THEM AND THE LIVING BIRD. — With the crimson thread the priest tied together lengthwise the bundle of hyssop and the cedar wood, extended about them the wings and the tail of the living bird, and then dipped all the four in the mixture of blood and water which was in the earthen vessel... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL SPRINKLE. — Having thus dipped the hyssop fastened to the cedar stick into the blood and water, the priest is to sprinkle with it the back of the hand and the forehead of the patient seven times. The seven times symbolised the complete cleansing. (See Leviticus 4:6.) Hence Naaman the le... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL WASH HIS CLOTHES. — This was done not to disinfect them, for leprosy, as we have seen, was not contagious, but as an act of purification, which was performed after every kind of defilement. (See Leviticus 6:20; Leviticus 11:25, &c.) AND SHAVE OFF ALL HIS HAIR. — The razor had to pass over the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IT SHALL BE... — Better, _And it shall be._ The second stage of purification, which restored the convalescent to the communion of the sanctuary, began on the seventh day, when, as a first act, he had again to shave off the hair of the whole of his body. ALSO HE SHALL WASH HIS FLESH. — Better, _a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY. — Though restored to social intercourse with his fellow brethren, the recovered leper could not at once be admitted to the privileges of the sanctuary, but had to bring on the eighth day three kinds of sacrifices: viz., a trespass offering, a sin offering, and a burnt offering... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL PRESENT THE MAN... BEFORE THE LORD, AT THE DOOR. — As his purification was not yet effected, since expiation had not yet been made, the convalescent could not enter into the court of the Israelites. Hence, during the second Temple the priest who performed the function of purifying him went clo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OFFER HIM FOR A TRESPASS OFFERING. — As leprosy was a Divine punishment for sin, the restored leper had to bring expiatory sacrifices. There is, however, a striking difference in the ritual of the leper’s trespass offering and the ordinary trespass offering described in Leviticus 5:6, &c. In the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL SLAY THE LAMB. — Better, _And the lamb shall be killed._ On ordinary occasions the sacrificer himself slaughtered the victim on the north side of the altar (see Leviticus 1:5); but as the convalescent was not as yet allowed to enter the court, other persons appointed for these occasions... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE SOME OF THE BLOOD. — During the second Temple two priests caught the blood of the trespass offering — one into a vessel, and the other into the hollow of his hand. The one who caught the blood in the vessel sprinkled it against the wall of the altar, whilst the other who ha... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL TAKE SOME OF THE LOG OF OIL. — This he had to do with his right hand, which is actually expressed in the ancient Chaldee paraphrase. AND POUR IT INTO THE PALM OF HIS OWN LEFT HAND. — Better, _and he shall pour it into the palm of the priest’s left hand,_ that is, the priest who has hitherto p... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL DIP. — The priest did not take the oil into the sanctuary, but, holding it in the hollow of his hand, stood in the court, whilst the officiating priest, turning his face to the Holy of Holies, dipped his right finger in the oil, and sprinkled it seven times upon the floor of the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OF THE REST OF THE OIL. — With the rest of the oil both priests returned to the leper, when the officiating priest put it on those parts of the convalescent’s body on which he had previously put blood, _so_ that the oil now actually was “upon the blood of the trespass offering,” on the tip of th... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL POUR UPON THE HEAD. — That which remains of the oil in the hollow of the priest’s hand after some of it had been sprinkled seven times before the Lord, and after some had been put on the several organs of the leper’s body, the priest is _to put,_ not “pour,” upon the convalescent’s head — t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL OFFER THE SIN OFFERING. — The other ewe lamb mentioned in Leviticus 14:10 the priest is now to offer as a sin offering, to expiate the sins which the restored leper had committed during his illness, having probably given vent to impatient and unbecoming expressions at his loaths... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL OFFER THE BURNT OFFERING. — With the offering of the burnt offering, accompanied by the meat offering mentioned in Leviticus 14:10, concluded the second and last stage of the purification of the leper, which completely restored him to the privileges of the sanctuary.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF HE BE POOR. — The benign consideration for the poor which has been evinced on former occasions in connection with the sacrifices (see Leviticus 5:7; Leviticus 5:11, Lev. 12:18) is also shown here. Three lambs and three tenth deals of flour were more than a poor leper could afford to bring. In... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO TURTLEDOVES, OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS — which were plentiful and cheap in Palestine (see Leviticus 1:14), instead of the two lambs required of those who were able to bring them.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL BRING THEM ON THE EIGHTH DAY. — This premises that the poor man is to go through the first stage of purification which is prescribed in Leviticus 14:3, and which admits him to social life, in exactly the same manner as the rich man, since the things prescribed for this stage are inexpen... [ Continue Reading ]
(24-29) AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE THE LAMB. — The ritual for the poor man’s sacrifices, however, is the same as that which is prescribed for the rich man. The solemnity and imposing nature of the service is not diminished, as both rich and poor are alike in the presence of the Lord. Hence the direct... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE LAW OF HIM... WHOSE HAND IS NOT ABLE TO GET. — That is, that which is laid down in Leviticus 14:21 constitutes the law for the restored leper who is too poor to offer the sacrifices prescribed in Leviticus 14:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON. — Whilst the law about the cleansing of restored lepers was addressed to Moses alone (see Leviticus 14:1), the regulations about leprous houses, like those with regard to leprous garments and persons, are for the same reason delivered to Moses and Aaron... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN YE BE COME INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN. — We have here the first of four instances in Leviticus of a law being given prospectively, having no immediate bearing on the condition of the people of Israel (see Leviticus 19:23; Leviticus 23:10; Leviticus 25:2). This may be the reason why it is separated... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT OWNETH THE HOUSE. — As in the case of the suspicious symptoms in human beings, the suspected house is forthwith to be examined by the priest. SAYING, IT SEEMETH TO ME... — According to the authorities in the time of Christ, this prescribes the formula which the owner of the house is to use... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY EMPTY THE HOUSE. — If the examination was made before the removal of the objects in it, and the priest pronounced the house leprous, all the furniture, &c, found therein would be defiled. Hence the benign law that everything should be removed previous to the priest’s inspection, to save th... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH HOLLOW STRAKES, GREENISH OR REDDISH. — If the house is really leprous, the priest on inspecting it will find in the walls the same three symptoms which are visible in the skin of leprous human beings: (1) hollow strakes, or, rather, _deep cavities_ or _depressions,_ which the ancient canons def... [ Continue Reading ]
SHUT UP THE HOUSE SEVEN DAYS. — On finding these symptoms, the priest is to put the house in quarantine for seven days, in order to see what alteration will take place during this interval, adopting the same treatment as in the case of leprous garments. (See Leviticus 13:50.)... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIEST SHALL COME AGAIN. — If on inspecting it again at the end of the first week’s quarantine, the priest finds that the depression or discolouring has spread in the walls, thus indicating the progress of the disease, just as in the case of leprous men and garments (see Leviticus 13:5), he... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THE PLAGUE COME AGAIN. — If after these alterations and precautions the symptoms reappear, the house must be pulled down, just as the garment was destroyed under similar circumstances (see Leviticus 13:51), and the materials deposited in the unclean receptacle outside the city, since its re-a... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER HE THAT GOETH INTO THE HOUSE. — If any one only momentarily entered the house whilst it was under quarantine, he contracted defilement, which lasted till sundown of the same day. After the priest declared it unclean, it defiled by simply touching it outside.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT LIETH IN THE HOUSE. — As abiding in it all night was graver than a momentary entrance, it involved the washing of the garments before the person so defiled could be clean. The same was the case if any one made a meal in it.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PLAGUE HATH NOT SPREAD. — If at the end of the second week’s quarantine the distemper has not spread, having been checked by the means prescribed in Leviticus 14:42, the priest is to declare it clean, and fit for re-habitation. This is the same criterion adopted in the case of leprous men and ga... [ Continue Reading ]
(49-53) AND HE SHALL TAKE TO CLEANSE THE HOUSE. — The same rites are prescribed for cleansing the house which were performed in cleansing the healed leper (see Leviticus 14:3), with the exception of the sacrifices which the man brought afterwards, and which were necessarily absent in the case of the... [ Continue Reading ]
(54-56) THIS IS THE LAW FOR ALL MANNER OF PLAGUE. — These verses sum up the laws of leprosy given in Leviticus 13:14. The various names contained in Leviticus 14:56 are repeated from Leviticus 13:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO TEACH WHEN IT IS UNCLEAN. — This verse is intimately connected with Leviticus 14:54, viz.: “This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy... to afford instruction in the day of uncleanness, and in the day of cleanness:” that is, to furnish them with instructions against the time when they w... [ Continue Reading ]