Leviticus 14

Le 14:1-57.

THE

RITES AND

SACRIFICES IN

CLEANSING OF THE

LEPER.

2, 3. law of the leper in the day of his cleansing--Though quite

convalescent, a leper was not allowed to return to society immediately

and at his own will. The malignant character of his disease rendered

the greatest precautions necessary to his re-admission among the

people. One of the priests most skilled in the diagnostics of disease

[GROTIUS], being deputed to attend such outcasts,

the restored leper appeared before this official, and when after

examination a certificate of health was given, the ceremonies here

described were forthwith observed outside the camp.

4. two birds--literally, "sparrows." The Septuagint,

however, renders the expression "little birds"; and it is evident that

it is to be taken in this generic sense from their being specified as

"clean"--a condition which would have been altogether superfluous to

mention in reference to sparrows. In all the offerings prescribed in

the law, Moses ordered only common and accessible birds; and hence we

may presume that he points here to such birds as sparrows or pigeons,

as in the desert it might have been very difficult to procure wild

birds alive.

cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop--The cedar here meant was

certainly not the famous tree of Lebanon, and it is generally supposed

to have been the juniper, as several varieties of that shrub are found

growing abundantly in the clefts and crevices of the Sinaitic

mountains. A stick of this shrub was bound to a bunch of hyssop by a

scarlet ribbon, and the living bird was to be so attached to it, that

when they dipped the branches in the water, the tail of the bird might

also be moistened, but not the head nor the wings, that it might not be

impeded in its flight when let loose.

5-9. the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed

. . . over running water--As the blood of a single bird

would not have been sufficient to immerse the body of another bird, it

was mingled with spring water to increase the quantity necessary for

the appointed sprinklings, which were to be repeated seven

times, denoting a complete purification. (See

2Ki 5:10;

Ps 51:2;

Mt 8:4;

Lu 5:14).

The living bird being then set free, in token of the leper's release

from quarantine, the priest pronounced him clean; and this official

declaration was made with all solemnity, in order that the mind of the

leper might be duly impressed with a sense of the divine goodness, and

that others might be satisfied they might safely hold intercourse with

him. Several other purifications had to be gone through during a series

of seven days, and the whole process had to be repeated on the seventh,

ere he was allowed to re-enter the camp. The circumstance of a priest

being employed seems to imply that instruction suitable to the newly

recovered leper would be given, and that the symbolical ceremonies used

in the process of cleansing leprosy would be explained. How far they

were then understood we cannot tell. But we can trace some instructive

analogies between the leprosy and the disease of sin, and between the

rites observed in the process of cleansing leprosy and the provisions

of the Gospel. The chief of these analogies is that as it was only when

a leper exhibited a certain change of state that orders were given by

the priest for a sacrifice, so a sinner must be in the exercise of

faith and penitence ere the benefits of the gospel remedy can be

enjoyed by him. The slain bird and the bird let loose are supposed to

typify, the one the death, and the other the resurrection of Christ;

while the sprinklings on him that had been leprous typified the

requirements which led a believer to cleanse himself from all

filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect his holiness in the

fear of the Lord.

10-20. on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish,

and one ewe-lamb of the first year without blemish--The

purification of the leper was not completed till at the end of seven

days, after the ceremonial of the birds

[Le 14:4-7]

and during which, though permitted to come into the camp, he had to

tarry abroad out of his tent

[Le 14:8],

from which he came daily to appear at the door of the tabernacle with

the offerings required. He was presented before the Lord by the priest

that made him clean. And hence it has always been reckoned among pious

people the first duty of a patient newly restored from a long and

dangerous sickness to repair to the church to offer his thanksgiving,

where his body and soul, in order to be an acceptable offering, must be

presented by our great Priest, whose blood alone makes any clean. The

offering was to consist of two lambs, the one was to be a sin offering,

and an ephah of fine flour (two pints equals one-tenth), and one log

(half pint) of oil

(Le 2:1).

One of the lambs was for a trespass offering, which was necessary from

the inherent sin of his nature or from his defilement of the camp by

his leprosy previous to his expulsion; and it is remarkable that the

blood of the trespass offering was applied exactly in the same

particular manner to the extremities of the restored leper, as that of

the ram in the consecration of the priests

[Le 8:23].

The parts sprinkled with this blood were then anointed with oil--a

ceremony which is supposed to have borne this spiritual import: that

while the blood was a token of forgiveness, the oil was an emblem of

healing--as the blood of Christ justifies, the influence of the Spirit

sanctifies. Of the other two lambs the one was to be a sin offering and

the other a burnt offering, which had also the character of a thank

offering for God's mercy in his restoration. And this was considered to

make atonement "for him"; that is, it removed that ceremonial pollution

which had excluded him from the enjoyment of religious ordinances, just

as the atonement of Christ restores all who are cleansed through faith

in His sacrifice to the privileges of the children of God.

21-32. if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one

lamb--a kind and considerate provision for an extension of the

privilege to lepers of the poorer class. The blood of their smaller

offering was to be applied in the same process of purification and they

were as publicly and completely cleansed as those who brought a

costlier offering

(Ac 10:34).

34-48. leprosy in a house--This law was prospective, not to come

into operation till the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan. The

words, "I put the leprosy," has led many to think that this plague was

a judicial infliction from heaven for the sins of the owner; while

others do not regard it in this light, it being common in Scripture to

represent God as doing that which He only permits in His providence to

be done. Assuming it to have been a natural disease, a new difficulty

arises as to whether we are to consider that the house had become

infected by the contagion of leprous occupiers; or that the leprosy was

in the house itself. It is evident that the latter was the true state

of the case, from the furniture being removed out of it on the first

suspicion of disease on the walls. Some have supposed that the name of

leprosy was analogically applied to it by the Hebrews, as we speak of

cancer in trees when they exhibit corrosive effects similar to what the

disease so named produces on the human body; while others have

pronounced it a mural efflorescence or species of mildew on the wall

apt to be produced in very damp situations, and which was followed by

effects so injurious to health as well as to the stability of a house,

particularly in warm countries, as to demand the attention of a

legislator. Moses enjoined the priests to follow the same course and

during the same period of time for ascertaining the true character of

this disease as in human leprosy. If found leprous, the infected parts

were to be removed. If afterwards there appeared a risk of the

contagion spreading, the house was to be destroyed altogether and the

materials removed to a distance. The stones were probably rough, unhewn

stones, built up without cement in the manner now frequently used in

fences and plastered over, or else laid in mortar. The oldest examples

of architecture are of this character. The very same thing has to be

done still with houses infected with mural salt. The stones covered

with the nitrous incrustation must be removed, and if the infected wall

is suffered to remain, it must be plastered all over anew.

48-57. the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the

plague is healed--The precautions here described show that there is

great danger in warm countries from the house leprosy, which was likely

to be increased by the smallness and rude architecture of the houses in

the early ages of the Israelitish history. As a house could not

contract any impurity in the sight of God, the "atonement" which the

priest was to make for it must either have a reference to the sins of

its occupants or to the ceremonial process appointed for its

purification, the very same as that observed for a leprous person. This

solemn declaration that it was "clean," as well as the offering made on

the occasion, was admirably calculated to make known the fact, to

remove apprehension from the public mind, as well as relieve the owner

from the aching suspicion of dwelling in an infected house.