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Leviticus 14

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Cleansing Skin Diseases

1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
2 "This is the law concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing. He is to be brought to the priest,
3 who will go outside the camp and examine [him].[a] If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,[b]
4 the priest will order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop[c] be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.
5 Then the priest will order that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.
6 He is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them all into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.
7 He will then sprinkle [the blood] seven times on the one who is to be cleansed from the skin disease. He is to pronounce him clean and release the live bird over the open countryside.[d]
8 The one who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; he is clean. Afterwards he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.
9 He is to shave off all his hair [again] on the seventh day: his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair.[e] He is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; he is clean.
10 "On the eighth day he must take two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished year-old ewe lamb, a grain offering of three quarts[f] of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one-third of a quart[g] of olive oil.
11 The priest who performs the cleansing will place the person who is to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
12 The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a restitution offering, along with the one-third quart[h] of olive oil, and he must wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.
13 He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered,[i] for like the sin offering, the restitution offering belongs to the priest;[j] it is especially holy.
14 The priest is to take some of the blood from the restitution offering and put [it] on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.[k]
15 Then the priest will take some of the one-third of a quart[l] of olive oil and pour it into his left palm.
16 The priest will dip his right finger into the oil in his left palm and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.
17 From the oil remaining in his palm the priest will put some on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the restitution offering.[m]
18 What is left of the oil in the priest's palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord.
19 The priest must sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be purified from his uncleanness. Afterwards he will slaughter the burnt offering.
20 The priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. The priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean.[n]
21 "But if he is poor and cannot afford [these],[o] [p] he is to take one male lamb for a restitution offering to be waved in order to make atonement for him, along with two quarts[q]/ 10 of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering,[r] one-third of a quart[s] of olive oil,
22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford,[t] one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.[u]
23 On the eighth day he is to bring these things for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord.[v]
24 The priest will take the male lamb for the restitution offering and the one-third of a quart[w] of olive oil, and wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.[x]
25 After he slaughters the male lamb for the restitution offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the restitution offering and put [it] on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
26 Then the priest will pour some of the oil into his left palm.
27 With his right finger the priest will sprinkle some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the Lord.
28 The priest will also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the [same] place as the blood of the restitution offering.[y]
29 What is left of the oil in the priest's palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord.[z]
30 He must then sacrifice one type of what he can afford,[aa] either the turtledoves or young pigeons,
31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, [sacrificing] what he can afford[ab] [ac] together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord for the one to be cleansed.[ad]
32 This is the law for someone who has[ae] a skin disease and cannot afford[af] the cost of his cleansing."

Cleansing Contaminated Objects

33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
34 "When you enter the land of Canaan that I am giving you as a possession, and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess,[ag]
35 the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared[ah] in my house.
36 The priest must order them to clear the house before he enters to examine the contamination, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. Afterwards the priest will come to examine the house.
37 He will examine it, and if the contamination in the walls of the house consists of green or red indentations[ai] that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall,
38 the priest is to go outside the house to its doorway and quarantine the house for seven days.
39 The priest is to return on the seventh day and examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house,
40 the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city.
41 He is to have the inside of the house completely scraped, and the plaster[aj] that is scraped off must be dumped in an unclean place outside the city.
42 Then they must take different stones to replace the [former] ones and take additional plaster[ak] to replaster the house.
43 "If the contamination reappears in the house after the stones have been pulled out, and after the house has been scraped and replastered,
44 the priest must come and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is harmful mildew; the house is unclean.
45 It must be torn down with its stones, its beams, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.
46 Whoever enters the house during any of the days the priest quarantines it will be unclean until evening.
47 Whoever lies down in the house is to wash his clothes, and whoever eats in it is to wash his clothes.
48 "But when the priest comes and examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he is to pronounce the house clean because the contamination has disappeared.[al]
49 He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house,
50 and he is to slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot containing fresh water.
51 He will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
52 He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn.
53 Then he is to release the live bird into the open countryside outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.
54 "This is the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak,[am]
55 for mildew in clothing or on a house,
56 and for a swelling, scab, or spot,[an]
57 to determine when something is unclean or clean. This is the law regarding skin disease and mildew."
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Leviticus 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

Of declaring the leper to be clean. (1-9) The sacrifices to be offered by him. (10-32) The leprosy in a house. (33-53) Summary of the law concerning leprosy. (54-57)

Verses 1-9 The priests could not cleanse the lepers; but when the Lord removed the plague, various rules were to be observed in admitting them again to the ordinances of God, and the society of his people. They represent many duties and exercises of truly repenting sinners, and the duties of ministers respecting them. If we apply this to the spiritual leprosy of sin, it intimates that when we withdraw from those who walk disorderly, we must not count them as enemies, but admonish them as brethren. And also that when God by his grace has brought to repentance, they ought with tenderness and joy, and sincere affection, to be received again. Care should always be taken that sinners may not be encouraged, nor penitents discouraged. If it were found that the leprosy was healed, the priest must declare it with the particular solemnities here described. The two birds, one killed, and the other dipped in the blood of the bird that was killed, and then let loose, may signify Christ shedding his blood for sinners, and rising and ascending into heaven. The priest having pronounced the leper clean from the disease, he must make himself clean from all remains of it. Thus those who have comfort of the remission of their sins, must with care and caution cleanse themselves from sins; for every one that has this hope in him, will be concerned to purify himself.

Verses 10-32 The cleansed leper was to be presented to the Lord, with his offerings. When God has restored us to enjoy public worship again, after sickness, distance, or otherwise, we should testify our thanksgiving by our diligent use of the liberty. And both we and our offerings must be presented before the Lord, by the Priest that made us clean, even our Lord Jesus. Beside the usual rites of the trespass-offering, some of the blood, and some of the oil, was to be put upon him that was to be cleansed. Wherever the blood of Christ is applied for justification, the oil of the Spirit is applied for sanctification; these two cannot be separated. We have here the gracious provision the law made for poor lepers. The poor are as welcome to God's altar as the rich. But though a meaner sacrifice was accepted from the poor, yet the same ceremony was used for the rich; their souls are as precious, and Christ and his gospel are the same to both. Even for the poor one lamb was necessary. No sinner could be saved, had it not been for the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God with his blood.

Verses 33-53 The leprosy in a house is unaccountable to us, as well as the leprosy in a garment; but now sin, where that reigns in a house, is a plague there, as it is in a heart. Masters of families should be aware, and afraid of the first appearance of sin in their families, and put it away, whatever it is. If the leprosy is got into the house, the infected part must be taken out. If it remain in the house, the whole must be pulled down. The owner had better be without a dwelling, than live in one that was infected. The leprosy of sin ruins families and churches. Thus sin is so interwoven with the human body, that it must be taken down by death.

Verses 54-57 When that God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us by his grace, ( ephesians 2:4 ephesians 2:5 ) , we shall manifest the change by repenting, and forsaking former sins. Let us follow after holiness, and let us compassionate other poor lepers, and desire, seek, and pray for their cleansing.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Footnotes 40

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 14

This chapter treats of the purification of lepers, and the rules to be observed therein; and first what the priest was to do for his cleansing when brought to him, by making use of two birds, with cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop, as directed, Le 14:1-7; what he was to do for himself, shaving off all his hair, and washing his flesh and clothes in water, Le 14:8,9; the offerings to be offered up for him, two he lambs and one ewe lamb, and a meat offering, with a particular account of the use of the blood of the trespass offering, and of oil put upon the tip of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, Le 14:10-20; but if poor, only one lamb was required, a meat offering of one tenth deal, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons, and blood and oil used as before, Le 14:21-32; next follow an account of leprosy in an house, and the signs of it, and the rules to judge of it, Le 14:33-48; and the manner of cleansing from it, Le 14:49-53; and the chapter is closed with a recapitulation of the several laws concerning the various sorts of leprosy in this and the preceding chapter, Le 14:54-57.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Leviticus 14 Commentaries

Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.