Leviticus 14:43-53

43 "And if the plague come again and break out in the house, after he hath taken away the stones and after he hath scraped the house and after it is plastered,

44 then the priest shall come and look; and behold, if the plague is spread in the house, it is a consuming leprosy in the house; it is unclean.

45 And he shall break down the house -- the stones of it and the timber thereof and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.

46 Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.

47 And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes, and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes.

48 "And if the priest shall come in and look upon it, and behold, the plague hath not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

49 And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

50 And he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;

51 and he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the scarlet;

53 but he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house; and it shall be clean."

Leviticus 14:43-53 Meaning and Commentary

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.