Leviticus 14:34

34 "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,

Leviticus 14:34 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 14:34

When ye be come into the land of Canaan
Which as yet they were not come to, being in the wilderness, and so the following law concerning the leprosy in houses could not yet take place, they now dwelling in tents, and not in houses: which I give to you for a possession;
the Lord had given it to Abraham, and his seed, long ago, to be their inheritance, and now he was about to put them into the possession of it, which they were to hold as their own under God, their sovereign Lord and King: and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your
possession;
by which it appears that this kind of leprosy was from the immediate hand of God, and was supernatural and miraculous, as the Jewish writers affirm F6; nor is there anything in common, or at least in our parts of the world, that is answerable unto it; and from hence the same writers F7 conclude, that houses of Gentiles are exempt from it, only the houses of the Israelites in the land of Canaan had it; and they likewise except Jerusalem, and say F8, that was not defiled with the plague of leprosy, as it is written, "and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession"; for Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes; and they suppose, whenever it was put into any house, it was on account of some sin or sins committed by the owner; and so the Targum of Jonathan, and there be found a man that builds his house with rapine and violence, then I will put the plague thought they commonly ascribe it to evil speaking, which they gather from the case of Miriam.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Maimonides, Abarbinel, Abraham Seba, and others.
F7 Misn. Negaim, c. 12. sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
F8 T. Bab. Eruvin, fol. 82. 2. Misn. Negaim, c. 12. sect. 4. Gersom in loc.

Leviticus 14:34 In-Context

32 This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.
33 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
34 "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,
35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, 'There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.'
36 The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.
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