Leviticus 14

Cleansing from Skin Diseases

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹

2 “This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease ^[a] on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest.

3 The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed,

4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.

5 Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water ^[b] in a clay pot.

6 And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.

7 Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.

8 The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.

9 On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

10 On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour ^[c] mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil. ^[d]

11 The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

12 Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

13 Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.

14 The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt 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.

15 Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm,

16 dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.

17 And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining 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 top of the blood of the guilt offering.

18 The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.

19 Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering

20 and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean.

21 If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour ^[e] mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,

22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

23 On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD.

24 The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

25 And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt 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 is to pour some of the oil into his left palm

27 and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD.

28 The priest shall 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 places as the blood of the guilt offering.

29 The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.

30 Then he must sacrifice the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford,

31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, ^[f] together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD for the one to be cleansed.

32 This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”

Signs of Home Contamination

33 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew ^[g] into a house in that land,

35 the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’

36 The priest must order that the house be cleared before he enters it to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will become unclean. After this, the priest shall go in to inspect the house.

37 He is to examine the house, and if the mildew on the walls consists of green or red depressions that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall,

38 the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.

39 On the seventh day the priest is to return and inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls,

40 he must order that the contaminated stones be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city.

41 And he shall have the inside of the house scraped completely and the plaster that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the city.

42 So different stones must be obtained to replace the contaminated ones, as well as additional mortar to replaster the house.

43 If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and replastered,

44 the priest must come and inspect it. If the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean.

45 It must be torn down with its stones, its timbers, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.

46 Anyone who enters the house during any of the days that it is closed up will be unclean until evening.

47 And anyone who sleeps in the house or eats in it must wash his clothes.

Cleansing a Home

48 If, however, the priest comes and inspects it, and the mildew has not spread after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone.

49 He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house;

50 and he shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.

51 Then he shall 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 And he shall cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn.

53 Finally, he is to release the live bird into the open fields 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 infectious skin disease, for a scaly outbreak,

55 for mildew in clothing or in a house,

56 and for a swelling, rash, or spot,

57 to determine when something is clean or unclean. This is the law regarding skin diseases and mildew. ^[h]”

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.

Cross References

• 1. (Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16)

Footnotes

• [a]. Forms of the Hebrew tzaraath, traditionally translated as leprosy, were used for various skin diseases; also in verses 3, 7, 32, 54, and 57.
• [b]. Or flowing water or living water; here and in verses 6, 50, 51, and 52
• [c]. Three-tenths of an ephah is approximately 6 dry quarts or 6.6 liters (probably about 7.6 pounds or 3.5 kilograms of flour).
• [d]. Or one log of oil; that is, approximately 0.33 quarts or 0.31 liters; also in verses 12, 15, 21, and 24
• [e]. A tenth of an ephah is approximately 2 dry quarts or 2.2 liters (probably about 2.6 pounds or 1.2 kilograms of flour).
• [f]. LXX and Syriac; Hebrew includes as he is able to afford,
• [g]. Forms of the Hebrew tzaraath, traditionally translated as leprosy regarding skin diseases, are translated as mildew regarding blemishes on garments, utensils, or buildings; here and throughout the remainder of this chapter.
• [h]. The Hebrew translated here as skin diseases and mildew is one singular term; see the footnotes for verses 2 and 34.

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.