Leviticus 14:36

36 And the priest shall give orders to remove the furniture of the house, before the priest comes in to see the plague, and none of the things in the house shall become unclean; and afterwards the priest shall go in to examine the house.

Leviticus 14:36 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 14:36

Then the priest shall command that they empty the house
Clear it of all persons and things; everybody was obliged to go out of it; and all the furniture of it, all the household goods in it, were to be removed from it: before the priest go [into it] to see the plague, that all that [is] in
the house be not made clean;
as would be the case should the priest view it, and pronounce it unclean before the removal of them; agreeably to which is the Jewish tradition ^F11, before a priest comes to see the plague, not anything in the house is defiled; but after he is come to see it, even bundles of sticks, and of reeds, are defiled, which are not reckoned under the uncleanness to be removed: so that this was a kindness to the owner of the house, that his loss might not be so great as it otherwise would be, if he did not take care to get his goods out previous to the inspection of the priest: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house;
to examine it, whether the signs of leprosy are in it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Misn. Nagaim, c. 12. sect. 5.

Leviticus 14:36 In-Context

34 Whensoever ye shall enter into the land of the Chananites, which I give you for a possession, and I shall put the plague of leprosy in the houses of the land of your possession;

35 then the owner of the house shall come and report to the priest, saying, I have seen as it were a plague in the house.

36 And the priest shall give orders to remove the furniture of the house, before the priest comes in to see the plague, and none of the things in the house shall become unclean; and afterwards the priest shall go in to examine the house.

37 And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, the plague is in the walls of the house, greenish or reddish cavities, and the appearance of them beneath the surface of the walls.

38 And the priest shall come out of the house to the door of the house, and the priest shall separate the house seven days.