Vayikra 14:17

17 And of the rest of the shemen that is in his hand shall the kohen put upon the lobe of the right ear of him that is to be made tahor, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the bohen of his right foot, upon the dahm of the asham (trespass offering);

Vayikra 14:17 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 14:17

And of the rest of the oil that [is] in his hand
That was either in the hand of the priest that was cleansing, or in the hand of his fellow priest; such of it as was left after some of it had been sprinkled seven times before the Lord:

shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to
be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great
toe of his right foot;
signifying that these parts in the leprous sinner need to be sanctified by the grace of the Spirit of God, comparable to oil, with which all the Lord's people are anointed, and is that unction they receive from the Holy One, their great High Priest; by this the ear is sanctified so as to hear the word, so as to understand it and mix it with faith; and the thumb of the right hand having oil put on that, may signify that the actions of good men are influenced by the Spirit of God, who works in them both to will and to do, and without whose grace they can do nothing in a spiritual manner; and the great toe of the right foot, the instrument of walking, being anointed with the same, may denote that it is through the grace of God saints have their conversation in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, and as becomes the Gospel of Christ: the oil was to be put,

upon the blood of the trespass offering;
that is, upon the place of the blood of it, as in ( Leviticus 14:28 ) ; which is, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, the place in which he put at first the blood of the trespass offering: for the Jewish writers observe F26, that the log of oil depended on the trespass offering; for if the flood of the trespass offering was not first sprinkled, the sprinkling of the oil was of no avail: this shows that the blood of Christ, is the foundation of men's receiving the grace of the Spirit, and that it is owing to that it is bestowed upon them; the application of his grace follows redemption by the blood of Christ, who gave himself to redeem them from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and for whomsoever expiation is made by the blood of Christ, they are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Bartenora in Misn. Zebachim, c. 4. sect. 3.

Vayikra 14:17 In-Context

15 And the kohen shall take some of the log of shemen, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand;
16 And the kohen shall dip his right forefinger in the shemen that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the shemen with his forefinger seven times before Hashem;
17 And of the rest of the shemen that is in his hand shall the kohen put upon the lobe of the right ear of him that is to be made tahor, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the bohen of his right foot, upon the dahm of the asham (trespass offering);
18 And the remnant of the shemen that is in the kohen’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be made tahor; and the kohen shall make kapporah for him before Hashem.
19 And the kohen shall offer the chattat (sin offering), and make kapporah for him that is to be made tahor from his tumah (uncleanness); and afterward he shall slaughter (shachat) the olah (burnt offering);
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.