Leviticus14
World English Bible · Public Domain
1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2“This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest,
3and the priest shall go out of the camp. The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper,
4then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
5The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.
6As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.
7He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.
8“He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.
9It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water. Then he shall be clean.
10“On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without defect, one ewe lamb a year old without defect, three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and one log of oil.
11The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
12“The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
13He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
14The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
15The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
16The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh.
17The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.
18The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh.
19“The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;
20then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21“If he is poor, and can’t afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil;
22and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.
23“On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh.
24The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
25He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
26The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand;
27and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh.
28Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.
29The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh.
30He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, which ever he is able to afford,
31of the kind he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh.”
32This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.
33Yahweh 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,
35then 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.’
36The 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. Afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.
37He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall,
38then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.
39The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house,
40then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city.
41He shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over. They shall pour out the mortar that they scraped off outside of the city into an unclean place.
42They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house.
43“If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered,
44then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean.
45He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.
46“Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.
47He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48“If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
49To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
50He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.
51He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, 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.
52He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet;
53but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.”
54This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch,
55and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house,
56and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot;
57to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 14.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: 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).
vv1-9
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.
vv10-32
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.
vv33-53
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.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
תּוֹרָה: a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch
צָרַע: to scourge, i.e. (intransitive and figurative) to be stricken with leprosy
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
טׇהֳרָה: ceremonial purification; moral purity
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
כֹּהֵן: literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)
יָצָא: to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.
Cross References
Leviticus 14Explicitly links cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop to the sprinkling and cleansing ceremonies under the law.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct parallel placing sacrificial blood on the right ear, thumb, and toe, matching Aaron's consecration ritual.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Explicitly details the wealthy purification rites that are now adapted for the poor in parallel fashion.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Jesus commands the healed leper to show himself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded.
Supported by JFB
Luke's account of Jesus directing a healed leper to complete the Levitical rites of purification.
Supported by JFB
Applies blood to the right ear, thumb, and great toe for the consecration of the priests.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Sparing ritual of blood on ear, thumb, and toe matches Aaron's priestly consecration sequence.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Hebrews 9:19 references the covenant ceremony using water, scarlet wool, and hyssop to sprinkle for purification.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Establishes that the leper dwelt outside the camp, necessitating the priest to go forth to him.
Supported by Matthew Poole
David's plea for spiritual purging using hyssop, pointing directly back to Levitical purification ceremonies.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identical ceremonial process used for cleansing an infected house, confirming the ritual's unity.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Elisha commands Naaman the leper to wash in Jordan seven times, reflecting the Levitical sprinkling count.
Supported by JFB
Specifies putting oil directly on top of the trespass offering blood, uniting atonement and sanctification.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Establishes standard concession of two turtledoves/pigeons for individuals unable to afford a lamb.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallels the compassionate allowance for poor mothers bringing turtledoves or pigeons instead of lambs.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Jesus directs the cleansed leper to offer the gift Moses commanded as a testimony.
Supported by JFB
Fulfilled in the offering of Mary and Joseph, demonstrating Christ's birth under poverty provisions.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Defines the 'fretting leprosy' (malignant disease) in a garment, parallel to its outbreak in a house.
David requests purgation with hyssop, directly echoing the ritual materials used to cleanse the leprous house.
Provides the detailed, parallel diagnostic laws for evaluating leprosy in garments.
Mark's gospel record of Jesus commanding the healed leper to undergo the priest's inspection.
Supported by Matthew Poole
First use of hyssop for sprinkling blood, establishing its covenantal role in purification.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The sevenfold sprinkling of blood before the veil, illustrating total ritual cleansing.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The standard rich person's purification offering being modified for the poor person's situation.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
The curse of God entering and consuming the stones and timber of a sinful house.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrasts the curse of the Lord in the wicked's house with blessing the righteous habitation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The same materials (cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet) are commanded for burning the red heifer.
Establishes the priestly duty of distinguishing holy from unholy, clean from unclean, summarizing this law.
Ezekiel reinforces the priestly instruction of discerning between the clean and the unclean.
Uses the same items (birds, cedar, scarlet, hyssop) to cleanse a leprous house.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Reinforces the ritual order: the oil of sanctification must cover the blood of justification.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Summarizes the law's special adaptation for the leper whose hand is unable to afford standard items.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Instruction to empty the house / flee Babylon to avoid contamination and sharing in judgments.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The priestly precedent of shutting up the suspect article for seven days to observe.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The curse entering a wicked house to consume its timber and stones resembles house leprosy's destruction.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Elisha commands Naaman to wash seven times for complete healing, echoing the sevenfold sprinkling.
Supported by JFB