Bible Commentaries

This shall be the ^a law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:

(a) Or, the ceremony which shall be used in his purgation.

Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive [and] ^b clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

(b) Of birds which were permitted to be eaten.

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over ^c running water:

(c) Running water, or of the fountains.

And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall ^d let the living bird loose into the open field.

(d) Signifying that he that was made clean was set free, and restored to the company of others.

And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without ^e blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour [for] a meat offering, mingled with oil, ^f and one log of oil.

(e) Which has no imperfection in any part.

(f) This quantity in Hebrew is called a Log, and holds six eggs in measure.

And if he [be] poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb [for] a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one ^g tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil;

(g) Which is an Omer, (Exodus 16:16).

And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall ^h wave them [for] a wave offering before the LORD:

(h) Or, shall offer them as the offering that is shaken to and fro.

And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, ⁱ such as he can get;

(i) whether of them he can get.

This [is] the ^k law [of him] in whom [is] the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get [that which pertaineth] to his cleansing.

(k) This order is appointed for the poor man.

When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I ^l put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

(l) This declares that no plague nor punishment comes to man without God's providence and his sending.

And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into ^m an unclean place:

(m) Where trash was cast, and other filth, that the people might not be infected by them.

And he shall ⁿ break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry [them] forth out of the city into an unclean place.

(n) That is, he shall command it to be pulled down, as in (Leviticus 14:40).

And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and ^o scarlet, and hyssop:

(o) It seems that this was a lace or string to bind the hyssop to the wood, and so was made a sprinkle: the apostle to the Hebrews calls it scarlet wool, (Hebrews 9:19).