Leviticus 14:2. He shall be brought unto the priest— The priests, being instructed in the diagnostics of the leprosy, are now informed, what ceremonies and sacrifices were to be used for the purification of the leper, when it appeared that his leprosy was healed. The reader will observe, what we have before remarked, that these ceremonies were not used for the purpose of healing the disorder, but for the legal purification of the leper when healed; (see Leviticus 14:3.) and for this reason, instead of the words cleansing and cleansed in this chapter, it would be more proper to use purifying and purified, which would be equally agreeable to the original. The leper being excluded from the camp now, as afterwards from the city, the priest was to go forth to him without the camp, and there inspect him. When our Saviour, by his omnipotent word, healed the leper, he commanded him to go, and shew himself unto the priest.

Leviticus 14:4. Two birds alive and clean— The Vulgate renders this, two sparrows; and so it is rendered in the margin of our English Bibles: but the original is general, and expresses two small birds of any kind; as, indeed, the designation of clean evidently shews, since, if sparrows had been meant, it would have been superfluous to have added clean, supposing the whole species to have been so; and it would have been very absurd to have required a clean sparrow if the whole species had been esteemed unclean. As the leper was to be sprinkled, an aspergillum, or instrument for sprinkling, is ordered to be made of a stick of cedar-wood, upon which a bunch of hyssop was to be bound with a scarlet thread; many reasons for which have been assigned, some natural, some moral. Naturalists assert, that the juice or resin of cedar, together with hyssop, were esteemed good for cutaneous disorders; that the former, in particular, was of service to cure the elephantiasis; and that hyssop was of virtue to dissolve spots, and recover the colour of the skin: and though it is not conceivable, that the bare sprinkling at the time of purification could be of any consequence in respect to the cure; yet, possibly, these things might have been previously made use of in the cure, and be now used, with propriety, as remembrancers of it. Hyssop is spoken of as a purifier, both in a natural and moral sense: purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Psalms 51:7. Accordingly Abarbanel says, that the living bird denoted that the dead flesh of the leper was restored to life: the cedar-wood, which is not easily corrupted, that he was cured of his putrefaction; the scarlet wool, that he was restored to his good complexion; and the hyssop, which is purgative and odoriferous, that his disease, and every thing disagreeable to the smell, was purged off. Others, however, and with more reason, apply these things to the purification of the soul by the sacrifice of the blood of Christ. See the note on Exodus 12:22.

Leviticus 14:5. In an earthen vessel, over running water— Living water, in the original, i.e. fountain or river water, which was esteemed most pure; and it would be better so to translate it, because the bird was not to be killed over running water, properly speaking, but over the bason filled with this fountain or river water. This done, the ceremonies mentioned in the next verses were to be performed, and the living bird let loose; to shew, say some, that the leper was restored to a free conversation with his neighbours, as the bird was with the rest of its kind. The solemn rite or ceremony here prescribed, according to Spencer, was ordained to signify, that the leprous person owned the God of Israel to be the Lord both of heaven and earth, and that his help came from Jehovah who made both, Psa 121:2 and this, as he apprehends, in opposition to the Gentile polytheism, particularly to their distinction of gods of the superior, and gods of the infernal regions, both of whom were worshipped by oblation of birds; the former by letting them fly up into the air, the latter by killing them. Parker, however, from the Fathers, remarks, that the interpretation, which refers all this to the Christian system, is not to be forgotten; as the bird killed very fitly typified the death of Christ, so did the living one, dismissed into the open air, his resurrection and ascension. Bochart, observing an analogy between this living bird and the scape-goat, makes both of them types of our Saviour's resurrection; and the bird slain, and the goat sacrificed, types of his death. See the last note on this chapter, and the reflections following.

Leviticus 14:8. Shall wash his clothes, &c.— All these ceremonies were no less productive, than they were demonstrative, of entire purification: and, as the disorder was so contagious, a seven days exclusion was reasonably enjoined to prevent all infection, and to shew that the disease was perfectly cured; after which the leper was deemed pure, and was re-admitted to all the privileges of society.
REFLECTIONS.—1. If the leper was cured, the priest went forth to him to view him. Though a sinner has, for a time, given himself up to his own heart's desires, yet, when he is willing through grace to return, we must charitably lend our helping hand. 2. After careful inspection, if he appeared clean, the priest was to pronounce him such, after the proper solemnities were performed. We should neither be too suspicious, nor too credulous, respecting the reality of grace in men's hearts, but, after serious observation, judge according to our best knowledge, agreeably to charity and God's word. 3. In respect to the birds, one of which was to be killed, and his blood mixed with water; and the other to be let loose. Note; (1.) If our souls be sprinkled with that blood and water which flowed from the Saviour's wounded side, then shall we be presented before the tabernacle of God, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. (2.) They who are delivered from the power and guilt of sin, as birds escaped from the snare of the fowler, rejoice in their liberty, and fly away towards heaven on wings of faith and love. 4. The person cleansed was to wash, and shave off all his hair, &c. Thus they, who are saved by the blood of Jesus, will use diligence to cleanse themselves, that they may appear, in the congregation of God's people, to have put off the old man, and to have put on the new man, which, after Christ, is renewed in righteousness and true holiness.

Leviticus 14:10. One log of oil— A log was the smallest measure among the Hebrews, and contained, according to Dr. Cumberland, somewhat more than half a pint of our measure. The first offering to be made by the leper on his return to the place of God's worship was a trespass-offering, Leviticus 14:12 a proper act of humiliation for sin; which is the source of all those pains, and diseases to which both the bodies and souls of men are obnoxious, and of which the leprosy was thought to be strongly emblematical: after this, other offerings were made, testifying the leper's homage and gratitude to his Deliverer.

Leviticus 14:14. The priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear— See the note on Exodus 29:20.

Leviticus 14:20. The priest shall offer the burnt-offering— From the whole of the preceding account we learn what was the gift which our Saviour enjoined the leper, according to custom, to offer as a testimony to the priest, Matthew 8:4. For these gifts and various ceremonies were not only designed as testimonies to shew that the leper was perfectly cured, and men might therefore associate with him; but also, as being burdensome and chargeable, to make men cautious of contracting so loathsome a distemper. This burnt-offering, being in the nature of a present to God in gratitude for having worked the cure, was not to be offered till, by the other offerings for trespass and sin, the man had made public profession of his repentance, without which his gift could not find acceptance at God's altar.
REFLECTIONS.—When God has restored us again from sickness to visit his tabernacle, it becomes us to appear with our grateful acknowledgments for the mercy. The leper was before pronounced clean: now he is introduced as such to the door of the congregation, with his three lambs, a meat-offering, and log of oil. The trespass-offering is first killed, and the blood applied to the ear, thumb, and toe of the person; signifying now his being wholly clean, and typifying the application of the blood of atonement by Jesus, the great High-Priest, to the conscience by faith: then the oil is put upon it in token of his healing. The oil of Divine Grace ever accompanies the sprinkling of atoning blood. Hereupon his sin-offering is accepted for an atonement; and his burnt-offering is a sweet savour of thanksgiving, and now he is free among the people. Note; They whose sin is pardoned, and whose leprosy is cleansed, however they may have before been separated from the faithful, will now be received with joy into the bosom of the church, and of every true Israelite.

Leviticus 14:21. If he be poor, and cannot get, &c.— The humanity of the Mosaic law is always discernible; provision is constantly made for the poor. Pelicanus observes well upon this place, that though there was an exchange made of two lambs for two turtle-doves, or two pigeons, in consideration of a man's poverty, yet no person whatsoever, whether rich or poor, could be cleansed without the sacrifice of one lamb; which may well be looked upon as a figure of the Lamb of God, who alone taketh away the sins of the whole world. Note; God ever testifies an especial care for the poor, and provides, that however destitute they may be of things temporal, they shall not want the spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

Leviticus 14:34. When ye be come into the land of Canaan, &c.— After having spoken of the leprosy of persons and of garments, the sacred writer proceeds to that of houses, concerning which we have already said something in the first note on the last chapter, especially with respect to the opinion derived from the words, I put the plague into a house, &c. that this was a punishment inflicted by the hand of God. "Though it is more difficult to account for the infection of houses," says Dr. Mead, "yet, upon a serious consideration of the different substances employed in building the walls of houses, such as stones, lime, bituminous earth, hair of animals, and other such things mixed together, it appears probable to me, that they may, by a kind of fermentation, produce those hollow, greenish or reddish strakes, in sight lower than the wall, or within the surface, (Leviticus 14:37.) which, as they in some measure resembled the leprosy on the human body, were named the leprosy in an house; for bodies of different natures very easily effervesce upon being blended together: wherefore we may reasonably suppose that this moisture or mouldiness, gradually coming forth and spreading on the walls, might prove very prejudicial to the inhabitants by its unwholesome smell, even without having recourse to any contagious quality in it. Something analogous to this is frequently observable in our own houses; where, when the walls are plaistered with bad mortar, the calcarious and nitrous salts sweat out upon their surface, of a colour almost as white as snow." Calmet solves this extraordinary phaenomenon upon the same principles with those mentioned before; observing, that "a particular sort of vermin was bred in the mortar and stones of the infected houses. This was one of the tokens of a house being infected. There were some others besides, which were a kind of rust or scurf, that spread itself along the walls.
In all these cases, the priests were directed to shut the house up for a week: and it is probable, they made some kind of fumigation during that time, though no mention is made of it; else we cannot see how the bare shutting it up could contribute to the cure. If, upon the opening it again, they found the marks gone, they pronounced it clean; if not, they caused them to be scraped off every where, and the house to be shut up another seven days: but if that did not work the cure, they ordered it to be demolished, and such materials of it only to be preserved as were free from the infection, in order to build it up in some other place." See Calmet's Dissert. and the Univ. Hist. vol. 3: The Jewish writers, however, judge very differently of this matter, and consider this plague as a supernatural punishment for calumny and detraction in particular; an opinion, which seems to have arisen from the case of Miriam: and they tell us, that it first infected the walls of the house, and, the offender repenting, went no further; but, if he persisted, it proceeded to his household stuff; and, if he still went on, invaded his garments, and at last his body. This opinion may, perhaps, gain some confirmation from the remarks of a physician in the southern parts of France, that the leprosy, though hereditary, never goes beyond the third, or, at the most, the fourth generation; an observation, says Michaelis, which I use to explain the 5th verse of the 20th chapter of Exodus.

Leviticus 14:45. He shall break down the house, &c.— Bishop Patrick observes, that all this may be considered as a figurative representation of God's proceedings toward the Jews, when they rebelled against him; for, 1st, some of them were removed, (Leviticus 14:40.) then the whole nation by degrees was very much impaired, (Leviticus 14:42.) till, at last, their degeneracy growing universal, they were all carried captive out of their own land.

Leviticus 14:53. Make an atonement for the house— This expression has been before applied to inanimate things: for instance, to the altar, Exo 29:36-37 and therefore can imply no more in this place than the making fit for use the thing atoned for. So in the 18th verse, applied to the leper, it signifies, the rendering him legally fit for the offices of religion and society; as here, the rendering the house fit to dwell in.
Note; 1. Masters of families should look well to their houses, and seek to stop the first appearances of sin. 2. We should remove those from us whose conversation is dangerous and infectious. 3. If error and corruption have seized generally upon a church or state, their ruin is near.