And if the plague come again, and break out in the house ,.... In the above signs of it: after that he hath taken away the stones ; which were infected, or ordered them to be taken away: and after he hath scraped the house ; so that there seemed to be no remains of the plague: and after it is plastered ; to prevent if possible any return of it, but in vain. read more
Then the priest shall come and look ,.... On the seventh day of the second week; though, according to Maimonides F15 Hilchot Tumaat Tzarat, c. 15. sect. 1, 2. , this was at the end of the third seven day, or on the nineteenth day from his first inspection into it; the seventh day being reckoned for the last of the first week, and the first of the second, and so on: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house ; after all the above precaution is taken: it is a fretting... read more
And he shall break down the house ,.... Order it to be pulled down, and demolished entirely, that is, the priest shall give such orders; but Gersom thinks this was to be done by the owner of the house, and that he was to do it himself, and have no associate with him in it: the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house ; and, according to the Jewish canons, a house was not defiled with the plague of leprosy, unless it had in it stones, and timber, and dust, or... read more
Moreover, he that goeth into the house all the while it is shut up ,.... The utmost of which were three weeks, as Jarchi observes; during the time a house was shut up, no man might enter it: if he did, he shall be unclean until the evening ; might not have any conversation with men until the evening was come, and he had washed himself; nay, according to the Misnah F17 Misn. Negaim, c. 12. sect. 8,9. , if a clean person thrust in his head, or the greatest part of his body, into an... read more
And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes ,.... Which is more than bare entrance into it, and might be supposed the more to be infected by it, and therefore obliged to the washing of himself, and his garments: and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes ; if he stayed no longer than while he ate half a piece of wheaten bread he was clean, but not if he stayed so long as to eat a like quantity of barley bread, and sat down and ate it with food F18 Misn. Negaim,... read more
And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it ,.... That is, on the seventh day of the second week of its being shut up: and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plastered ; See Gill on Leviticus 14:42 , then the priest shall pronounce the house clean ; fit to be inhabited, and so no more to be shut up, but free for use as before: because the plague is healed ; the infection being wholly removed by taking out the stones, scraping, and... read more
And he shall take to cleanse the house ,.... The priest, or by his fellow priest, as Aben Ezra, though some interpret it of the master of the house; in Leviticus 14:49 , an account is given of the manner of cleansing a leprous house, which is the same with that of cleansing a leprous man, see notes on Leviticus 14:4-7 , Two birds . The birds here indeed are not described as "alive and clean", Leviticus 14:4 ; but both are plainly implied and the house is said to be cleansed with... read more
And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. See Gill on Leviticus 14:5 . read more
And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird ,.... See Gill on Leviticus 14:6 . and sprinkle the house seven times . See Gill on Leviticus 14:7 . read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 14:42
And they shall take other stones ,.... From elsewhere, such as are sound and whole: and put them in the place of these stones ; such as will exactly answer them, as to number and size, and so fill up the space vacant by the removal of the other, and support the building: and he shall take other mortar, and plaster the house ; the master of the house was to do this, or take care that it was done; but others by the order of the priest, as they took away the tainted stones, put others... read more