Leviticus 14:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 14:4-9

Admission (or readmission). When leprosy had departed from the flesh, he who had been, but no longer remained, a leper was, in the sight of Jehovah and of his people, still ceremonially unclean. He was in a bodily condition which made him readmissible to Divine and human fellowship, but he must first "be cleansed" ( Leviticus 14:4 ) before he would be readmitted. The ceremonies here prescribed give a picture of our readmission to the favour of God and the fellowship of his people. ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Leviticus 14:4

These birds were provided by the priest for the man. They were not, like the offerings for the altar, brought by the man himself (compare Leviticus 14:4 with Leviticus 14:10), they were not presented nor brought near the sanctuary, nor was any portion of them offered on the altar.Cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop - These three substances were used as the common materials in rites of purification (compare Exodus 12:22; Numbers 19:8; Psalms 51:7; Hebrews 9:19): the “cedar”, or juniper, the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Leviticus 14:4

Leviticus 14:4. Two birds The one to represent Christ as dying for his sins, the other to represent him as rising again for his purification or justification. Alive and clean Allowed for food and for sacrifice. Cedar-wood A stick of cedar, to which the hyssop and one of the birds were tied by the scarlet thread. Cedar seems to be chosen, to denote that the leper was now freed from that corruption which his leprosy had brought upon him, that kind of wood being in a manner incorruptible. ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Leviticus 14:1-32

Restoration after healing (14:1-32)A lengthy ritual was laid down for the restoration of a cleansed leper or any other person who had been healed of an infectious skin disease. The ritual lasted more than a week, and began at the place where the person was temporarily living outside the camp (14:1-3; cf. v. 10).The cleansed person, previously ‘dead’ through his disease, symbolized his ‘death’ by killing a bird, symbolized his cleansing by draining the bird’s blood into a bowl of pure water, and... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Leviticus 14:4

is to be cleansed = him that is cleansing himself. birds , or sparrows. cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. Hence the ancient tradition that the highest tree and the lowest herb give the leper purity, because pride was the cause of the plague, and humility is the necessary condition of its cure. These three were used also with the red heifer (Numbers 19:6 ). Compare Hebrews 9:19 . Psalms 51:7 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Leviticus 14:4

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... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Leviticus 14:4

4. two birds—literally, "sparrows." The Septuagint, however, renders the expression "little birds"; and it is evident that it is to be taken in this generic sense from their being specified as "clean"—a condition which would have been altogether superfluous to mention in reference to sparrows. In all the offerings prescribed in the law, Moses ordered only common and accessible birds; and hence we may presume that he points here to such birds as sparrows or pigeons, as in the desert it might... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Leviticus 14:1-9

The first act took place outside the camp and restored the formerly unclean person to the fellowship of the other Israelites from whom he had experienced separation because of his skin disease.Clean animals, including clean birds, represented Israel. [Note: Wenham, The Book . . ., p. 208.] Both of the birds used in this ritual evidently symbolized the Israelite who was about to reenter the covenant community. The bird killed probably represented the formerly unclean person whose fate was death... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Leviticus 14:1-32

The ritual cleansing of abnormalities in human skin 14:1-32"If Leviticus 13 is bleak, speaking of separation from the holy presence, Leviticus 14 is full of hope, for in it the sufferer is restored to the covenant community. The Israelite learned even more about the nature of the holy God through these provisions for restoration to fellowship in the community." [Note: Ibid., p. 285.] The procedures described here were not curative but ritual. God prescribed no treatment for the cure of... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 14:1-57

The Purification of the Leper. The Leprosy of HousesWhen a leper has been cured of his plague, and has satisfied the priest that his cure is complete, he is required to go through a ceremonial purification before being readmitted to his place in society. The ritual of purification consists of three parts. (1) Two living birds are brought, with a rod of cedar wood, a piece of scarlet wool, and a bunch of hyssop, to the priest, who kills one of the birds over water. The living bird and the cedar... read more

Group of Brands