And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron ,.... At the same time as the above laws were delivered concerning the leper, and the cleansing of him, or however immediately upon that; the affair of the leprosy of houses being what belonged to the priest to examine into and cleanse from: saying ; as follows. read more
When ye be come into the land of Canaan ,.... Which as yet they were not come to, being in the wilderness, and so the following law concerning the leprosy in houses could not yet take place, they now dwelling in tents, and not in houses: which I give to you for a possession ; the Lord had given it to Abraham, and his seed, long ago, to be their inheritance, and now he was about to put them into the possession of it, which they were to hold as their own under God, their sovereign Lord and... read more
And he that owneth the house shall come, and tell the priest ,.... As soon as he observes any sign of leprosy in it, or which gives him a suspicion of it: saying, it seemeth unto me there is as it were a plague in the house ; he must not say expressly there is one, how certain soever he may be of it, because the matter must be determined by a priest: so runs the Jewish canon F9 Misn. Negaim, c. 12. sect. 5. Jarchi in loc. , he whose the house is comes and declares to the priest,... read more
Then the priest shall command that they empty the house ,.... Clear it of all persons and things; everybody was obliged to go out of it; and all the furniture of it, all the household goods in it, were to be removed from it: before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made clean ; as would be the case should the priest view it, and pronounce it unclean before the removal of them; agreeably to which is the Jewish tradition F11 Misn. Nagaim,... read more
And he shall look on the plague ,.... That which is taken or suspected to be one, being pointed unto by the owner of the house: and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house ; for there it chiefly was, if not solely; and from hence Gersom infers that it must be a walled house, and that it must have four walls, neither more nor fewer; and with this agrees the Misnah F12 Misn. Nagaim, c. 12. sect. 1,2. , according to which it must be four square; the signs of which... read more
Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house ,.... Thereby signifying that it was not fit to be inhabited, and there standing to see it shut up, as follows: and shut up the house seven days : to observe what alteration would be made in that time, and which would sooner be discovered in a house uninhabited. read more
And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look ,.... On the seventh day from his shutting of it up, he shall open it again, go into it, and observe in what condition it is: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house : the hollow strakes are become deeper, or the coloured spots are become larger: spreading was always a sign of leprosy, both in the bodies of men, and in garments. read more
Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is ,.... In there appeared any cavities, or the above colours, and these spreading: in order to put a stop thereunto, these stones were to be drawn or pulled out, as the word signifies, in such manner as not to endanger the fall of the house, and two stones at least were to be taken out; for, as Gersom says, a house was not shut up unless the plague appeared on two stones: and they shall cast them into an... read more
And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about ,.... All the walls on each side, and at each end, and every stone in them; which, though they had no appearance on them, yet should there be any infection in them, which as yet was not seen, it might be removed, and a spread prevented: and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city, into an unclean place ; the scrapings they were to put into some vessel, and carry them thither and pour them out, or... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 14:33-53
This is the law concerning the leprosy in a house. Now that they were in the wilderness they dwelt in tents, and had no houses, and therefore the law is made only an appendix to the former laws concerning the leprosy, because it related, not to their present state, but to their future settlement. The leprosy in a house is as unaccountable as the leprosy in a garment; but, if we see not what natural causes of it can be assigned, we may resolve it into the power of the God of nature, who here... read more