mh_parser/vol_split/3 - Leviticus/Chapter 13.xml

<div2 id="Lev.xiv" n="xiv" next="Lev.xv" prev="Lev.xiii" progress="55.70%" title="Chapter XIII">
<h2 id="Lev.xiv-p0.1">L E V I T I C U S</h2>
<h3 id="Lev.xiv-p0.2">CHAP. XIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Lev.xiv-p1">The next ceremonial uncleanness is that of the
leprosy, concerning which the law was very large and particular; we
have the discovery of it in this chapter, and the cleansing of the
leper in the next. Scarcely any one thing in all the levitical law
takes up so much room as this. I. Rules are here given by which the
priest must judge whether the man had the leprosy or no, according
as the symptom was that appeared. 1. If it was a swelling, a scab,
or a bright spot, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.1-Lev.13.17" parsed="|Lev|13|1|13|17" passage="Le 13:1-17">ver.
1-17</scripRef>. 2. If it was a bile, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.18-Lev.13.23" parsed="|Lev|13|18|13|23" passage="Le 13:18-23">ver. 18-23</scripRef>. 3. If it was in inflammation,
<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.24-Lev.13.28" parsed="|Lev|13|24|13|28" passage="Le 13:24-28">ver. 24-28</scripRef>. 4. If it was
in the head or beard, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.29-Lev.13.37" parsed="|Lev|13|29|13|37" passage="Le 13:29-37">ver.
29-37</scripRef>. 5. If it was a bright spot, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.38-Lev.13.39" parsed="|Lev|13|38|13|39" passage="Le 13:38,39">ver. 38, 39</scripRef>. 6. If it was in a bald head,
<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.40-Lev.13.44" parsed="|Lev|13|40|13|44" passage="Le 13:40-44">ver. 40-44</scripRef>. II.
Direction is given how the leper must be disposed of, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.45-Lev.13.46" parsed="|Lev|13|45|13|46" passage="Le 13:45,46">ver. 45, 46</scripRef>. III. Concerning the
leprosy in garments, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.47-Lev.13.59" parsed="|Lev|13|47|13|59" passage="Le 13:47-59">ver.
47</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Lev.xiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13" parsed="|Lev|13|0|0|0" passage="Le 13" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lev.xiv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.1-Lev.13.17" parsed="|Lev|13|1|13|17" passage="Le 13:1-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.13.1-Lev.13.17">
<h4 id="Lev.xiv-p1.11">The Law Concerning Leprosy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xiv-p1.12">b. c.</span> 1490.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xiv-p2">1 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xiv-p2.1">Lord</span>
spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying,   2 When a man shall have
in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it
be in the skin of his flesh <i>like</i> the plague of leprosy; then
he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons
the priests:   3 And the priest shall look on the plague in
the skin of the flesh: and <i>when</i> the hair in the plague is
turned white, and the plague in sight <i>be</i> deeper than the
skin of his flesh, it <i>is</i> a plague of leprosy: and the priest
shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.   4 If the
bright spot <i>be</i> white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight
<i>be</i> not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not
turned white; then the priest shall shut up <i>him that hath</i>
the plague seven days:   5 And the priest shall look on him
the seventh day: and, behold, <i>if</i> the plague in his sight be
at a stay, <i>and</i> the plague spread not in the skin; then the
priest shall shut him up seven days more:   6 And the priest
shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, <i>if</i> the
plague <i>be</i> somewhat dark, <i>and</i> the plague spread not in
the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it <i>is but</i> a
scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.   7 But if
the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been
seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the
priest again:   8 And <i>if</i> the priest see that, behold,
the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
unclean: it <i>is</i> a leprosy.   9 When the plague of
leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest;
  10 And the priest shall see <i>him</i>: and, behold,
<i>if</i> the rising <i>be</i> white in the skin, and it have
turned the hair white, and <i>there be</i> quick raw flesh in the
rising;   11 It <i>is</i> an old leprosy in the skin of his
flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not
shut him up: for he <i>is</i> unclean.   12 And if a leprosy
break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of
<i>him that hath</i> the plague from his head even to his foot,
wheresoever the priest looketh;   13 Then the priest shall
consider: and, behold, <i>if</i> the leprosy have covered all his
flesh, he shall pronounce <i>him</i> clean <i>that hath</i> the
plague: it is all turned white: he <i>is</i> clean.   14 But
when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.   15 And
the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be
unclean: <i>for</i> the raw flesh <i>is</i> unclean: it <i>is</i> a
leprosy.   16 Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed
unto white, he shall come unto the priest;   17 And the priest
shall see him: and, behold, <i>if</i> the plague be turned into
white; then the priest shall pronounce <i>him</i> clean <i>that
hath</i> the plague: he <i>is</i> clean.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p3">I. Concerning the plague of leprosy we may
observe in general, 1. That it was rather an uncleanness than a
disease; or, at least, so the law considered it, and therefore
employed not the physicians but the priests about it. Christ is
said to cleanse lepers, not to cure them. We do not read of any
that died of the leprosy, but it rather buried them alive, by
rendering them unfit for conversation with any but such as were
infected like themselves. Yet there is a tradition that Pharaoh,
who sought to kill Moses, was the first that ever was struck with
this disease, and that he died of it. It is said to have begun
first in Egypt, whence it spread into Syria. It was very well known
to Moses, when he put his own hand into his bosom and took it out
leprous. 2. That it was a plague inflicted immediately by the hand
of God, and came not from natural causes, as other diseases; and
therefore must be managed according to a divine law. Miriam's
leprosy, and Gehazi's, and king Uzziah's, were all the punishments
of particular sins: and, if generally it was so, no marvel there
was so much care taken to distinguish it from a common distemper,
that none might be looked upon as lying under this extraordinary
token of divine displeasure but those that really were so. 3. That
it is a plague not now known in the world; what is commonly called
the leprosy is of a quite different nature. This seems to have been
reserved as a particular scourge for the sinners of those times and
places. The Jews retained the idolatrous customs they had learnt in
Egypt, and therefore God justly caused this with some others of the
diseases of Egypt to follow them. Yet we read of Naaman the Syrian,
who was a leper, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.5.1" parsed="|2Kgs|5|1|0|0" passage="2Ki 5:1">2 Kings v.
1</scripRef>. 4. That there were other breakings-out in the body
which did very much resemble the leprosy, but were not it, which
might make a man sore and loathsome and yet not ceremonially
unclean. Justly are our bodies called vile bodies, which have in
them the seeds of so many diseases, by which the lives of so many
are made bitter to them. 5. That the judgment of it was referred to
the priests. Lepers were looked upon as stigmatized by the justice
of God, and therefore it was left to his servants the priests, who
might be presumed to know his mark best, to pronounce who were
lepers and who were not. All the Jews say, "Any priest, though
disabled by a blemish to attend the sanctuary, might be a judge of
the leprosy, provided the blemish were not in his eye. And he
might" (they say) "take a common person to assist him in the
search, but the priest only must pronounce the judgment." 6. That
it was a figure of the moral pollution of men's minds by sin, which
is the leprosy of the soul, defiling to the conscience, and from
which Christ alone can cleanse us; for herein the power of his
grace infinitely transcends that of the legal priesthood, that the
priest could only convict the leper (for by the law is the
knowledge of sin), but Christ can cure the leper, he can take away
sin. <i>Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,</i> which was
more than the priests could do, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.8.2" parsed="|Matt|8|2|0|0" passage="Mt 8:2">Matt.
viii. 2</scripRef>. Some think that the leprosy signified, not so
much sin in general as a state of sin, by which men are separated
from God (their spot not being the spot of God's children), and
scandalous sin, for which men are to be shut out from the communion
of the faithful. It is a work of great importance, but of great
difficulty, to judge of our spiritual state: we have all cause to
suspect ourselves, being conscious to ourselves of sores and spots,
but whether clean or unclean is the question. A man might have a
scab (<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.6" parsed="|Lev|13|6|0|0" passage="Le 13:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) and yet
be clean: the best have their infirmities; but, as there were
certain marks by which to know that it was a leprosy, so there are
characters of such as are in the gall of bitterness, and the work
of ministers is to declare the judgment of leprosy and to assist
those that suspect themselves in the trial of their spiritual
state, remitting or retaining sin. And hence the keys of the
kingdom of heaven are said to be given to them, because they are to
separate between the precious and the vile, and to judge who are
fit as clean to partake of the holy things and who as unclean must
be debarred from them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p4">II. Several rules are here laid down by
which the judgment of the priest must be governed. 1. If the sore
was but <i>skin-deep,</i> it was to be hoped it was not the
<i>leprosy,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.4" parsed="|Lev|13|4|0|0" passage="Le 13:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
But, if it was <i>deeper than the skin,</i> the man must be
pronounced unclean, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.3" parsed="|Lev|13|3|0|0" passage="Le 13:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. The infirmities that consist with grace do not sink
deep into the soul, but <i>the mind</i> still <i>serves the law of
God,</i> and the <i>inward man delights in it,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.22 Bible:Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|22|0|0;|Rom|7|25|0|0" passage="Ro 7:22,25">Rom. vii. 22, 25</scripRef>. But if the matter
be really worse than it shows, and the inwards be infected, the
case is dangerous. 2. If the sore <i>be at a stay,</i> and do not
<i>spread,</i> it is no leprosy, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.4-Lev.13.5" parsed="|Lev|13|4|13|5" passage="Le 13:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. But if it <i>spread much
abroad,</i> and continue to do so after several inspections, the
case is bad, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.7-Lev.13.8" parsed="|Lev|13|7|13|8" passage="Le 13:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7,
8</scripRef>. If men do not grow worse, but a stop be put to the
course of their sins and their corruptions be checked, it is to be
hoped they will grow better; but if sin get ground, and they become
worse every day, they are going downhill. 3. If there was <i>proud
raw flesh</i> in the rising, the priest needed not to wait any
longer, it was certainly a leprosy, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.10-Lev.13.11" parsed="|Lev|13|10|13|11" passage="Le 13:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. Nor is there any surer
indication of the badness of a man's spiritual state than the
heart's rising in self-conceit, confidence in the flesh, and
resistance of the reproofs of the word and strivings of the Spirit.
4. If the eruption, whatever it was, <i>covered all the skin</i>
from head to foot, it was no leprosy (<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.12-Lev.13.13" parsed="|Lev|13|12|13|13" passage="Le 13:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>); for it was an evidence
that the vitals were sound and strong, and nature hereby helped
itself, throwing out what was burdensome and pernicious. There is
hope in the small-pox when they come out well: so if men freely
confess their sins, and hide them not, there is no danger
comparable to theirs that cover their sins. Some gather this from
it, that there is more hope of the profane than of hypocrites. The
publicans and harlots went into the kingdom of heaven before
scribes and Pharisees. In one respect, the sudden breakings-out of
passion, though bad enough, are not so dangerous as malice
concealed. Others gather this, that, if we judge ourselves, we
shall not be judged; if we see and own that there is <i>no health
in us, no soundness in our flesh,</i> by reason of sin, we shall
<i>find grace in the eyes of the Lord.</i> 5. The priest must take
time in making his judgment, and not give it rashly. If the matter
looked suspicious, he must shut up the patient seven days, and then
seven days more, that his judgment might be <i>according to
truth.</i> This teaches all, both ministers and people, not to be
hasty in their censures, nor to judge any thing <i>before the
time.</i> If <i>some men's sins go before unto judgment,</i> the
sins of others <i>follow after,</i> and so men's good works;
therefore let nothing be done <i>suddenly,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.22 Bible:1Tim.5.24 Bible:1Tim.5.25" parsed="|1Tim|5|22|0|0;|1Tim|5|24|0|0;|1Tim|5|25|0|0" passage="1Ti 5:22,24,25">1 Tim. v. 22, 24, 25</scripRef>. 6. If the person
suspected was found to be clean, yet he must <i>wash his
clothes</i> (<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p4.9" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.6" parsed="|Lev|13|6|0|0" passage="Le 13:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
because he had been under the suspicion, and there had been in him
that which gave ground for the suspicion. Even the prisoner that is
acquitted must go down on his knees. We have need to be washed in
the blood of Christ from our spots, though they be not
leprosy-spots; for who can say, <i>I am pure from sin?</i> though
there are those who through grace are <i>innocent from the great
transgression.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Lev.xiv-p4.10" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13" parsed="|Lev|13|0|0|0" passage="Le 13" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lev.xiv-p4.11" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.18-Lev.13.37" parsed="|Lev|13|18|13|37" passage="Le 13:18-37" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.13.18-Lev.13.37">
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xiv-p5">18 The flesh also, in which, <i>even</i> in the
skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed,   19 And in the place
of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and
somewhat reddish, and it be showed to the priest;   20 And if,
when the priest seeth it, behold, it <i>be</i> in sight lower than
the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall
pronounce him unclean: it <i>is</i> a plague of leprosy broken out
of the boil.   21 But if the priest look on it, and, behold,
<i>there be</i> no white hairs therein, and <i>if</i> it <i>be</i>
not lower than the skin, but <i>be</i> somewhat dark; then the
priest shall shut him up seven days:   22 And if it spread
much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
unclean: it <i>is</i> a plague.   23 But if the bright spot
stay in his place, <i>and</i> spread not, it <i>is</i> a burning
boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.   24 Or if
there be <i>any</i> flesh, in the skin whereof <i>there is</i> a
hot burning, and the quick <i>flesh</i> that burneth have a white
bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;   25 Then the priest
shall look upon it: and, behold, <i>if</i> the hair in the bright
spot be turned white, and it <i>be in</i> sight deeper than the
skin; it <i>is</i> a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore
the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it <i>is</i> the plague of
leprosy.   26 But if the priest look on it, and, behold,
<i>there be</i> no white hair in the bright spot, and it <i>be</i>
no lower than the <i>other</i> skin, but <i>be</i> somewhat dark;
then the priest shall shut him up seven days:   27 And the
priest shall look upon him the seventh day: <i>and</i> if it be
spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
unclean: it <i>is</i> the plague of leprosy.   28 And if the
bright spot stay in his place, <i>and</i> spread not in the skin,
but it <i>be</i> somewhat dark; it <i>is</i> a rising of the
burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it <i>is</i>
an inflammation of the burning.   29 If a man or woman have a
plague upon the head or the beard;   30 Then the priest shall
see the plague: and, behold, if it <i>be</i> in sight deeper than
the skin; <i>and there be</i> in it a yellow thin hair; then the
priest shall pronounce him unclean: it <i>is</i> a dry scall,
<i>even</i> a leprosy upon the head or beard.   31 And if the
priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it <i>be</i>
not in sight deeper than the skin, and <i>that there is</i> no
black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up <i>him that
hath</i> the plague of the scall seven days:   32 And in the
seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold,
<i>if</i> the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair,
and the scall <i>be</i> not in sight deeper than the skin;  
33 He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the
priest shall shut up <i>him that hath</i> the scall seven days
more:   34 And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the
scall: and, behold, <i>if</i> the scall be not spread in the skin,
nor <i>be</i> in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall
pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
  35 But if the scall spread much in the skin after his
cleansing;   36 Then the priest shall look on him: and,
behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not
seek for yellow hair; he <i>is</i> unclean.   37 But if the
scall be in his sight at a stay, and <i>that</i> there is black
hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he <i>is</i> clean: and
the priest shall pronounce him clean.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p6">The priest is here instructed what judgment
to make if there was any appearance of a leprosy, either, 1. In an
old ulcer, or bile, that has been healed, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.18" parsed="|Lev|13|18|0|0" passage="Le 13:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>, &amp;c. When old sores, that
seemed to be cured, break out again, it is to be feared there is a
leprosy in them; such is the danger of those who, having escaped
the pollutions of the world, are again <i>entangled therein and
overcome.</i> Or, 2. In a burn by accident, for this seems to be
meant, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.24" parsed="|Lev|13|24|0|0" passage="Le 13:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>,
&amp;c. The burning of strife and contention often proves the
occasion of the rising up and breaking out of that corruption which
witnesses to men's faces that they are unclean. 3. In a scall-head.
And in this commonly the judgment turned upon a very small matter.
If the hair in the scall was black, it was a sign of soundness; if
yellow, it was an indication of a leprosy, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.30-Lev.13.37" parsed="|Lev|13|30|13|37" passage="Le 13:30-37"><i>v.</i> 30-37</scripRef>. The other rules in these
cases are the same with those mentioned before. In reading of these
several sorts of ailments, it will be good for us, 1. To lament the
calamitous state of human life, which lies exposed to so many
grievances. What troops of diseases are we beset with on every
side! and they all entered by sin. 2. To give thanks to God if he
has never afflicted us with any of these sores: if the constitution
is healthful, and the body lively and easy, we are bound to glorify
God with our bodies.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lev.xiv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.38-Lev.13.46" parsed="|Lev|13|38|13|46" passage="Le 13:38-46" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.13.38-Lev.13.46">
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xiv-p7">38 If a man also or a woman have in the skin of
their flesh bright spots, <i>even</i> white bright spots;   39
Then the priest shall look: and, behold, <i>if</i> the bright spots
in the skin of their flesh <i>be</i> darkish white; it <i>is</i> a
freckled spot <i>that</i> groweth in the skin; he <i>is</i> clean.
  40 And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he
<i>is</i> bald; <i>yet is</i> he clean.   41 And he that hath
his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he
<i>is</i> forehead bald: <i>yet is</i> he clean.   42 And if
there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore;
it <i>is</i> a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald
forehead.   43 Then the priest shall look upon it: and,
behold, <i>if</i> the rising of the sore <i>be</i> white reddish in
his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in
the skin of the flesh;   44 He is a leprous man, he <i>is</i>
unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague
<i>is</i> in his head.   45 And the leper in whom the plague
<i>is,</i> his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he
shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean,
unclean.   46 All the days wherein the plague <i>shall be</i>
in him he shall be defiled; he <i>is</i> unclean: he shall dwell
alone; without the camp <i>shall</i> his habitation <i>be.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p8">We have here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p9">I. Provisos that neither a <i>freckled
skin</i> nor a <i>bald head</i> should be mistaken for a leprosy,
<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.38-Lev.13.41" parsed="|Lev|13|38|13|41" passage="Le 13:38-41"><i>v.</i> 38-41</scripRef>. Every
deformity must not forthwith be made a ceremonial defilement.
Elisha was jeered for his <i>bald head</i> (<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.2.23" parsed="|2Kgs|2|23|0|0" passage="2Ki 2:23">2 Kings ii. 23</scripRef>); but it was the children of
Bethel, that knew not the judgments of their God, who turned it to
his reproach.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p10">II. A particular brand set upon the leprosy
if at any time it did appear in a <i>bald head: The plague is in
his head, he is utterly unclean,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.44" parsed="|Lev|13|44|0|0" passage="Le 13:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>. If the leprosy of sin have
seized the head, if the judgment be corrupted, and wicked
principles which countenance and support wicked practices, be
embraced, it is an <i>utter uncleanness,</i> from which few are
ever cleansed. Soundness in the faith keeps the leprosy from the
head, and saves conscience from being shipwrecked.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p11">III. Directions what must be done with the
convicted leper. When the priest, upon mature deliberation, had
solemnly pronounced him unclean,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p12">1. He must pronounce himself so, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.45" parsed="|Lev|13|45|0|0" passage="Le 13:45"><i>v.</i> 45</scripRef>. He must put himself
into the posture of a mourner and cry, <i>Unclean, unclean.</i> The
leprosy was not itself a sin, but it was a sad token of God's
displeasure and a sore affliction to him that was under it. It was
a reproach to his name, put a full stop to his business in the
world, cut him off from conversation with his friends and
relations, condemned him to banishment till he was cleansed, shut
him out from the sanctuary, and was, in effect, the ruin of all the
comfort he could have in this world. Heman, it would seem, either
was a leper or alludes to the melancholy condition of a leper,
<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.88.8-Ps.88.18" parsed="|Ps|88|8|88|18" passage="Ps 88:8-18">Ps. lxxxviii. 8</scripRef>, &amp;c.
He must therefore, (1.) Humble himself under the mighty hand of
God, not insisting upon his cleanness when the priest had
pronounced him unclean, but justifying God and accepting the
<i>punishment of his iniquity.</i> He must signify this by
<i>rending his clothes, uncovering</i> his head, and <i>covering
his upper lip,</i> all tokens of shame and confusion of face, and
very significant of that self-loathing and self-abasement which
should fill the hearts of penitents, the language of which is
self-judging. Thus must we take to ourselves the shame that belongs
to us, and with broken hearts call ourselves by our own name,
<i>Unclean, unclean</i>—heart unclean, life unclean, unclean by
original corruption, unclean by actual transgression—unclean, and
therefore worthy to be for ever excluded from communion with God,
and all hope of happiness in him. <i>We are all as an unclean
thing</i> (<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.6" parsed="|Isa|64|6|0|0" passage="Isa 64:6">Isa. lxiv.
6</scripRef>)—unclean, and therefore undone, if infinite mercy do
not interpose. (2.) He must give warning to others to take heed of
coming near him. Wherever he went, he must cry to those he saw at a
distance, "<i>I am unclean, unclean,</i> take heed of touching me."
Not that the leprosy was catching, but by the touch of a leper
ceremonial uncleanness was contracted. Every one therefore was
concerned to avoid it; and the leper himself must give notice of
the danger. And this was all that the law could do, in that it was
weak through the flesh; it taught the leper to cry, <i>Unclean,
unclean,</i> but the gospel has put another cry into the lepers'
mouths, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.17.12-Luke.17.13" parsed="|Luke|17|12|17|13" passage="Lu 17:12,13">Luke xvii. 12,
13</scripRef>, where we find ten lepers crying with a loud voice,
<i>Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.</i> The law only shows us our
disease; the gospel shows us our help in Christ.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p13">2. He must then be shut out of the camp,
and afterwards, when they came to Canaan, out of the city, town, or
village, where he lived, and <i>dwell alone</i> (<scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.46" parsed="|Lev|13|46|0|0" passage="Le 13:46"><i>v.</i> 46</scripRef>), associating with none but
those that were lepers like himself. When king Uzziah became a
leper, he was banished from his palace, and <i>dwelt in a separate
house,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.26.21" parsed="|2Chr|26|21|0|0" passage="2Ch 26:21">2 Chron. xxvi.
21</scripRef>. And see <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.7.3" parsed="|2Kgs|7|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 7:3">2 Kings vii.
3</scripRef>. This typified the purity which ought to be preserved
in the gospel church, by the solemn and authoritative exclusion of
scandalous sinners, that hate to be reformed, from the communion of
the faithful. <i>Put away from among yourselves that wicked
person,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.5.13" parsed="|1Cor|5|13|0|0" passage="1Co 5:13">1 Cor. v.
13</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lev.xiv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.47-Lev.13.59" parsed="|Lev|13|47|13|59" passage="Le 13:47-59" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.13.47-Lev.13.59">
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xiv-p14">47 The garment also that the plague of leprosy
is in, <i>whether it be</i> a woollen garment, or a linen garment;
  48 Whether <i>it be</i> in the warp, or woof; of linen, or
of woollen; whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin;  
49 And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in
the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of
skin; it <i>is</i> a plague of leprosy, and shall be showed unto
the priest:   50 And the priest shall look upon the plague,
and shut up <i>it that hath</i> the plague seven days:   51
And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague
be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in
a skin, <i>or</i> in any work that is made of skin; the plague
<i>is</i> a fretting leprosy; it <i>is</i> unclean.   52 He
shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen
or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it
<i>is</i> a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.  
53 And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not
spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in
any thing of skin;   54 Then the priest shall command that
they wash <i>the thing</i> wherein the plague <i>is,</i> and he
shall shut it up seven days more:   55 And the priest shall
look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, <i>if</i>
the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not
spread; it <i>is</i> unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it
<i>is</i> fret inward, <i>whether</i> it <i>be</i> bare within or
without.   56 And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague
<i>be</i> somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend
it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or
out of the woof:   57 And if it appear still in the garment,
either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it
<i>is</i> a spreading <i>plague</i>: thou shalt burn that wherein
the plague <i>is</i> with fire.   58 And the garment, either
warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin <i>it be,</i> which thou
shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be
washed the second time, and shall be clean.   59 This
<i>is</i> the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen
or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to
pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xiv-p15">This is the law concerning the plague of
leprosy in a garment, whether linen or woollen. A leprosy in a
garment, with discernible indications of it, the colour changed by
it, the garment fretted, the nap worn off, and this in some one
particular part of the garment, and increasing when it was shut up,
and not to be got out by washing is a thing which to us now is
altogether unaccountable. The learned confess that it was a sign
and a miracle in Israel, an extraordinary punishment inflicted by
the divine power, as a token of great displeasure against a person
or family. 1. The process was much the same with that concerning a
leprous person. The garment suspected to be tainted was not to be
burnt immediately, though, it may be, there would have been no
great loss of it; for in no case must sentence be given merely upon
a surmise, but it must be <i>shown to the priest.</i> If, upon
search, it was found that there was a <i>leprous spot</i> (the Jews
say no bigger than a bean), it must be <i>burnt,</i> or at least
that part of the garment in which the spot was, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.52 Bible:Lev.13.57" parsed="|Lev|13|52|0|0;|Lev|13|57|0|0" passage="Le 13:52,57"><i>v.</i> 52, 57</scripRef>. If the cause of the
suspicion was gone, it must be <i>washed,</i> and then might be
used, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.58" parsed="|Lev|13|58|0|0" passage="Le 13:58"><i>v.</i> 58</scripRef>. 2. The
signification also was much the same, to intimate the great
malignity there is in sin: it not only defiles the sinner's
conscience, but it brings a stain upon all his employments and
enjoyments, all he has and all he does. <i>To those that are
defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Titus.1.15" parsed="|Titus|1|15|0|0" passage="Tit 1:15">Tit. i. 15</scripRef>. And we are taught hereby to hate
even <i>the garments spotted with the flesh,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.23" parsed="|Jude|1|23|0|0" passage="Jude 1:23">Jude 23</scripRef>. Those that make their clothes
servants to their pride and lust may see them thereby tainted with
a leprosy, and doomed to the fire, <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.18-Isa.3.24" parsed="|Isa|3|18|3|24" passage="Isa 3:18-24">Isa. iii. 18-24</scripRef>. But the ornament of
<i>the hidden man of the heart is incorruptible,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xiv-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.4" parsed="|1Pet|3|4|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:4">1 Pet. iii. 4</scripRef>. The robes of
righteousness never fret nor are moth-eaten.</p>
</div></div2>