Leviticus 14:1

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, etc.] In order to deliver the same to Aaron, who, and the priests his successors, were chiefly to be concerned in the execution of the law given: saying; as follows.”

“THE RITES AND SACRIFICES IN CLEANSING OF THE LEPER. (Lev. 14:1-57) law of the leper in the day of his cleansing--Though quite convalescent, a leper was not allowed to return to society immediately and at his own will. The malignant character of his disease rendered the greatest precautions necessary to his re-admission among the people. One of the priests most skilled in the diagnostics of disease [GROTIUS], being deputed to attend such outcasts, the restored leper appeared before this official, and when after examination a certificate of health was given, the ceremonies here described were forthwith observed outside the camp.”

“The leper was excluded not only from the sanctuary but from the camp. The ceremony of restoration which he had to undergo was therefore twofold. The first part, performed outside the camp, entitled him to come within and to mix with his brethren, Leviticus 14:3-9. The second part, performed in the court of the tabernacle and separated from the first by an interval of seven days, restored him to all the privileges of the covenant with Yahweh, Leviticus 14:10-32. return to 'Top of Page'”

“14:1-32 These verses, dealing with the purification of infected individuals, are best understood when read in conjunction with 13:1-46.”

“Purification of the leper, after his recovery from his disease. As leprosy, regarded as a decomposition of the vital juices, and as putrefaction in a living body, was an image of death, and like this introduced the same dissolution and destruction of life into the corporeal sphere which sin introduced into the spiritual; and as the leper for this very reason as not only excluded from the fellowship of the sanctuary, but cut off from intercourse with the covenant nation which was called to sanctification: the man, when recovered from leprosy, was first of all to be received into the fellowship of the covenant nation by a significant rite of purification, and then again to be still further…”