Leviticus 14

Leviticus 14 does not say how to cure a skin disease. It tells how a person who has already been healed is brought back into the community and into worship. The ritual has two birds, a week of waiting, and then offerings with blood and oil. The chapter ends with the same kind of cleansing for a house with mildew.

Leviticus 14:1-3

God gives Moses the law for the day of cleansing. The priest goes out to the afflicted person, who lives outside the camp, and checks whether the disease has healed. The priest does not heal anyone. He confirms the healing and opens the way back to the people of God.

BSA: camp (“beyond the boundaries”): The sick person has been living past the edge of the community, and the priest must go out to meet him there.

See also: Leviticus 13:46; Mark 1:40-44.

Leviticus 14:4

Five things are gathered: two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop. Cedar is strong and lasting, scarlet is the colour of blood, and hyssop is a plant used for sprinkling. Together they make up the cleansing ritual.

BSA: hyssop (“a plant used for purification”): Hyssop was the small branch used like a brush to sprinkle blood and water.

See also: Psalm 51:7.

Leviticus 14:5-7

One bird dies over fresh water, and its blood runs into the water. The living bird, with the wood, yarn and hyssop, is dipped in that blood. The person is sprinkled seven times and declared clean. Then the live bird flies away free. Many Christians see a picture of death and new life.

BSA: fresh (“running, living”): The water is moving spring water, not stagnant, a picture of life and freshness. release (“to send, let go”): The living bird is sent away over open country, a sign that the uncleanness is gone and the person is free.

See also: Leviticus 16:21-22.

Leviticus 14:8-9

The healed person washes his clothes, shaves off all his hair and bathes. He may come into the camp but not into his own tent for seven days. On the seventh day he does it all again, even shaving his eyebrows. The cleansing is thorough, a fresh start from head to toe.

BSA: bathe (“immerse, wash himself”): He washes his whole body, not just a part, so the cleansing reaches everywhere.

Leviticus 14:10-11

On the eighth day he brings two male lambs, a ewe lamb, flour with oil, and a log of oil. The priest sets him with these gifts before the LORD at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He is no longer kept at a distance but stands where worship happens.

BSA: unblemished (“perfect, without defects”): God receives only the best, with nothing flawed, which points to the seriousness of coming to him.

Leviticus 14:12-13

The first lamb is a guilt offering. The priest presents it and the oil with a wave, lifting them before the LORD to give them to him. The lamb is slaughtered at the holy place. The guilt offering belongs to the priest and is most holy.

BSA: wave offering (“token of dedication, worship”): The waving shows the gift being handed to God.

See also: Leviticus 7:1-7.

Leviticus 14:14

The priest puts blood from the guilt offering on the right earlobe, right thumb and right big toe. These mark the whole person: what he hears, what he does and where he walks. The blood sets all of him apart for God.

BSA: blood (“the liquid that flows through the body”): Blood stands for life given, which is why it covers the person.

See also: Leviticus 8:23-24.

Leviticus 14:15-18

The priest pours oil into his left palm, sprinkles it seven times before the LORD, and puts it on the same three places, on top of the blood. The rest goes on the person’s head. Blood cleanses, and oil then sets the person apart for God. Christians often see in the oil a picture of the Spirit.

BSA: atonement (“to cover, reconcile”): Atonement means the wrong is covered and the relationship with God is put right.

See also: 1 John 2:20.

Leviticus 14:19-20

Next come the sin offering and the burnt offering with the grain offering. The sin offering deals with uncleanness, and the burnt offering, which is wholly burned, expresses full devotion. Then the person is clean. He is restored to the community and to worship.

BSA: burnt offering (“gift, consecration”): All of it goes up to God, a picture of giving oneself fully to him.

See also: Leviticus 1:3-9.

Leviticus 14:21-23

God makes room for the poor. One lamb and a smaller portion of flour stand in for the larger set, and two doves or pigeons replace the other animals. No one is shut out of restoration because he has no money. This shows God’s care for people of every means.

BSA: afford (“is unable to get”): The law faces real poverty and provides for it.

See also: Luke 2:22-24.

Leviticus 14:24-29

The ritual for the poor repeats the steps: wave the lamb, put blood on ear, thumb and toe, then oil on the same places, and the rest of the oil on the head. A poorer person receives the same blood and oil. His cleansing is just as complete.

BSA: earlobe (“tip of the ear, organ of hearing”): The ear is set apart so that he will listen to God.

Leviticus 14:30-32

The doves or pigeons are offered, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering, with the grain offering, and the priest makes atonement. The poor person is made clean as truly as the rich. The offering is only the cost he can reach.

BSA: afford (“get, reach with his hand”): The offering is measured by what he can lay hold of, and God asks no more.

Leviticus 14:33-35

God now speaks to Moses and Aaron about the time when Israel will be in Canaan, the land he is giving them. A house may show a mildew-like contamination. The owner must go to the priest and report it himself. The tone is about care for a household in the land God gives.

BSA: possession (“inheritance, heritage”): The land is a gift from God, and even its houses fall under his care.

Leviticus 14:36-38

Before the priest examines the wall, the house is emptied so that its contents are not declared unclean. If the marks are green or red hollows sunk into the wall, the priest shuts the house for seven days. The waiting period guards the people and gives time to see what happens.

BSA: cleared (“emptied, vacated”): Emptying the house protects the family’s belongings from being declared unclean unnecessarily.

Leviticus 14:39-42

On the seventh day the priest returns. If the mark has spread, the affected stones are pulled out and thrown outside the city into an unclean place. The inside is scraped, and the scrapings are dumped. New stones and plaster repair the wall. Serious problems are dealt with, not covered over.

BSA: scraped (“to strip, to segregate”): The wall is stripped back so the hidden trouble is removed.

Leviticus 14:43-45

If the mildew returns after the repairs, the priest declares it destructive. The whole house is torn down, stones, timbers and plaster, and carried outside the city. Some corruption cannot be patched. It must be removed so that the family and the community are protected.

BSA: destructive (“harmful, fretting”): The mildew keeps eating into the walls like something that wears away.

Leviticus 14:46-47

While the house is shut, anyone who goes in is unclean until evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats there must wash his clothes. The rules are modest. They keep people from carrying uncleanness into daily life, and they show how seriously ordinary habits were taken.

BSA: evening (“sunset, the end of the day”): The uncleanness is short-lived and ends at sunset.

Leviticus 14:48

If the mildew does not spread after the house is replastered, the priest declares it clean because the mildew is gone. The priest is not just a judge who condemns. He is also the one who announces good news when a house is healed.

BSA: gone (“healed, nirpah, to mend or cure”): The word is the language of healing, as with a person, so the house is treated as truly mended.

Leviticus 14:49-53

A healed house is cleansed with the same ritual as a healed person: two birds, cedar, scarlet yarn and hyssop, one bird killed over fresh water, and the other dipped in its blood. The house is sprinkled seven times, and the living bird is released into open country. Atonement is made for it, and it is clean.

BSA: atonement (“cover, cleanse, purify”): The house is covered and made fit again for a family to live in under God’s eye.

Hebrew: כִּפֶּר (kipper, H3722) — “to cover, make atonement.” The word is used even for a house, which shows that atonement is about setting right whatever stands between people and a holy God, not only about guilty people.

Leviticus 14:54-57

The chapter closes by summing up the laws on skin diseases, mildew in clothing or houses, swellings, rashes and spots. The purpose is stated plainly: to tell when something is clean and when it is unclean. God gave his people clear guidance for their health and worship.

BSA: determine (“to teach, show, or point out”): The law is meant to teach and show, not only to rule.

See also: Leviticus 13:59.