Leviticus 13:46

_ALL THE DAYS WHEREIN THE PLAGUE SHALL BE IN HIM HE SHALL BE DEFILED; HE IS UNCLEAN: HE SHALL DWELL ALONE; WITHOUT THE CAMP SHALL HIS HABITATION BE._ Dwell alone; without the camp - in a lazaretto by himself, or associated with other lepers (Numbers 12:15; 2 Kings 7:3; 2 Kings 7:8). Lepers are subjected to the same doom of social expulsion in the modern countries of the East, where the slightest ascertained taint of the malady carries with it a seclusion tantamount to banishment from the rest of the community, or even to perpetual detention in a lazaret. Enactments for the arrest and imprisonment of lepers have been proposed and passed even within the last few years in some of the Indian colonies of the British

45,46 When the priest had pronounced the leper unclean, it put a stop to his business in the world, cut him off from his friends and relations, and ruined all the comfort he could have in the world. He must humble himself under the mighty hand of God, not insisting upon his cleanness, when the priest had pronounced him unclean, but accepting the punishment. Thus must we take to ourselves the shame that belongs to us, and with broken hearts call ourselves "Unclean, unclean;" heart unclean, life unclean; unclean by original corruption, unclean by actual transgression; unclean, therefore deserving to be for ever shut out from communion with God, and all hope of happiness in him; unclean, therefore undone, if infinite mercy do not interpose. The leper must warn others to take heed of coming near him. He must then be shut out of the camp, and afterward, when they came to Canaan, be shut out...

DWELL ALONE - More properly, dwell apart; that is, separated from the people. Though thus excluded from general contact with society, it is not likely that lepers ceased to be objects of sympathy and kindness, such as they now are in those Christian and Moslem countries in which the leprosy prevails. That they associated together in the holy land, as they do at present, is evident from 2 Kings 7:3; Luke 17:12. It has been conjectured that a habitation was provided for them outside Jerusalem, on the hill Gareb (Bezetha), which is mentioned only in Jeremiah 31:39. WITHOUT THE CAMP - Compare the margin reference. A leper

EXPOSITION UNCLEANNESS DERIVED FROM LEPROSY OR CONTACT WITH LEPERS AND LEPROUS THINGS (Leviticus 13:1, Leviticus 14:1). A third cause of uncleanness is found in a third class of offensive or repulsive objects. There is no disease which produces so foul an appearance in the human form as leprosy. There was, therefore, no disease so suitable for creating ceremonial, because representing spiritual, uncleanness. The name leprosy has been made to cover a number of diseases similar but not identical in character. There are many spurious forms of leprosy, and many diseases akin to leprosy which do not

ALL THE DAYS WHEREIN THE PLAGUE [SHALL BE] IN HIM HE SHALL BE DEFILED,.... Reckoned an unclean person, and avoided as such: HE [IS] UNCLEAN; in a ceremonial sense, and pronounced as such by the priest, and was to be looked upon as such by others during the time of his exclusion and separation, until he was shown to the priest and cleansed, and his offering offered; HE SHALL DWELL ALONE; in a separate house or apartment, as Uzziah did, 2 Chronicles 26:21; none were allowed to come near him, nor he to come near to any; yea, according to Jarchi, other unclean persons might not dwell with him: WITHOUT THE CAMP [SHALL] HIS HABITATION [BE]; without the three camps, as the same Jewish writer interprets it, the camp of God, the camp of the Levites, and the camp of Israel: so Miriam, when she was stricken with lepros

3. LEPROSY: TYPE OF INDWELLING SIN CHAPTER 13 _ 1. Leprosy in a person (Leviticus 13:1)_ 2. The infected garment. (Leviticus 13:47) 3. The cleansing of the garment (Leviticus 13:58) The entire chapter treats of leprosy. It has been argued from the side of critics that the disease described here is not the one we know as leprosy, but only a similar disease of the skin. The arguments advanced to support this objection are silenced by Matthew 8:1. The man who came to our Lord had leprosy. The Lord told him “show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testi

GENERAL PROCEDURE. Certain classes of signs arouse suspicion. The priest is to inspect. If he sees them to be distinctly leprous, the patient is to be so treated; otherwise he is to be secluded for one or two periods of seven days; if there is no further spreading, he is discharged clean. LEVITICUS 13:1. FIRST CASE. A ring or scab on the flesh. If there are white hairs more than skin-deep, the disease is present. LEVITICUS 13:9. RECOVERY OF CLEANNESS. The grounds for deciding as to whether the leprosy has run its course are as follows; if the hair is white and there is raw flesh, the patient needs no isolation for inspection purposes, the decision can be made at once; but if he is white all over, the disease is regarded as at an end; probably a case of leucoderma is in m

WITHOUT THE CAMP. Numbers 5:2; Numbers 12:10....

_Rules for treatment of leprous persons_(45, 46)...

UNCLEANNESS CONNECTED WITH LEPROSY It is tolerably certain that the leprosy of the OT. is not the leprosy of the Middle Ages, which is still to be found in the East. The latter is a terrible and loathsome disease, called _elephantiasis_, in consequence of which the skin thickens, the features are distorted, and the very limbs mortify and drop off from the body. The leprosy of the Bible is a skin disease, known as _psoriasis_, in which the skin and hair grow white, and which is accompanied with scab and flaky scales which peel off. It is doubtful whether it was infectious or not. Some varieties may have been so; but it is to be observed that when the disease entirely covered the body the person was pronounced clean and could mix in society. Leprosy is regarded in the Bible as a type of sin in its loathsomeness and disfiguring and corrupting effects, and its treatment was in many points s...