Leviticus 13:58

_THE GARMENT ALSO THAT THE PLAGUE OF LEPROSY IS IN, WHETHER IT BE A WOOLLEN GARMENT, OR A LINEN GARMENT;_ The garment ... that the ... leprosy is in. 'It is well known that infectious diseases-such as scarlet fever, measles, the plague-are latently imbibed and carried by the clothes. But the language of this passage clearly indicates a disease to which clothes themselves were subject, and which was followed by effects on them analogous to those which malignant leprosy produces on the human body; because similar regulations were made for the rigid inspection of suspected garments by a priest, as for the examination of a leprous person. It has long been conjectured, and recently ascertained by the use of a lens, that the leprous condition of swine is produced by myriads of minute insects engendered in their skin; and regarding all leprosy as of the same nature, it is thought that this aff...

58._And the garment. _This kind of disease, God, in his infinite clemency, has willed to be unknown to us. He has indeed subjected woolen garments and furs to the ravages of the moth, and vessels of various kinds to rust, and other corruptions; in fact, has surrounded the human race with rottenness, in order that everywhere our eyes should light on the punishment of sin; but what the leprosy of garments may be, is unknown. But its expiation under the Law admonished his ancient people that the must carefully beware of even external uncleanness, so as to cleanse themselves “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” It has appeared to me sufficient to touch upon the sum of the matter, because it would be almost superfluous labor to insist upon the words, although I should be unwilling to condemn the diligence of those who examine these points also; but it is not my purpose to perform th...

47-59 The garment suspected to be tainted with leprosy was not to be burned immediately. If, upon search, it was found that there was a leprous spot, it must be burned, or at least that part of it. If it proved to be free, it must be washed, and then might be used. This also sets forth the great evil there is in sin. It not only defiles the sinner's conscience, but it brings a stain upon all he has and all that he does. And those who make their clothes servants to their pride and lust, may see them thereby tainted with leprosy. But the robes of righteousness never fret, nor are moth-eaten....

Verse Leviticus 13:58. _IT SHALL BE WASHED THE SECOND TIME_] According to the Jews the _first_ washing was to put away the _plague_, the _second_ to _cleanse_ it. BOTH among Jews and Gentiles the leprosy has been considered as a most expressive emblem of sin, the properties and circumstances of the one pointing out those of the other. The similitude or parallel has been usually run in the following manner: - 1. The leprosy began with a _spot_, a simple hidden infection being the cause. 2. This spot was very _conspicuous_, and argued the source whence it proceeded. 3. It was of a _diffusive_ nature, soon spreading over the whole body. 4. It _communicated_ its infectious nature, not only to the whole of the person's body, but also to his _clothes_ and

EITHER - in these verses, should be or. See Leviticus 13:47, Leviticus 13:49. It should be noticed that no religious or symbolic rite is prescribed for leprosy in clothing. The priest had only to decide whether the process of decay was at work in the article presented to him and to pronounce accordingly. Compare the leprosy in houses, Leviticus 14:33....

EXPOSITION LEPROSY IN CLOTHES (Leviticus 13:47-3). To account for the use of the name leprosy in this connection, an ingenious theory has been propounded that the same cause produced a like effect in the human frame in clothes and in houses. "There is here described a disease whose cause must have been of organic growth, capable of living in the human being and of creating there a foul and painful disease of contagious character, while it could also live and reproduce itself in garments of wool, linen, or skin; nay, more, it could attach itself to the walls of a house and there also effect its own reproduction. Animalcules, always capable of choice, would scarcely be found so transferable, and we are therefore justified in supposing that green or red fungi, so often seen in epidemic periods, were the protean disease

AND THE GARMENT, EITHER WARP OR WOOF, OR WHATSOEVER THING OF SKIN [IT BE], WHICH THOU SHALT WASH,.... After it had been shut up seven days, and viewed by the priest again: if the plague be departed from them: upon a review of them: THEN IT SHALL BE WASHED THE SECOND TIME, AND SHALL BE CLEAN; and so reckoned even thoroughly clean, and used; this denotes the thorough washing and cleansing of sinners by the blood of Jesus, see Psalms 51:2; this washing was by dipping; and so the Targum renders it; and Jarchi observes, that all washings of garments, which are for dipping, they interpret by the same word....

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

_Leprosy in garments_(47 59) The nature of these spots in clothing is not clear. It is generally supposed that they are caused by mildew or moth (see Art. _Leprosy, HDB_.); another suggestion is that the clothing had been worn by a leprous person, but this is not stated in the text. The materials of the garments are either wool, linen, or skin....