Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Leviticus
Book: Leviticus
Chapter: 13
Overview:
Directions to the
Priest to
Judge concerning
Leprosy.
(1-17)
Further directions.
(18-44) How the leper must be disposed of.
(45,46) The
Leprosy in garments.
(47-59)
1-17 The
Plague of
Leprosy was an uncleanness, rather than a
disease.
Christ is said to cleanse lepers, not to cure them.
Common as the
Leprosy was among the
Hebrews, during and after
their residence in
Egypt, we have
No reason to believe that it
was known among them before. Their distressed state and
employment in that land must have rendered them liable to
disease. But it was a
Plague often inflicted immediately
By the
Hand of
God.
Miriam's
Leprosy, and
Gehazi's, and
King Uzziah's,
were punishments of particular sins;
No marvel there was care
taken to distinguish it from a common distemper. The
Judgment of
it was referred to the priests. And it was a figure of the moral
pollutions of men's minds
By Sin, which is the
Leprosy of the
soul, defiling to the
Conscience, and from which
Christ alone
can cleanse. The
Priest could only convict the leper,
(By the
Law is the knowledge of Sin,) but
Christ can cure the sinner, he
can take away
Sin. It is a work of great importance, but of
great difficulty, to
Judge of our spiritual state. We all have
cause to suspect ourselves, being conscious of sores and spots;
but whether
Clean or unclean is the question. As there were
certain marks
By which to know it was
Leprosy,
So there are
marks of such as are in the
Gall of bitterness. The
Priest must
take time in making his
Judgment. This teaches all, both
ministers and people, not to be hasty in censures, nor to
Judge
anything before the time. If some men's sins go before unto
Judgment, the sins of others follow after, and
So do men's good
Works. If the person suspected were found to be
Clean, yet he
must wash his clothes, because there had been ground for the
suspicion. We have need to be washed in the
Blood of
Christ from
our spots, though not
Leprosy spots; for who can say, I am pure
from
Sin?
18-44 The
Priest is told what
Judgment to make, if there were
any appearance of a
Leprosy in old sores; and such is the danger
of those who having escaped the pollutions of the world are
again entangled therein. Or, in a burn
By accident, ver. 24.
The burning of strife and contention often occasions the rising
and breaking out of that corruption, which proves that men are
unclean. Human
Life lies exposed to many grievances. With what
troops of diseases are we beset
On every side; and they all
entered
By Sin! If the constitution be healthy, and the body
lively and easy, we are bound to
Glorify God with our bodies.
Particular note was taken of the
Leprosy, if in the head. If the
Leprosy of
Sin has seized the head; if the
Judgment be
corrupted, and wicked principles, which support wicked
practices, are embraced, it is utter uncleanness, from which few
are cleansed. Soundness in the
Faith keeps
Leprosy from the
head.
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 of the
City, town, or village where he
lived, and
Dwell with none but those that were lepers like
himself. This typified the purity which ought to be in the
Gospel Church.
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.