Leviticus 11:15

That he shave his hair after his vow is accomplished, Numbers 6:18. 56. That every man perform his vows to God, Deuteronomy 23:23; Numbers 30:2. 57. That judgment be made of the obligation of vows according to the law, Num. 30. 9. The fourth family of affirmative commands respects CLEANNESS AND UNCLEANNESS, whereof they reckon up eighteen precepts:—1. He that touches that which dies of itself is unclean, Leviticus 11:39. 2. Eight kinds of creeping things are unclean, Leviticus 11:29, 30. 3. Sundry things that may be eaten are yet capable of uncleanness, Leviticus 11:34. 4. A woman in her natural disease is unclean, Leviticus 15:19; 5. And she that is delivered of a child, Leviticus 12:2. 6. The leper is unclean, and defileth other things, Leviticus 13:2, 3. 7. A cloth infected with leprosy is unclean, Leviticus 13:47–51; 8. And an house likewise, Leviticus 14:35–44. 9. He that hath an issue is unclean, Leviticus 15:2; 10. And to the same purpose, Leviticus 15:16; 11. And in a woman, verse 25. 12. A dead body is unclean, and defileth, Numbers 19:14. 13. All cleansing must be accompanied with bathing or washing, Leviticus 15:16. 14. The cleansing of the leper must be with cedar, hyssop, scarlet wool, and the other ceremonies, Leviticus 14:2–32. 15. The leper must shave all the hair off his head on the seventh day, Leviticus 14:9. 16. The leper must not go abroad but with the signs of his leprosy, Leviticus 13:45. 17. That the red heifer be burned according to order, Numbers 19:2–10. 18.

11:1-47 What animals were clean and unclean. - These laws seem to have been intended, 1. As a test of the people's obedience, as Adam was forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge; and to teach them self-denial, and the government of their appetites. 2. To keep the Israelites distinct from other nations. Many also of these forbidden animals were objects of superstition and idolatry to the heathen. 3. The people were taught to make distinctions between the holy and unholy in their companions and intimate connexions. 4. The law forbad, not only the eating of the unclean beasts, but the touching of them. Those who would be kept from any sin, must be careful to avoid all temptations to it, or coming near it. The exceptions are very minute, and all were designed to call forth constant care and exactness in their obedience; and to teach us to obey. Whilst we enjoy our Christian liberty, and are free from such burdensome observances, we must be careful not to abuse our liberty. For the Lord hath redeemed and called his people, that they may be holy, even as he is holy. We must come out, and be separate from the world; we must leave the company of the ungodly, and all needless connexions with those who are dead in sin; we must be zealous of good works devoted followers of God, and companions of his people. ]

Every raven after his kind. The red raven, night raven, the water raven, river raven, wood raven, &c. this also includes crows, rooks, pies, jays, and jackdaws, &c. The raven was with the Heathens sacred to Apollo (o), is a voracious creature, and so reckoned among unclean ones, and unfit for food; nor does the care that God takes of these creatures, or the use he has made of them, contradict this; see Job 38:41 . (o) Aelian. De Animal. l. 1. c. 48. & l. 7. c. 18.

(15) And every raven. —The raven or the black bird ( Song of Solomon 5:11 ), the bird of the night, as its name denotes in Heb., like the eagle, occurs frequently in the Bible. It preys upon putrid corpses ( Proverbs 30:17 ), and is especially eager to pick out the eyes of the dead, and sometimes even attacks the eyes of the living. So great is its gluttony that it fills the air with its wild shrieks when searching for food ( Psalm 147:9 ; Job 38:41 ). Its rapacity makes the raven expel its own offspring from their nest and from the surrounding places as soon as they are able to fly, and before they are quite able to procure their own food. Indeed, the ancients believed that it forsook its young immediately after they were hatched. It was in consequence of their excessive greed and known aversion to part with anything, even for their own offspring, that the ravens were chosen to carry food to the prophet ( 1Kings 17:4 ; 1Kings 17:6 ), thus to make the miracle all the more striking. The phrase, “every raven after his kind,” clearly shows that the whole genus of ravens is intended, with all the raven-like birds, such as the rook, the crow, the jackdaw, the jay, &c, which abound in Syria and Palestine.

"Every raven after his kind," i.e., the whole genus of ravens, with the rest of the raven-like birds, such as crows, jackdaws, and jays, which are all of them natives of Syria and Palestine. The omission of ו before את, which is found in several MSS and editions, is probably to be regarded as the true reading, as it is not wanting before any of the other names.

[Reformed Biblical] Leviticus 15:5 Leviticus 15:6 Leviticus 15:7 ## He that toucheth the flesh, that is, any part of his body; the word flesh being taken otherwise here than Lev_15:2; as the same word is frequently used in Scripture in differing significations in the same chapter, and sometimes in the same verse, as Mat_8:22. Leviticus 15:8 Leviticus 15:9 Leviticus 15:10 Leviticus 15:11 This may be understood, either, 1. Of the person touching, if he that hath an issue toucheth another with unwashen hands. Thus most take it. But why then should it be limited to his hands? for if he had touched him by any other part, as suppose by kissing him, he had defiled him, though his hands had been washed. Or rather, 2. Of the person touched, to whom the washing of his hands is prescribed as an easier way of cleansing himself, if speedily used; but if that was neglected or delayed, a more laborious course was enjoined him. And thus the Syriac interpreter understands it. Leviticus 15:12 Leviticus 15:13 ## Is cleansed of his issue; when his issue is not only stopped in part, or for a season, but hath wholly ceased. ## For his cleansing, to wit, for the use of the ceremonies prescribed in such cases. See Num_19:11,12. Shall be clean, i.e. admitted to converse with men, and with God in public ordinances. Leviticus 15:14 Leviticus 15:15 Not as if this was in itself a sin, but only a punishment of sin; though ofttimes it was sinful, as being a fruit of a man’s intemperance and immoderate lust. See Lev_14:12.

Washing was a main feature in the cleansing of leprosy ( Leviticus 13:54, 58 ) and of the leper. ( Leviticus 14:8 ). It was also employed for the purification of many minor defilements ( Leviticus 11:25 ; Leviticus 15:5 ; Leviticus 17:15 , etc.). At what date it first came into use in the admission of proselytes is uncertain. Whether the washing of consecration extended to the whole body, or was limited to the hands and feet, is also a point on which critics have disagreed, but one of no great importance. (See John 13:9, 10 .) Exodus 29:4