Leviticus 14:19

14:10-32 The cleansed leper was to be presented to the Lord, with his offerings. When God has restored us to enjoy public worship again, after sickness, distance, or otherwise, we should testify our thanksgiving by our diligent use of the liberty. And both we and our offerings must be presented before the Lord, by the Priest that made us clean, even our Lord Jesus. Beside the usual rites of the trespass-offering, some of the blood, and some of the oil, was to be put upon him that was to be cleansed. Wherever the blood of Christ is applied for justification, the oil of the Spirit is applied for sanctification; these two cannot be separated. We have here the gracious provision the law made for poor lepers. The poor are as welcome to God's altar as the rich. But though a meaner sacrifice was accepted from the poor, yet the same ceremony was used for the rich; their souls are as precious, and Christ and his gospel are the same to both. Even for the poor one lamb was necessary. No sinner could be saved, had it not been for the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God with his blood.

And the priest shall offer the sin offering,.... This was the ewe lamb, according to the rite of every sin offering, as Aben Ezra says; and was typical of Christ, as all such offerings were, who was made sin and a sin offering for his people: and make an atonement for him that was to be cleansed from his uncleanness; for it seems the atonement was not perfected by the trespass offering and all the preceding rites; but a sin offering was necessary both on account of moral uncleanness, the cause of the leprosy, and of ceremonial uncleanness by it: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; the other he lamb; the burnt offering for the most part following the sin or trespass offering as a gift by way of thankfulness, atonement being made for sin by the other offerings; which also was typical of Christ, as all burnt offerings were.

Verses 19, 20. - The priest shall offer the sin offering. The sin offering is due, according to the regulation given in chapter Leviticus 5:3, in consequence of the man having been in a state of uncleanness. It is followed by the burnt offering and the meat offering, and then the man is restored to his state of legal cleanness, and of communion with God as well as with his fellows Leviticus 14:19

The cleansed leper was now in a position to avail himself of the accustomed law of sacrifice as one completely restored. The ewe lamb was now offered in his behalf as a sin-offering, one of the young rams as a burnt-offering, and the fine flour mingled with oil as a meat-offering.

10-20. on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe-lamb of the first year without blemish—The purification of the leper was not completed till at the end of seven days, after the ceremonial of the birds [Le 14:4-7] and during which, though permitted to come into the camp, he had to tarry abroad out of his tent [Le 14:8], from which he came daily to appear at the door of the tabernacle with the offerings required. He was presented before the Lord by the priest that made him clean. And hence it has always been reckoned among pious people the first duty of a patient newly restored from a long and dangerous sickness to repair to the church to offer his thanksgiving, where his body and soul, in order to be an acceptable offering, must be presented by our great Priest, whose blood alone makes any clean. The offering was to consist of two lambs, the one was to be a sin offering, and an ephah of fine flour (two pints equals one-tenth), and one log (half pint) of oil (Le 2:1). One of the lambs was for a trespass offering, which was necessary from the inherent sin of his nature or from his defilement of the camp by his leprosy previous to his expulsion; and it is remarkable that the blood of the trespass offering was applied exactly in the same particular manner to the extremities of the restored leper, as that of the ram in the consecration of the priests [Le 8:23].

The parts sprinkled with this blood were then anointed with oil—a ceremony which is supposed to have borne this spiritual import: that while the blood was a token of forgiveness, the oil was an emblem of healing—as the blood of Christ justifies, the influence of the Spirit sanctifies. Of the other two lambs the one was to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering, which had also the character of a thank offering for God's mercy in his restoration. And this was considered to make atonement "for him"; that is, it removed that ceremonial pollution which had excluded him from the enjoyment of religious ordinances, just as the atonement of Christ restores all who are cleansed through faith in His sacrifice to the privileges of the children of God.

(19) And the priest shall offer the sin offering. —The other ewe lamb mentioned in Leviticus 14:10 the priest is now to offer as a sin offering, to expiate the sins which the restored leper had committed during his illness, having probably given vent to impatient and unbecoming expressions at his loathsome condition, not as due in consequence of having been in a state of uncleanness. The regulations in Leviticus 5:2-3 , refer to cases when through thoughtlessness the unclean person forgot his duty.

It was not till all this had been done, that the priest could proceed to make expiation for him with the sin-offering, for which the ewe-lamb was brought, "on account of his uncleanness," i.e., on account of the sin which still adhered to him as well as to all the other members of the covenant nation, and which had come outwardly to light in the uncleanness of his leprosy; after which he presented his burnt-offering and meat-offering, which embodied the sanctification of all his members to the service of the Lord, and the performance of works well-pleasing to Him. The sin-offering, burnt-offering, and meat-offering were therefore presented according to the general instructions, with this exception, that, as a representation of diligence in good works, a larger quantity of meal and oil was brought than the later law in Numbers 15:4 prescribed for the burnt-offering.

14 . holy ] cf. Exodus 16:23 (P), Exodus 20:8 (E), Isaiah 58:13 , Ezekiel 20:20 , &c. profaneth ] To ‘profane’ is characteristic—like its opposite, to ‘sanctify’—of H, Leviticus 18:21 ; Leviticus 19:8 ; Leviticus 19:12 ; Leviticus 19:29 ; Leviticus 20:3 ; Leviticus 21:4 ; Leviticus 21:6 ; Leviticus 21:9 (twice), Leviticus 21:12 ; Leviticus 21:15 ; Leviticus 21:23 , Leviticus 22:2 ; Leviticus 22:9 ; Leviticus 22:15 ; Leviticus 22:32 , and Ezek. (about 30 times,—6 times, as here, of the sabbath, viz. Ezekiel 20:13 ; Ezekiel 20:16 ; Ezekiel 20:21 ; Ezekiel 20:24 , Ezekiel 22:8 , Ezekiel 23:38 : so Isaiah 56:2 , Nehemiah 13:18 ). In P only once ( Numbers 18:32 ). shall surely be put to death ] cf., in the Book of the Covenant, Exodus 21:12 ; Exodus 21:14-17 , Exodus 22:19 ; and in H, for various moral and religious offences, Leviticus 20:2 ; Leviticus 20:9-13 ; Leviticus 20:15-16 ; Leviticus 20:27 ; Leviticus 24:16-17 (for murder). In Numbers 15:32-36 (P) this penalty for sabbath-breaking is said to have been inflicted. that soul , &c.] See on Exodus 12:15 , and Exodus 30:33 .

16 . sprinkle ] toss: viz. in a volume, out of a tossing-vessel or basin (see on Exodus 27:3 ). ‘Sprinkle’ not only conveys an incorrect idea of the action meant, but also confuses it with an entirely different action, correctly represented by ‘sprinkle’ ( Leviticus 4:6 ; Leviticus 4:17 ; Leviticus 5:9 &c.): it is to be regretted that the distinction, obliterated in AV., but correctly pointed out in the Speaker’s Commentary (1. ii. 499b) in 1871, should not have been preserved in RV. The reader who desires to understand correctly the sacrificial ritual of the Hebrew should correct on the margin of his copy of the RV. toss or throw for ‘sprinkle’ (with against for ‘upon,’ where altar follows: see the next note) here, v. 20, Exodus 24:6 , Leviticus 1:5 ; Leviticus 1:11 ; Leviticus 3:2 ; Leviticus 3:8 ; Leviticus 3:13 ; Leviticus 7:2 ; Leviticus 7:14 ; Leviticus 8:19 ; Leviticus 8:24 ; Leviticus 9:12 ; Leviticus 9:18 ; Leviticus 17:6 , Numbers 18:17 ; Numbers 19:13 ; Numbers 19:20 (but vv. 4, 18, 19, 21 ‘sprinkle’ is correct), 2 Kings 16:13 ; 2 Kings 16:15 , Ezekiel 43:18 , 2 Chronicles 29:22 ; 2 Chronicles 30:16 ; 2 Chronicles 35:11 ; also Ezekiel 36:25 and Exodus 9:8 ; Exodus 9:10 . upon ] against. As the Jews expressly state, the blood was thrown not upon the altar, but against the sides of it, and in such a manner that with two movements of the ‘tossing-vessel’ the blood was thrown against its four sides ( Zebâḥim v. 4 ff.; Rashi on Leviticus 1:5 ).