CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Leviticus 13:46 Commentaries: "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/leviticus/13-46.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/leviticus/13-46.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > Leviticus 13:46</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../leviticus/13-45.htm" title="Leviticus 13:45">◄</a> Leviticus 13:46 <a href="../leviticus/13-47.htm" title="Leviticus 13:47">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">All the days wherein the plague <i>shall be</i> in him he shall be defiled; he <i>is</i> unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp <i>shall</i> his habitation <i>be</i>.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/leviticus/13.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/leviticus/13.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/leviticus/13.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/leviticus/13.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/leviticus/13.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/leviticus/13.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/leviticus/13.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/leviticus/13.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/leviticus/13.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/leviticus/13.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/leviticus/13.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/leviticus/13.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/leviticus/13.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/leviticus/13.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/leviticus/13.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/leviticus/13.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/leviticus/6-13.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/leviticus/13.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/leviticus/13.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/leviticus/13.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/leviticus/13.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/leviticus/13.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/leviticus/13.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/leviticus/13.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/leviticus/13.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/leviticus/13.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/leviticus/13.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/leviticus/13.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/leviticus/13.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/leviticus/13.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/leviticus/13.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/leviticus/13.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/leviticus/13.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/leviticus/13.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(46) <span class= "bld">He shall dwell alone.</span>—In consequence of his extreme defilement, the leper had to live in seclusion outside the camp or city (<a href="/context/numbers/5-1.htm" title="And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,">Numbers 5:1-4</a>; <a href="/context/numbers/13-10.htm" title="Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.">Numbers 13:10-15</a>; <a href="/2_kings/7-3.htm" title="And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?">2Kings 7:3</a>, &c.). According to the legislation during the second Temple, if he stood under a tree and a clean person happened to pass by, he defiled the passer by. In the synagogue which he wished to attend they were obliged to make him a separate compartment, ten handbreadths high and four cubits long and broad. He had to be the first to go in and the last to leave the synagogue. Hence, leprosy was regarded as a living death, and as an awful punishment from the Lord (<a href="/2_kings/5-7.htm" title="And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send to me to recover a man of his leprosy? why consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.">2Kings 5:7</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/26-20.htm" title="And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from there; yes, himself hurried also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.">2Chronicles 26:20</a>), which they invoked upon all their mortal enemies (<a href="/2_samuel/3-29.htm" title="Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that has an issue, or that is a leper, or that leans on a staff, or that falls on the sword, or that lacks bread.">2Samuel 3:29</a>; <a href="/2_kings/5-27.htm" title="The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall stick to you, and to your seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.">2Kings 5:27</a>). The leper was debarred from conjugal intercourse. These ancient Rabbinic laws were imported into the Christian Church during the Middle Ages. When any one was afflicted with this distemper, the priest, wearing his stole and holding the crucifix, conducted him into the church, where the leper had to exchange his clothes for a peculiar black garment, and the mass was read over him and the service for the dead. He was then taken to a sequestered house, where earth was thrown upon his feet as a sign of burial, and was admonished never to appear otherwise than in his black garment and barefooted. He was not allowed to enter a church, or any place where there was a mill or bread was baked, or come near a well or fountain. He forfeited both the right of inheritance and of disposing of his property, for he was considered a dead man.<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/leviticus/13.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/leviticus/13-46.htm" title="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.">Leviticus 13:46</a></span>. <span class="ital">He shall dwell alone — </span>For his humiliation, to prevent the infection of others, and to show the danger of converse with spiritual lepers, or notorious sinners. <span class="ital">Without the camp shall his habitation be </span>— See <a href="/numbers/5-2.htm" title="Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that has an issue, and whoever is defiled by the dead:">Numbers 5:2</a>. In after times they were shut out of the cities, as now out of the camp, (<a href="/2_kings/7-3.htm" title="And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?">2 Kings 7:3</a>,) and there they dwelt by themselves, <a href="/2_kings/15-5.htm" title="And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelled in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.">2 Kings 15:5</a>; and so it was among other nations.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/leviticus/13.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>13:45,46 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.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/leviticus/13.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Dwell alone - More properly, dwell apart; that is, separated from the people.<p>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 <a href="/2_kings/7-3.htm">2 Kings 7:3</a>; <a href="/luke/17-12.htm">Luke 17:12</a>. It has been conjectured that a habitation was provided for them outside Jerusalem, on the hill Gareb (Bezetha), which is mentioned only in <a href="/jeremiah/31-39.htm">Jeremiah 31:39</a>.<p>Without the camp - Compare the margin reference. A leper polluted everything in the house which he entered. A separate space used to be provided for lepers in the synagogues. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/leviticus/13.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>46. he shall dwell alone; without the camp—in a lazaretto by himself, or associated with other lepers (2Ki 7:3, 8).<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/leviticus/13.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> Partly, for his humiliation; partly, to prevent the infection of others; and partly, to show the danger of converse with spiritual lepers or notorious sinners. This rule excludes the society of sound persons, but not of lepers. See <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/2_kings/15-5.htm" title="And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelled in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.">2 Kings 15:5</a> <a href="/2_chronicles/26-21.htm" title="And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelled in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.">2 Chronicles 26:21</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Without the camp; </span> so <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/numbers/12-14.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.">Numbers 12:14</a></span>; and afterward without cities and places of great concourse, whereof we have examples, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/2_kings/7-3.htm" title="And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?">2 Kings 7:3</a> <a href="/luke/17-12.htm" title="And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:">Luke 17:12</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/leviticus/13.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled,.... Reckoned an unclean person, and avoided as such: <p>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: <p>he shall dwell alone; in a separate house or apartment, as Uzziah did, <a href="/2_chronicles/26-21.htm">2 Chronicles 26:21</a>; 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: <p>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 leprosy, was shut out of the camp seven days, <a href="/numbers/12-14.htm">Numbers 12:14</a>. This was observed while in the wilderness, but when the Israelites came to inhabit towns and cities, then lepers were excluded from thence; for they defiled, in a ceremonial sense, every person and thing in a house they came into, whether touched by them or not. So Bartenora (b) observes, that if a leprous person goes into any house, all that is in the house is defiled, even what he does not touch; and that if he sits under a tree, and a clean person passes by, the clean person is defiled; and if he comes into a synagogue, they make a separate place for him ten hands high, and four cubits broad, and the leper goes in first, and comes out last. The Persians, according to Herodotus (c), had a custom much like this; he says, that if any of the citizens had a leprosy or a morphew, he might not come into the city, nor be mixed with other Persians (or have any conversation with them), for they say he has them because he has sinned against the sun: and there was with us an ancient writ, called "leproso amovendo" (d), that lay to remove a leper who thrust himself into the company of his neighbours in any parish, either in the church, or at other public meetings, to their annoyance. This law concerning lepers shows that impure and profane sinners are not to be admitted into the church of God; and that such who are in it, who appear to be so, are to be excluded from it, communion is not to be had with them; and that such, unless they are cleansed by the grace of God, and the blood of Christ, shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven; for into that shall nothing enter that defiles, or makes an abomination, or a lie; see <a href="/1_corinthians/5-7.htm">1 Corinthians 5:7</a> <a href="/revelation/21-27.htm">Revelation 21:27</a>. <p>(b) In Misn. Celim, c. 1. sect. 4. so in Misn. Negaim, c. 13. sect. 7, 11, 12. (c) Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 138. (d) See the Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary, in the word "Leprosy". <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/leviticus/13.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">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.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div>Leviticus 13:46<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/leviticus/13.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>With regard to the treatment of lepers, the lawgiver prescribed that they should wear mourning costume, rend their clothes, leave the hair of their head in disorder (see at <a href="/leviticus/10-6.htm">Leviticus 10:6</a>), keep the beard covered (<a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/24-17.htm">Ezekiel 24:17</a>, <a href="/ezekiel/24-22.htm">Ezekiel 24:22</a>), and cry "Unclean, unclean," that every one might avoid them for fear of being defiled (<a href="/lamentations/4-15.htm">Lamentations 4:15</a>); and as long as the disease lasted they were to dwell apart outside the camp (<a href="/numbers/5-2.htm">Numbers 5:2</a>., <a href="/numbers/12-10.htm">Numbers 12:10</a>., cf. <a href="/2_kings/15-5.htm">2 Kings 15:5</a>; <a href="/2_kings/7-3.htm">2 Kings 7:3</a>), <p>(Note: At the present day there are pest-houses specially set apart for lepers outside the towns. In Jerusalem they are situated against the Zion-gate (see Robinson, Pal. i.p. 364).)<p>a rule which implies that the leper rendered others unclean by contact. From this the Rabbins taught, that by merely entering a house, a leper polluted everything within it (Mishnah, Kelim i. 4; Negaim xiii. 11). <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/leviticus/13-46.htm">Leviticus 13:46 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../leviticus/13-45.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Leviticus 13:45"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Leviticus 13:45" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../leviticus/13-47.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Leviticus 13:47"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Leviticus 13:47" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>