Leviticus 14:36

36 then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house.

Leviticus 14:36 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 14:36

Then the priest shall command that they empty the house
Clear it of all persons and things; everybody was obliged to go out of it; and all the furniture of it, all the household goods in it, were to be removed from it: before the priest go [into it] to see the plague, that all that [is] in
the house be not made clean;
as would be the case should the priest view it, and pronounce it unclean before the removal of them; agreeably to which is the Jewish tradition ^F11, before a priest comes to see the plague, not anything in the house is defiled; but after he is come to see it, even bundles of sticks, and of reeds, are defiled, which are not reckoned under the uncleanness to be removed: so that this was a kindness to the owner of the house, that his loss might not be so great as it otherwise would be, if he did not take care to get his goods out previous to the inspection of the priest: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house;
to examine it, whether the signs of leprosy are in it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Misn. Nagaim, c. 12. sect. 5.

Leviticus 14:36 In-Context

34 "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession,

35 and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, 'It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,'

36 then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house.

37 And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall,

38 then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.