Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin
HARMONY OF THE LAW · VOLUME 1
52. And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:
52. Purificabitque domum illam sanguine passeris, et aqua viva, et passere vivo, lignoque cedrino, et hyssopo, et cocco vermiculi.
53. But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.
53. Postea dimittet passerem vivum extra civitatem super faciem agri, purgabitque domum, et munda erit.
54. This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall,
54. Ista est lex omnis plagae leprae, et maculae nigrae,
55. And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house,
55. Et leprae vestis, et domus,
56. And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot:
56. Et tumoris, et scabiei, et candentis maculae:
57. To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.
57. Ad docendum quid agendum, quo die immundus et quo die mundus declarandus est.
2 This shall be the law of the leper. Moses now treats of the manner in which those who were cured of leprosy were to be cleansed and restored. Thus far he had shewn whom the priest was to admit into the holy congregation, and account to be clean; he now prescribes the rite of expiation, whereby the people might learn how greatly God abominates the uncleanness, which He commands to be purified by a solemn propitiation; and also that he who is healed may acknowledge that he is rescued from death by God's special blessing, and may in future be more diligent in seeking to be pure. For there were two parts in the sacrifice here demanded-purification and thanksgiving. But we must ever keep in view the object which I have stated in the last chapter, that the Israelites were instructed by this ceremony to serve God in chastity and purity, and to keep far away from those defilements, whereby religion would be profaned. Since, then, leprosy was a kind of pollution, God was unwilling that those who were cured of it