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COMMENTARIES
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THE FOUR LAST BOOKS OF MOSES,
ARRANGED IX THE FORM OF
A HARMONY.
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COMMENTARIES
THE FOUR LAST BOOKS OF MOSES,
ARRANGED
THE FORM OF A HARMONY.
BY JOHN CALVIN.
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COMPARED WITH THE FRENCH EDITION ; WITH ANNOTATIONS, ETC.
BY THE REV. CHARLES WILLIAM BINGHAM, SI. A.
RECTOR OF MELCOMCE-HORSEY, DORSET, AND FORMERLY FELLOW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD.
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EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR THE CALVIN TRANSLATION SOCIETY
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PRFO
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•USTINB, FOR SHARP INSIGHT AND CONCLUSIVE JUDGMENT IN EXPOSITION OF PLACES oTsCUl'^UKK, WHICH HE ALWAYS MAKF, SO LIQUID AND PKHY.OU, HATH SCVRCE BEEN EQUALLED THEREIN B* ANY OF ALL THE WRITERS IN THh CHURCH 0^0"; EXCEPT CALVIN MAY HAVE THAT HONOUR; FOR WHOM (WHEN IT ONCERS NOT POINTS IN CONTROVERSY) I SEE THE JESUITS THEMSELVE,, THOUGH THFY DVRE NOT NAME HIM, HAVE A HIGH DEGREE OF REVERENCE.' -!>,'. 1 kmi
[entcrr D at Stationers' ??all.J
« WITH CALVIN, THE THEOLOGICAL EXPOSITION OF THE PENTATEUCH REACHED ITS HIGHEST POINT, THAT IS, RELATIVELY. HE STANDS STILL HIGHER ABOVE TIIK WHO FOLLOWED HIM THAN ABOVE HIS PREDECESSORS. IT IS CURIOUS ENC SUCH A LEADER SHOULD HAVE SUCH FOLLOWERS. IT CAN BE EXPLAINED ONLY O: THE SUPPOSITION THAT THEY HAVE NEVER READ HIS WORKS, OF WHICH, IN
WE EVERYWHERE FIND EVIDENCE."— Dr. Jlenrjstenlcrg.
EDINBURGH t PRINTED BY T. CONSTAI.LF, PRINTER TO HER MAJESTY.
THE FOUR LAST BOOKS OF MOSES
ARRANGED IX THE FORM OF
A HARMONY, WITH COMMENTARIES.
¬fjer Supplement as to tije Shutting up of tfje ILepnws.1
DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXIV.
8. Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you : as I commanded them, so ye shall
• observe to do.
9. Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt.
NUMB. v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2. Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is denied by the dead:
3. Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them ; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
8. Observa in plaga leprae, ad ob- servandum diligenter et faciendum secundum omnia quse docuerint vos sacerdotes Levitfe : sicuti praecepi eis. ita observabitis ad faciendum.
9. Recorclare quid fecerit Jeho- va Deus tuus Mariae in itinere, quum egressi estis ex ^Egypto.
1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo :
2. Prsecipe filiis Israel ut ejiciant e castris omnem leprosum, omnem seminifluum, et omnem immundum super anima.
3. Tarn masculum quain foemin- am cjicietis: extra castra ejicietis eos, ne contaminent castra sua, quia ego habito in medio eorum.
LEVITICUS, CHAPTER XIII.
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses 1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad and Aaron, saying, Mosen et Aharon, dicendo :
2. When a man shall have in the 2. Homo quum fuerit in cute skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or carnis ejus tumor, vel scabies, vel
1 Heading added from the Fr. "Autre dependence de forclorre les lepreux."
fi
CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR LEV. xm.
bright spot, and it be in the skin of liis flesh like the plague of leprosy ; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests.
3. And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh : and •when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy : and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
4. If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days.
5. And the priest shall look on him the seventh day : and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin ; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more.
6. And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day : and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean ; it is but a scab : and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7. But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again.
8. And if the priest sec that, be hold, the scabsprcadeth in the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean : it is a leprosy.
9. When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest ;
10. And the priest shall see him : and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, audit have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising,
11. It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh : and the priest shall pro nounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up ; for he is unclean.
^ 12. And if a leprosy break out
alba macula, et in cute carnis ejus fuerit plaga leprse, ducetur ad Aharon sacerdotem, vel ad unum c filiis ejus sacerdotibus.
3. Tune videbit sacerdos plagam in cute carnis : quod si pilus in plaga versus fuerit in albedinem, et super ficies plagje profundior fuerit cute carnis ejus, plaga leprrc est, et post- quam viderit eum sacerdos judicabit ilium contaminatum, (fc/,contamina-
bit ilium.)
4. Quod si macula alba fuerit in cute carnis ejus, et profundior non fuerit aspectus ejus cute, nee pilus ejus versus fuerit in albedinem, in- cludet sacerdos plagam septem die- bus.
5. Postea videbit eum sacerdos die septimo : et si plaga fuerit a?qua- lis coram oculis ejus, nee crevent plaga in cute, includet eum sacerdos septem diebus secundo.
G. Tune inspiciet sacerdos ipsum die septimo iterum, et si subnigra fu erit plaga, (»W, obscurius contracta,) nee creverit plaga in cute, tune mun- dum declarabit (vel, mundabit) eum sacerdos : scabies est : et lavabit vir vestimenta sua, et mundus erit.
7. Quod si crescendo creverit sca bies in cute postquam ostensus fuerit sacerdoti in purgatione ejus, inspi- cietur secundo a sacerdote.
8. Ubi autem viderit sacerdos crescere scabiem in cute, immundum judicabit eum sacerdos, lepra est.
9. Quoties plaga leprrc fuerit in homine, adducetur ad sacerdotem :
10. Et aspiciet sacerdos, et si tu mor albus fuerit in cute, et muta- verit pilum in albedinem, et alinien- tum carnis viva; in tumore,
11. Lepra invcterata est in cute carnis ejus : ideoque contaminabit eum sacerdos, quia immundus est.
12. Sin germinando germinavcrit
] ST COMMANDMENT. LAST BOOKS QF THE PENTATEUCH.
abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague, from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh ;
13. Then the priest shall con sider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague ; it is all turned white : he is clean.
14. But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.
15. And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean ; for the raw flesh is un clean : it is a leprosy.
16. Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest ;
17. And the priest shall see him : and, behold, //the plague be turned into white ; then the priest shall pro nounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.
18. The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a bile, and is healed,
19. And in the place of the bile there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shewed to the priest ;
20. And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white, the priest shall pro nounce him unclean : it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the bile.
21. But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark ; then the priest shall shut him up seven days.
22. And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean : it is a plague.
23. But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning bile: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24. Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning,
lepra in cute, et operuerit lepra to- tam cutem plaga?, a capite ejus, et totum aspectum oculorum sacerdo- tis:
13. Tune inspiciet sacerdos, et si operuerit lepra totam carnem ejus, tune mundam judicabit plagam : ubi tota versa est in albedinem, mun- da est, (vel, mundus.)
14. Quo autem die visa fuerit in eo caro viva, immundus erit.
15. Et ubi viderit sacerdos car nem vivam, immundum judicabit ipsum, caro viva immunda est, lepra est.
16. Vel si reversa fuerit caro viva, et conversa in albedinem, tune veniet ad sacerdotem :
17. Et inspiciet sacerdos: et si versa fuerit plaga in albedinem, mundam judicabit sacerdos plagam illam : munda est.
18. Et si fuerit in cute carnis ali- cujus ulcus, (vel, pustula ardens,) et illud sanatum fuerit.
19. Et extiterit in loco ulceris tumor albus, aut macula alba sub- rufa, ostendetur sacerdoti :
20. Et quum inspexerit sacerdos, si pilus profundior fuerit cute, et pilus conversus fuerit in albedinem, contaminabit eum sacerdos: quia plaga leprse est ex ulcere germin- ans.
21. Et si viderit earn sacerdos, et non fuerit in ea pilus albus. nee fuerit profundior cute, sed fuerit subobscura, tune includet eum sacer dos septem diebus.
22. Si vero crescendo creverit per cutem, immundum judicabit eum sacerdos : plaga est.
23. Si vero suo loco constiterit macula alba, nee creverit, adustio ulceris est : mundum (vel, mundam)
judicabit eum sacerdos.
24. Quum fuerit caro in cujus cute erit adustio ignis, et in viva
CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR LEV. xin
and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat red dish, or Avhite ;
25 Then the priest shall look upon it : and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin, it is a leprosy broken out ot the burning : wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean ; it is the plague of leprosy.
26. But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark ; then the priest shall shut him up seven days.
27. And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day : and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him un clean ; it is the plague of leprosy.
28. And if the bright spot stay m his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean : for it is an inflammation of the burning.
29. If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard ;
30. Then the priest shall see the plague : and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin, and there be in it a yellow thin hair ; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean : it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.
31. And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it ; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days.
32. And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague : and, behold, i/the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin ;
33. He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more.
carne adustionis macula alba subru fa, vel alba.
25. Inspiciet eum sacerdos : et, si versus fuerit pilus in albedinem in macula ilia, et superficies ejus fuerit profundior cute, lepra est in adus- tione germinans: ideo immundam judicabit earn sacerdos, plaga leprce est.
26. Quod si inspexerit earn sacer dos, et non fuerit in macula pilus albus, nee profundior cute, sed fuerit subnigra, includet eum sacerdos sep- tem diebus.
2". Postea inspiciet cum sacerdos die septimo : et si crescendo creverit in cute, immundam judicabit earn sacerdos, plaga lepra; est.
28. Quod si in loco suo steterit macula, nee creverit per cutem, et eadem fuerit contracta, (vel, sub nigra,) tumor adustionis est: ideo- qife mundum judicabit eum sacerdos: quia ardor exustionis est.
29. Si viro aut mulieri exorta fuerit plaga in capite, aut in barba.
30. Tune inspiciet sacerdos plag- am : et si superficies ejus profundior erit cute, et fuerit in ea pilus flavus et tenuis, immundum judicabit sa cerdos : macula nigra est, lepra capitis aut barbtc est.
31. Si autem inspexerit sacerdos plagam maculae nigne, et superficies ejus non fuerit profundior cute, nee pilus niger in ea, includet sacerdos plagam maculjc nigra; septem die- bus.
32. Et quum inspexerit sacerdos die septima, si non creverit macula ilia nigra, nee in ea fuerit pilus, et aspectus macuUe nigra; non fuerit profundior cute :
33. Tune radetur, sed maculam nigram non radet, includetque sacer dos maculam nigram septem diebus secundo.
1ST COMMANDMENT. LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.
9
34. And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall : and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, nor be in sight deeper than the skin ; then the priest shall pro nounce him clean : and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
35. But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing ;
36. Then the priest shall look on him : and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is un clean.
37. But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein ; the scall is healed, he is clean : and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38. If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots ;
39. Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white ; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin : he is clean.
40. And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald ; yet is he clean.
41. And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald : yet is he clean.
42. And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white red dish sore, it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead.
43. Then the priest shall look upon it : and, behold, ifihe rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh,
44. He is a leprous man, he is un clean : the priest shall pronounce hin: utterly unclean ; his plague is in his head.
45. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
34. Postea, inspiciet sacerdos ma- culam nigram die septima: et, si non creverit macula nigra in cute, nee superficies ejus profundior fuerit cute, mundum judicabit eum sacer dos : lavabitque vestimenta sua, et mundus erit.
35. Si autem crescendo creverit macula per cutem post purifica- tionem suam,
36. Tune inspiciet earn sacerdos : et, si creverit macula ilia in cute, non requiret ad examen sacerdos pilum flavum : immundus est.
37. Quod si in oculis ejus consti- terit macula, et pilus niger fuerit in ea, sanata est macula ilia, mundus est, et mundum judicabit eum sacer dos.
38. Quum in cute carnis viri aut mulieris fuerint macula?, maculae inquam albse.
39. Inspiciet sacerdos, et, si in cute carnis eorum fuerint maculae albae, subnigne, (vel, contractfe,) macula alba est quod floret in cute, mundus est.
40. Vir quum depilatum fuerit caput ejus, calvus est, mundus est.
41. Quod si ex parte faciei sua? caput habuerit depilatum, recalvas- ter est, mundus est.
42. Quod si in calvitio ejus aut parte depilata fuerit plaga alba, sub- rufa, lepra germinans est in calvitic, vel parte ejus depilata.
43. Aspiciet ergo eum sacerdos : et, si tumor plaga? albus, rufus in calvitio ejus aut parte depilata, sicut species lepree in cute carnis,
44. Vir leprosus est, immundus est : contaminando contaminabit ilium sacerdos : in capite ejus est plaga ejus.
45. Leprosi autem in quo fuerit plaga ilia, vestimenta erunt scissa, et caput ejus nudum, et pilum labri operiet, et Immundus, immundus sum clamabit.
10
CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR
LKV. XIII.
46. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be de filed ; he is unclean : he shall dwell alone : without the camp shall his habitation be.
47. The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment or a linen gar ment,
48. Whether it be in the warp or woof, of linen, or of woollen, whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin ;
40. And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin ; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest.
50. And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days.
51. And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin, the plague ta a fretting leprosy ; it »'a unclean.
52. He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is : for it is a fretting leprosy ; it shall be burnt in the fire.
53. And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin ;
54. Then the priest shall com mand that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more.
55. And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed : and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread, it is unclean ; thou shalt burn it in the fire : it is fret in ward, whether it be bare within or without.
56. And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark
46. Cunctis diebus quibus fuerit plaga in eo, contaminabitur, immun- dus est : seorsum habitabit : extra castra mansio ejus erit.
47. Si in veste fuerit plaga lepnc, in veste lanea, aut in veste linea,
48. Aut in stamine, aut in sub- tegmine ex lino, aut ex lana, aut in pelle, aut in quovis opere pelliceo :
49. Et fuerit plaga ilia viridis aut rufa in veste, aut in stamine, vel in subtegmine, vel in quovis opere pelliceo, plaga leprse est, ostendetur sacjrdoti.
50. Et inspiciet sacerdos plagam, includetque plagam illam septem diebus.
51. Postea inspiciet plagam illam die septimo : si crevent plaga ilia per vestem, vel per subtegmen, vel pellem in omni opere pelliceo, lepra corrodentis plagre est, immunda est.
52. Comburetque vestem, vel sta men, vel subtegmen ex lana, vel ex lino, vel quod vis opus pelliceum in quo fuerit plaga ilia : quia lepra corrodens est, igni comburetur.
53. Quod si, ubi inspexerit sacer dos, ecce non creverit plaga ilia in veste, vel in stamine, vel in subteg mine, vel in quovis opere pelliceo.
54. Tune prcecipiet sacerdos, et lavabunt id in quo est plaga : et re- cludet illud septem diebus secundo.
55. Inspiciet vero sacerdos, post- quam lotum fuerit, plagam illam : et, si non mutaverit plaga ilia colo- rem suum, nee plaga creverit, im munda est, igni combures illud : cor- rosio est in calvitio ejus vel in parte ejus depilata.
56. Quod si dum inspexerit sacer dos, ecce, subobscura fuerit plaga
1ST COMMANDMENT. LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH. i 1
after the washing of it ; then he shall postquam lota fuit, abscindet earn e
rend it out of the garment, or out of veste, vel e pelle, vel e stamine, vel
the skin, or out of the warp, or out e subtegmine. of the woof.
57. And if it appear still in the 57. Quod si conspecta fuerit ultra garment, either in the warp, or in in veste, vel in stamine, vel in sub- the woof, or in any thing of skin, it tegmine, vel in quovis opere pelliceo. is a spreading plague: thou shalt lepra germinans est, igni combures burn that wherein the plague is with illud in quo fuerit plaga ilia.
fire.
58. And the garment, either warp 58. Vestis autem, sive stamen, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin sive subtegmen, aut quodvis opus it be, which thou shalt wash, if the pelliceum quod laveris, si recesserit plague be departed from them, then ab eis plaga, lavabitur secundo, et it shall be washed the second time, mundum erit.
and shall be clean.
59. This is the law of the plague 59. Hsec est lex leprse vestimenti of leprosy in a garment of woollen lanei, vel linei, vel staminis, vel sub- or linen, either in the warp or woof, tegminis, vel cujusvis operis pellicei, or any thing of skins, to pronounce ad judicandum illud mundum vel it clean, or to pronounce it unclean, immundum.
DEUT. xxiv. 8. Take heed in the plague of leprosy. I am aware how greatly interpreters differ from each other, and how variously they twist whatever Moses has written about LEPROSY. Some are too eagerly devoted to allegories ; some think that God, as a prudent Legislator, merely gave a com mandment of a sanitary nature, in order that a contagious disease should not spread among the people. This notion, however, is very poor, and almost unmeaning ; and is briefly refuted by Moses himself, both where he recounts the history of Miriam's leprosy, and also where he assigns the cause why lepers should be put out of the camp, viz., that they might not defile the camp in which God dwells, whilst he ranks them with those that have an issue, and that are defiled by the dead. Wherefore, I have thought it well, previous to attempting the full elucidation of the matter, to adduce two passages, by way of preface, from whence the design of God may more fully appear. When, in this passage from Deut eronomy, He commands the people to "take heed/' and " observe diligently" the plague of leprosy, there can be no question but that He thus ratifies what He had before set forth at greater length in Leviticus. And, first of all, He refers the judgment of the matter to the priests, that what they pronounce should be firm and unalterable; and, secondly, lie would have the priests, lest they should pronounce rashly,
12 CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR NUMB. v.2.
and according to their own wishes, to follow simply what He prescribed to them, so that they may only be the ministers, or heralds ; whilst, as to the sovereign authority, lie alone should be the Judge. He confirms the law which lie im poses by a special example ; because He had cast out Miriam, the sister of Moses, for a time, lest her uncleanness during her leprosy should defile the camp. For the view which some take, that He exhorts the people lest, through sin, they should bring upon themselves the same evil as Miriam, is not to the purpose. But that which I have stated makes excellent sense, viz., that God's command, whereby lie pro hibited Miriam from entering the camp, was to have the force and weight of a perpetual law ; because He thus ordained what He would always have done.
NUMB. v. 2. Command the children of Israel This pass age clearly shews that God, in desiring the lepers to be put out of the camp, was not acting as a physician by any means, and merely consulting the health of the people: but that by this external rite and ceremony He exercised them in the pursuit of purity ; for, by joining with the lepers those who had an issue,1 and who were defiled by the dead, He instructs the people simply to keep away from all uncleanness. The reason, which follows, confirms this, — " that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof He dwells/' It is just as if He had said, that all the habitations of His elect people were parts of His sanctuary, which it was a shame to defile with any pollution. For we know what license men give themselves in corrupting2 the service of God, by mixing, as the proverb says, sacred things with profane. Thus we sec that the very worst of men boast themselves to be anything but the least zealous of His worshippers, and spare not to lift up polluted hands, although God so sternly repudiates them. It was, then, profitable that the ancient people should be reminded by this visible proof, that all those who arc defiled cannot duly serve God, but that they rather pollute with their filthiness what is otherwise holy, and thus grossly abuse religious exercises; and again, that they ought not to be tolerated in the holy congregation, lest their infection should
1 Seminifluos. — Lat. " Brouiller et abastardir. — Ft:
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spread to others. Let us now briefly examine Leviticus xiii.
LEVIT. xiri. 2. When a man shall have in the skin. Since every eruption was not the leprosy, and did not render a man unclean, when God appoints the priests to he the judges, He distinguishes by certain marks a common eruption from the leprosy ; and then subjoins the difference between the various kinds of leprosy. For the disease was not always incurable ; but only when the blood was altogether corrupted, so that the skin itself had become hardened by its corrosion, or swollen by its diseased state. This, then, must be observed in the first place, that the Greek and Latin word lepra, and the Hebrew nin^, tzaragnath, extend further than to the incurable disease, which medical men call elephantiasis^ both on ac count of the hardness of the skin, and also its mottled colour ; not, however, that there is an entire agreement between the thickness of the man's skin and that of an elephant, but because this disease produces insensibility of the skin. This the Greeks call Vvpa, and if it be not a kind of leprosy, it is nearly allied to it. Thus we see that there was a distinc tion between the scab and leprosy; just as now-a-days, if it were necessary to judge respecting the itch, (which is com monly called the disease of St. Menanus,2) the marks must be observed, which distinguish it from leprosy. But, as to the various kinds of leprosy, I confess that I am not a phy sician, so as to discuss them accurately, and I purposely abstain from close inquiry about them, because I am per suaded that the disease here treated of affected the Israelites in an extraordinary manner, which we are now unacquainted with ; for what do we now know of a leprous house ? Indeed it is probable that, since heathen writers knew that the Jewish people suffered from this disease, they laid hold of it as the ground of their falsehood, that all the descendants of
1 Ladrerie. — Fr.
2 St. Mehan.— Fr. C. probably wrote Melanus. St. Mean, or Me- lanus, was a Welshman, who founded the monastery of Gael, now called St. Meen's, of which he became abbot, and where he died. At his tomb wonderful cures were effected, chiefly of cutaneous diseases, especially "itch and scab, to which a mineral well, which bears the name of the saint, and in which the patient bathes, seems greatly to contribute," quoth honest Alban Butler.
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Abraham were infected with the itch, and were driven away from Egypt, lest others should catch it from them. That ] this was an ancient calumny appears from Josephus, botli in the ninth book of his Antiquities, and in his Treatise against Apion ; and it is repeated both by C. Tacitus and Justin. Yet I make no doubt that the Egyptians, a very proud nation, in order to efface the memory of their own disgrace, and of the vengeance inflicted upon them by God, invented this lie, and thus grossly turned against this inno cent people what had happened to themselves, when they were smitten with boils and blains. But we shall see here after, amongst God's curses, that He chastised His people with the same plagues as He had inflicted on the Egyptians : " The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the cmerods, and with the scab/' &c. (Deut. xxviii. 27.) Whence it may be probably inferred, that God avenged the crimes of His ancient people with special judgments, which are now unknown to us ; just as afterwards new diseases arose, from which those in old times were free. At any rate, Josephus, by clear and solid arguments, exposes the absurdity of this accusation, that Moses was driven from Egypt with a crowd of exiles, lest they should infect the country with their disease ; because, if they had been universally affected with this malady, he never would have imposed such severe laws for separating the lepers from general society.
God first commands that, whenever a suspicion of leprosy arose, the man was to present himself to the priest ; if any symptom of leprosy appeared, He commands him to be shut up for a period of seven days, until it should appear from the progress of the disease that it was incurable leprosy. That God should have appointed the priests to be judges, and those, too, only of the highest order, is a proof that His spiritual service was rather regarded than mere bodily health. If any shall inquire whether leprosy is not a contagious disease, and whether it be not therefore expedient that all
1 The reference here, I think, ought to be Josephus, Jewish Antiq., Book III. ch. xi. § 4. See also, " Against Apion," Book I. § 25, et scq. Tacitus, Hist. v. 3. Justin, xxxvi. 2.
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who were affected by it should be removed from intercourse with others, I admit, indeed, that such is the case, but I deny that this was the main object in view. For, in process of time, physicians would have been better able to decide by their art and skill : whereas God enjoined this decision upon the priests alone, and gave them the rule whereby they were to judge. Nor did He appoint the Levites indiscriminately, but only the sons of Aaron, who were the highest order, in order that the authority of the decision might be greater. It was, then, by a gross error, or rather impudence, that the Papal priests (sacrifici) assumed to themselves this jurisdic tion. It was (they say) the office of the chief priests under the Law to distinguish between the kinds of leprosy ; and, therefore, the same right is transferred to the bishops. But they carry the mockery still further : the official,1 the bishop's representative, sits as the legitimate judge ; he calls in phy sicians and surgeons, from whose answers he pronounces what he confesses he is ignorant of himself. Behold how cleverly they accommodate a legal rite to our times ! The mockery, however, is still more disgusting, when in another sense they extend to the whole tribe of priests what they have said to belong solely to the bishops ; for, since the sin under which all labour is a spiritual leprosy, they thence infer that all are excluded from the congregation of the faithful until they shall have been purged and received by absolution, which they hold to be the common office of all the priests. They afterwards add, that judgment cannot be pronounced till the cause is heard, and so conclude that con fession is necessary. But, if they choose to have recourse to subtleties, reason would rather conduct us to the opposite conclusion ; for God did not desire the priests to take cog nizance of a hidden disease, but only after the manifest symp toms had appeared : hence it will follow, that it is prepos terous to bring secret sins to judgment, and that wretched men are dragged to their confession contrary to all law and justice. But, setting aside all these absurdities, an analogy must be observed between us and God's ancient people. He of old forbade the external uncleanness of the flesh to be 1 Monsieur 1'otficial, &c. — Fr.
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tolerated in His people. By Christ's coming, the typical figure has ceased ; but we are taught that all uncleanness, whereby the purity of His services is defiled, is not to be cherished, or borne with amongst us. And surely excom munication answers to this ceremony ; since by it the Church is purified, lest corruptions should everywhere assail it, if wicked and guilty persons occupied a place in it promis cuously with the good. The command of God that, whilst the disease was obscure and questionable, the infected per son should be shut up for seven days, recommends modera tion to us, lest any, who is still curable, should be condemned before his time. In fact, this medium is to be observed, that the judge should not be too remiss and hasty in par doning, and still that he should temper severity by justice ; and especially that he should not be too precipitate in his judgment. What we translate " shall pronounce him clean, or unclean/' is in Hebrew, " shall clean, or unclean him ;" thus the dignity of the judgment is more fully established, as though it had proceeded from God Himself; and assuredly no medical skill could declare on the seventh day A leprosy to be incurable, respecting which there was doubt so short a time before, unless God should in some special manner dis cover the uncleanness, and guide the eyes of the priests by His Spirit.
29. If a man or woman. What is here spoken of is not the baldness which so often occurs in old age ; but that loss of hair, which is the consequence of leprosy, is distinguished from any other, the cause of which may be some indisposi tion, and which yet docs not pollute a man. But, inasmuch as some kinds of baldness do not so greatly differ at first sight from leprosy, — such, for instance, as ophiasis and alo pecia1 — it is therefore necessary to distinguish them.
1 " Ophiasis, (o<p/a<r/,-, 6rr.,) a disease, in which the hair grows thin, and falls off, leaving the parts smooth and winding like the folds of a serpent."
"Alopecia, («x«w£^«of u.\<u<*nl, a fox, Gr., the fox-evil,) a disease called the scurf, when the hairs fall from the head by the roots." — Baileys Dic tionary.
" These regulations will be better understood from the fact, that the Orientals distinguish two sorts of baldness. The first is that which begins from the forehead, and the other that which begins from behind. The Hebrew has a distinct name for each of these. By the Arabian poets
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44. He is a leprous man, he is unclean. In the first part of the verse he says that the leprous man must be counted unclean ; but, in the latter part, he commands the priest to give sentence against this uncleanness, lest it should be carried into the congregation. On this ground he says, "his plague is upon his head/' which is as much as to say, that he is sentenced to just ignominy, for Moses takes it for granted that God holds up to public infamy whomsoever He smites with leprosy, and thence reminds them that they justly and deservedly bear this punishment.
The two following verses contain the form in which the sentence is executed, viz., that the man should wear a rent in his garment, which is to be the mark of his disgrace, that he should walk with his head bare, and with his mouth covered, (for this I take to be the meaning of the covering of his lip ;) and besides this, that he is to be the proclaimer of his own pollution ; finally, that he must dwell without the camp, as if banished from communication with men. Moses here1 refers to the existing state of the people, as long as they sojourned in the desert ; for after they began to inhabit the land, the lepers were driven out of the towns and villages to dwell by themselves. I know not whether the opinion of some is a sound one, that they were enjoined to cover the mouth or lip, lest by the infection of their breath they should injure others. My own view is rather, that because they were civilly dead, they also bore the symbol of death in hav ing the face covered — as their separation deprived them of the ordinary life of men. Where we translate " shall cry, Unclean, unclean/' some, taking the verb, N1\ yikra,2 in-
also, the former is distinguished as the « noble baldness,' because it gene rally proceeded from the wearing of a helmet ; whilst the latter was stig matized as 'servile baldness.' With this understanding, let us read the terms 'bald' (Hip, kareach) in verse 40, and « forehead- bald ' (H3J, gib- beach) in verse 41. (See Michaelis, iii. 285.)"— Illustrated Comment., in loco.
1 Add. Fr.t "en parlant de 1'oster du camp;" in speaking of puttino- him out of the camp.
2 *0|T He shall cry, or call out. Had it been passive it would have been »TJJ\ There is, therefore, no ambiguity as to the voice, except to such as deny the authority of the points, or read Hebrew without them.
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18 CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR LEv.xiv.58.
definitely, construe it passively, "shall be called;" and I admit that in many passages it has the same force as if it- were in the plural number. But, because the repetition of the word "unclean" is emphatic, it is probable that the word is not to be taken simply for " to call/' (vocare ;) and, there fore, I rather incline to the opinion that, by the command of the Law, they warned all with their own mouth not to approach them, lest any one should incautiously pollute him self by touching them ; although their unclcanness was perhaps proclaimed publicly, so that all might mutually exhort each other to beware. And Jeremiah seems to allude to this passage, where, speaking1 of the defilements of the city, he says that all men cried " Unclean ; fly yc, fly ye." (Lam. iv. 15.)
58. And the