Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 14:5
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
5. in an earthen vessel over running water ] The word ‘running’ is somewhat misleading. The Heb. expression is ‘living water,’ i.e. water from a spring. It was to be put into the vessel over which the bird was killed: the water served as a medium for conveying the blood of the slain bird ( Lev 14:6); so the ashes of the red heifer were mixed with water (Num 19:9; Num 19:17).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Running water – literally, living water, i. e. water fresh from the spring Gen 26:19; Num 19:17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Over running water.] Literally, living, that is, spring water. The meaning appears to be this: Some water (about a quarter of a log, an eggshell and a half full, according to the rabbins) was taken from a spring, and put into a clean earthen vessel, and they killed the bird over this water, that the blood might drop into it; and in this blood and water mixed, they dipped the instrument before described, and sprinkled it seven times upon the person who was to be cleansed. The living or spring water was chosen because it was purer than what was taken from pits or wells, the latter being often in a putrid or corrupt state; for in a ceremony of purifying or cleansing, every thing must be as pure and perfect as possible.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To wit, by some other man. The priest did not kill it himself, because it was not properly a sacrifice, as being killed without the camp, and not in that place to which all sacrifices were confined; and if it had been a sacrifice, that might be killed by another, so long as the sprinkling of the blood of it, which was the most proper and essential act in the sacrifice, was done by the priest.
Over running water; it seems to be a metathesis or transplacing of words, for over running water put
in an earthen vessel. Thus the blood of the bird and the water were mixed together, partly for the conveniency of sprinkling, and partly to signify Christ, who came by water and blood, 1Jo 5:6. The running water, i.e. spring or river water, by its liveliness and motion did fitly. signify the restoring of liveliness to the leper, who was in a manner dead with his leprosy, as was noted before.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-9. the priest shall command thatone of the birds be killed . . . over running waterAs theblood of a single bird would not have been sufficient to immerse thebody of another bird, it was mingled with spring water to increasethe quantity necessary for the appointed sprinklings, which were tobe repeated seven times, denoting a complete purification.(See 2Ki 5:10; Psa 51:2;Mat 8:4; Luk 5:14).The living bird being then set free, in token of the leper’s releasefrom quarantine, the priest pronounced him clean; and this officialdeclaration was made with all solemnity, in order that the mind ofthe leper might be duly impressed with a sense of the divinegoodness, and that others might be satisfied they might safely holdintercourse with him. Several other purifications had to be gonethrough during a series of seven days, and the whole process had tobe repeated on the seventh, ere he was allowed to re-enter the camp.The circumstance of a priest being employed seems to imply thatinstruction suitable to the newly recovered leper would be given, andthat the symbolical ceremonies used in the process of cleansingleprosy would be explained. How far they were then understood wecannot tell. But we can trace some instructive analogies between theleprosy and the disease of sin, and between the rites observed in theprocess of cleansing leprosy and the provisions of the Gospel. Thechief of these analogies is that as it was only when a leperexhibited a certain change of state that orders were given by thepriest for a sacrifice, so a sinner must be in the exercise of faithand penitence ere the benefits of the gospel remedy can be enjoyed byhim. The slain bird and the bird let loose are supposed to typify,the one the death, and the other the resurrection of Christ; whilethe sprinklings on him that had been leprous typified therequirements which led a believer to cleanse himself from allfilthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect his holiness inthe fear of the Lord.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed,…. That is, shall command another priest to kill one of them, or an Israelite, as Aben Ezra; and who also observes, that some say the leper, or the butcher, as the Targum of Jonathan; the killing of this bird, not being a sacrifice, might be done without the camp, as it was, and not at the altar, near to which sacrifices were slain, and where they were offered: and this was to be done
in an earthen vessel over running water: this vessel, according to the Jewish traditions a, was to be a new one, and a fourth part of a log of running water was to be put into it, and then the bird was to be killed over it, and its blood squeezed into it, and then a hole was dug, and it was buried before the leprous person; and so it should be rendered, “over an earthen vessel”, as it is in the Tigurine version, and by Noldius b; for how could it be killed in it, especially when water was in it? the killing of this bird may have respect to the sufferings, death, and bloodshed of Christ, which were necessary for the purging and cleansing of leprous sinners, and which were endured in his human nature, comparable to an earthen vessel, as an human body sometimes is; see 2Co 4:7; for he was crucified through weakness, and was put to death in the flesh, 2Co 13:4; and the running or living water mixed with blood may denote both the sanctification and justification of Christ’s people by the water and blood which sprung from his pierced side, and the continual virtue thereof to take away sin, and free from it; or the active and passive obedience of Christ, which both together are the matter of a sinner’s justification before God.
a Negaim, c. 14. sect. 1. b Ebr. Concord. part. p. 64. No. 318.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed.Rather, And the priest shall command, and he shall kill the one bird, that is, upon the priest ordering it, the cured leper is to kill the one which is the fairer and better bird of the two, as was the rule during the second Temple. Not being a sacrifice, the victim was killed outside the camp.
In an earthen vessel over running water.Better, over an earthen vessel upon (or into) living water, that is, the bird was killed over the dish, so as to let the blood flow into the water. The vessel had to be a new one; into it was poured a fourth part of a log, or as much as an egg and a-half of living water: that is, water taken from a running stream or a perennial spring, where its continual motion resembles life, in contradistinction to stale or stagnant water. Water which had already been used for other purposes, salt water, rain water, or water which had been melted or warmed, was illegal. When the blood had thus been wrung into it, a hole was dug, and the bird was buried in the presence of the priest and the patient.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The priest shall command The person commanded is the leper. The offerer killed his own sacrifice, (Lev 1:5, note,) for it is a true sacrifice though the altar is absent and the burning does not take place, for the priest, the sprinkling, and the atonement (Lev 14:53) are the essential elements.
An earthen vessel This takes the place of the altar. It symbolizes the human body, weak, frail, and decaying. 2Co 4:7.
Over running water The English translators have made a needless difficulty here, making a running brook necessary to the rite of cleansing. The Hebrew reads living water, in the vessel with which the blood of the bird is to mingle. Blood and water, the emblems of expiation and sanctification, are here blended together as they flowed from the pierced side of Jesus, and as they influence the experience of the believer. Joh 19:34; 1Jn 5:6; Heb 10:22, and Lev 8:30, note.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 14:5. In an earthen vessel, over running water Living water, in the original, i.e. fountain or river water, which was esteemed most pure; and it would be better so to translate it, because the bird was not to be killed over running water, properly speaking, but over the bason filled with this fountain or river water. This done, the ceremonies mentioned in the next verses were to be performed, and the living bird let loose; to shew, say some, that the leper was restored to a free conversation with his neighbours, as the bird was with the rest of its kind. The solemn rite or ceremony here prescribed, according to Spencer, was ordained to signify, that the leprous person owned the God of Israel to be the Lord both of heaven and earth, and that his help came from Jehovah who made both, Psa 121:2 and this, as he apprehends, in opposition to the Gentile polytheism, particularly to their distinction of gods of the superior, and gods of the infernal regions, both of whom were worshipped by oblation of birds; the former by letting them fly up into the air, the latter by killing them. Parker, however, from the Fathers, remarks, that the interpretation, which refers all this to the Christian system, is not to be forgotten; as the bird killed very fitly typified the death of Christ, so did the living one, dismissed into the open air, his resurrection and ascension. Bochart, observing an analogy between this living bird and the scape-goat, makes both of them types of our Saviour’s resurrection; and the bird slain, and the goat sacrificed, types of his death. See the last note on this chapter, and the reflections following.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Was not this bird slain, a type of the LORD JESUS slain for our sins? 1Co 15:3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 14:5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
Ver. 5. Over running water. ] Heb., Living water. Life consists in motion, in action: hence waters that spring and run, are, for their continual motion, called living waters. O Lord, saith Hezekiah, “By these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit.” Isa 38:16
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
running. Hebrew living, i.e. not stagnant.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
vessel
The earthen vessel typifies the humanity of Christ, as the running water typifies the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of life” Rom 8:2 “put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” 1Pe 3:18
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
earthen vessel: Lev 14:50, Num 5:17, 2Co 4:7, 2Co 5:1, 2Co 13:4, Heb 2:14
Reciprocal: Eze 36:25 – will I
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 14:5. That one of the birds be killed By some other man. The priest did not kill it himself, because it was not properly a sacrifice, as being killed without the camp, and not in that place to which all sacrifices were confined. In an earthen vessel That is, over running water put in an earthen vessel. Thus the blood of the bird and the water were mixed together, partly for the convenience of sprinkling, and partly to signify Christ, who came by water and blood, 1Jn 5:6. The running water, (that is, spring or river water,) by its liveliness and motion, did fitly signify the restoring of liveliness to the leper, who was in a manner dead before.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
14:5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over {c} running water:
(c) Running water, or of the fountains.