Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 14:8

"And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days." — Leviticus 14:8 (ASV)

Shall wash his clothes. — This was done not to disinfect them, for leprosy, as we have seen, was not contagious, but as an act of purification, which was performed after every kind of defilement. (Leviticus 11:25, and other similar passages.)

And shave off all his hair. — The razor had to pass over his entire body, even his private parts. A similar process was undertaken at the consecration of the Levites. (Compare to Numbers 8:7.)

And shall stay outside his tent — Although permitted to return to the camp, he still had to live the first week outside his own house.

The authorities during the Second Temple period rightly regarded this as a euphemism for seclusion from connubial intercourse during the first seven days, so that he might not contract impurity and thus interrupt the period of holy preparation.

Consequently, the ancient Chaldee Version of the so-called Jonathan translates it: “He shall sit without the tent of the house of his habitation, and shall not come near to the side of his wife seven days.”

This concluded the first stage of purification, which restored the convalescent to his social or civil privileges, but not to the sanctuary.