Matthew Henry Commentary Leviticus 13:45-46

"And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be." — Leviticus 13:45-46 (ASV)

When the priest had pronounced the leper unclean, it halted his activities in the world, cut him off from his friends and relatives, and ruined all the comfort he could have in the world. He was required to humble himself under the mighty hand of God, not insisting on his cleanness when the priest had pronounced him unclean, but accepting the punishment.

Thus, we must take to ourselves the shame that belongs to us and, with broken hearts, call ourselves, “Unclean, unclean!”: heart unclean, life unclean; unclean by original corruption, unclean by actual transgression; unclean, therefore deserving to be forever shut out from communion with God and all hope of happiness in Him; unclean, therefore undone, if infinite mercy does not interpose. The leper also had to warn others to be careful about coming near him.

He then had to be shut out of the camp and, afterward, when they came to Canaan, be shut out of the city, town, or village where he lived, and live with no one but those who were lepers like himself. This typified the purity that should be in the gospel church.