Leviticus15
New American Standard
1The Lord also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2“Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
3This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge.
4Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean.
5Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening;
6and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
7Also whoever touches the man with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
8Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
9Every saddle on which the man with the discharge rides becomes unclean.
10Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and the one who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
11Likewise, whomever the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
12However, an earthenware vessel which the man with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.
13‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean.
14Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves, and come before the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest;
15and the priest shall offer them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord because of his discharge.
16‘Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening.
17As for any garment or any leather on which there is a seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening.
18If a man sleeps with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
19‘When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
20Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean.
21Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
22Whoever touches any object on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
23Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
24If a man actually sleeps with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25‘Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, for all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean.
26Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and every object on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness at that time.
27Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
28When she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean.
29Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young doves, and bring them to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting.
30And the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord because of her impure discharge.’
31“And so you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”
32This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it,
33and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for the one who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who sleeps with an unclean woman.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 15.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Laws concerning ceremonial uncleanness. (1-23).
vv1-23
We need not be curious in explaining these laws; but have reason to be thankful that we need fear no defilement, except that of sin, nor need ceremonial and burdensome purifications. These laws remind us that God sees all things, even those which escape the notice of men. The great gospel duties of faith and repentance are here signified, and the great gospel privileges of the application of Christ's blood to our souls for our justification, and his grace for our sanctification.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אַהֲרוֹן: Aharon, the brother of Moses
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
זוּב: to flow freely (as water), i.e. (specifically) to have a (sexual) flux; figuratively, to waste away; also to overflow
בָּשָׂר: flesh (from its freshness); by extension, body, person; also (by euphemistically) the pudenda of aman
זוֹב: a seminal or menstrual flux
Cross References
Leviticus 15The woman with the twelve-year issue of blood, whose touch healed her defilement under this law.
Supported by JFB
Direct historical fulfillment of the suffering and isolation caused by the chronic issue described in v25.
Supported by JFB
A woman with a twelve-year issue of blood, mirroring the exact condition defined in v25.
Supported by JFB
Rachel hides the images in the camel's saddle, exploiting the uncleanness associated with her impurity.
Supported by JFB
Deuteronomy law requiring a man with a nightly emission to go outside the camp and wash.
Supported by Matthew Poole
New Testament instance of a woman with the long-term issue of blood described here.
Supported by JFB
Command to put out of the camp everyone who has a running issue.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Uses 'flesh' as a euphemism in a spiritual adultery context, illuminating the terminology here.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Another prophetic use of 'flesh' referencing reproductive organs to denote corrupt carnal desire.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Earthen vessels must be broken, and wooden/brazen vessels rinsed when contacting holy or unclean things.
Supported by John Calvin
Contrasts ceremonial defilement with the New Testament declaration that the marriage bed is undefiled.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels the purification laws and separation periods for childbirth and menstrual uncleanness.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prescribes the judicial penalty for the act of lying with a woman during her uncleanness.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The moral prohibition against lying with a woman during her menstrual impurity.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeats the severe warning against defiling the Tabernacle of the Lord under penalty of death.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Commandment to put unclean persons out of the camp so they do not defile God's dwelling.
Supported by JFB
David's curse on Joab includes the presence of someone with a running issue.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Specifies the seven-day period required for standard ceremonial cleansing and purification.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Abstinence from the marriage bed commanded before the holy encounter at Mount Sinai.
Supported by Matthew Poole
David's young men kept from women as a condition for receiving holy showbread.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Extends the menstrual separation laws to non-menstrual, chronic issues of blood.
Supported by JFB
The same sacrificial provision of two turtledoves or young pigeons for female purification.
Supported by John Calvin
The same sacrifice of two turtledoves or pigeons offered for the poor.
Supported by John Calvin
Contrasts ceremonial bed defilement with the New Testament declaration that the marriage bed is undefiled.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Ezekiel defines abstaining from a woman in her separation as a mark of a righteous man.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The preceding section of the chapter laying down the parallel laws for male discharges.
Supported by Matthew Poole