Leviticus15
New International Version
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean.
3Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:
4“‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.
5Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
6Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
7“‘Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
8“‘If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
9“‘Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean,
10and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
11“‘Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
12“‘A clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water.
13“‘When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean.
14On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the tent of meeting and give them to the priest.
15The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.
16“‘When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
17Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening.
18When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both of them must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
19“‘When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
20“‘Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.
21Anyone who touches her bed will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
22Anyone who touches anything she sits on will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
23Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, they will be unclean till evening.
24“‘If a man has sexual relations with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.
25“‘When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.
26Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period.
27Anyone who touches them will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
28“‘When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.
29On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
30The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.
31“‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’”
32These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen,
33for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who has sexual relations with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.
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