Leviticus15
New King James Version
1And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
3And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
4Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.
5And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
6He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
7And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
8If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
9Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean.
10Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
11And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
12The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
13‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean.
14On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest.
15Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.
16‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
17And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.
18Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
19‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
20Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean.
21Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
22And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
23If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
24And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.
26Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity.
27Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
28‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
29And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
30Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.
31‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.
32This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby,
33and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is 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