Leviticus15
New Living Translation
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “Any man who has a bodily discharge is ceremonially unclean.
3This defilement is caused by his discharge, whether the discharge continues or stops. In either case the man is unclean.
4Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies and anything on which he sits will be ceremonially unclean.
5So if you touch the man’s bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
6If you sit where the man with the discharge has sat, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
7If you touch the man with the discharge, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
8If the man spits on you, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
9Any saddle blanket on which the man rides will be ceremonially unclean.
10If you touch anything that was under the man, you will be unclean until evening. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
11If the man touches you without first rinsing his hands, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
12Any clay pot the man touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil he touches must be rinsed with water.
13“When the man with the discharge is healed, he must count off seven days for the period of purification. Then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in fresh water, and he will be ceremonially clean.
14On the eighth day he must get two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle and give his offerings to the priest.
15The priest will offer one bird for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the man before the Lord for his discharge.
16“Whenever a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until the next evening.
17Any clothing or leather with semen on it must be washed in water, and it will remain unclean until evening.
18After a man and a woman have sexual intercourse, they must each bathe in water, and they will remain unclean until the next evening.
19“Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her during that time will be unclean until evening.
20Anything on which the woman lies or sits during the time of her period will be unclean.
21If any of you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
22If you touch any object she has sat on, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
23This includes her bed or any other object she has sat on; you will be unclean until evening if you touch it.
24If a man has sexual intercourse with her and her blood touches him, her menstrual impurity will be transmitted to him. He will remain unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will be unclean.
25“If a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual period, or if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she is ceremonially unclean. As during her menstrual period, the woman will be unclean as long as the discharge continues.
26Any bed she lies on and any object she sits on during that time will be unclean, just as during her normal menstrual period.
27If any of you touch these things, you will be ceremonially unclean. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
28“When the woman’s bleeding stops, she must count off seven days. Then she will be ceremonially clean.
29On the eighth day she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons and present them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
30The priest will offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify her before the Lord for the ceremonial impurity caused by her bleeding.
31“This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them.
32These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen
33or a woman during her menstrual period. It applies to any man or woman who has a bodily discharge, and to a man who has sexual intercourse 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