Leviticus 15:1-18

Laws About Bodily Discharges

1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ¹When any man has a discharge from his body,^[a] his discharge is unclean.

3 And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

4 Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

5 And anyone who touches his bed ²shall wash his clothes and ³bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

6 And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

7 And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

8 And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

9 And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean.

10 And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

11 Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

12 And an ⁴earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 "And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then ⁵he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean.

14 And on the eighth day he shall take two ⁶turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the LORD to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest.

15 And the priest shall use them, ⁷one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD for his discharge.

16 ⁹"If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening.

17 And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening.

18 If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and ¹⁰be unclean until the evening.

Leviticus 15:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 15

This chapter treats of uncleanness by issues in men and women; in men, a running issue, Le 15:1-3, which defiles him, and everything he touches, or that touches him or them, Le 15:4-12; the cleansing from which is directed to, Le 15:13-15; and seed flowing from him, Le 15:16-18; in women, their ordinary courses, Le 15:19-24; or extraordinary ones, Le 15:25-27; and the law for the cleansing of them, Le 15:28-31; and a recapitulation of the whole, Le 15:32,33.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 22:4; Numbers 5:2; 2 Samuel 3:29
• 2. See Leviticus 11:25
• 3. Leviticus 16:26; Leviticus 17:15
• 4. Leviticus 6:28; Leviticus 11:32, 33
• 5. ver. 28; [Leviticus 14:8]
• 6. See Leviticus 12:8
• 7. Leviticus 14:30, 31
• 8. ver. 30; See Leviticus 4:26
• 9. Leviticus 22:4; Deuteronomy 23:10
• 10. [1 Samuel 21:4]

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew flesh; also verse 3