Leviticus 15:16

16 `And when a man's seed of copulation goeth out from him, then he hath bathed with water all his flesh, and been unclean till the evening.

Leviticus 15:16 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 15:16

And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him
Not in lawful cohabitation, nor voluntarily, but involuntarily, as Aben Ezra observes; not through any disorder, which came by an accident, or in any criminal way, but through a dream, or any lustful imagination; what is commonly called nocturnal pollution ^F3; then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the
even;
and so the Egyptian priests, when it happened that they were defiled by a dream, they immediately purified themselves in a laver ^F4 so the Jewish priests did when the like happened to them asleep in the temple ^F5; see ( Deuteronomy 23:10 Deuteronomy 23:11 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 "----& noctem flumine purgas." Pers. Satyr. 2.
F4 Chaeremon. apud Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. c. 7.
F5 Misn. Tamid. c. 1. sect. 1.

Leviticus 15:16 In-Context

14 `And on the eighth day he taketh to himself two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and hath come in before Jehovah unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and hath given them unto the priest;

15 and the priest hath made them, one a sin-offering, and the one a burnt-offering; and the priest hath made atonement for him before Jehovah, because of his issue.

16 `And when a man's seed of copulation goeth out from him, then he hath bathed with water all his flesh, and been unclean till the evening.

17 `And any garment, or any skin on which there is seed of copulation, hath also been washed with water, and been unclean till the evening.

18 `And a woman with whom a man lieth with seed of copulation, they also have bathed with water, and been unclean till the evening.