Leviticus 15:18

18 If [there is] a woman with whom a man lies down [and there is] an emission of semen, then they shall wash [themselves] with water, and they shall be unclean until the evening.

Leviticus 15:18 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 15:18

The woman also with whom man shall lie [with] seed of
copulation
It seems to respect any congress of a man and woman, whether in fornication or adultery, or lawful marriage, and particularly the latter; for though marriage is honourable and holy, and carnal copulation in itself lawful, yet such is the sinfulness of nature, that as no act is performed without pollution, so neither that of generation, and by which the corruption of nature is propagated, and therefore required a ceremonial cleansing: they shall [both] bathe [themselves] in water, and be unclean until
the even;
so Herodotus F6 reports, that as often as a Babylonian man lay with his wife, he had used to sit by consecrated incense, and the woman did the same: and in the morning they were both washed, and did not touch any vessel before they had washed themselves; and he says the Arabians did the like: and the same historian relates F7 of the Egyptians, that they never go into their temples from their wives unwashed; see ( Exodus 19:15 ) ( 1 Samuel 21:4 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 198.
F7 Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 64.

Leviticus 15:18 In-Context

16 " 'And if an emission of semen goes out from anyone, then he shall wash all of his body with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
17 And any garment and anything leather on which is an emission of semen shall be washed with water, and it shall be unclean until the evening.
18 If [there is] a woman with whom a man lies down [and there is] an emission of semen, then they shall wash [themselves] with water, and they shall be unclean until the evening.
19 " 'And when a woman {is menstruating}, her body fluid discharge occurs in her body; for seven days she shall be in her menstruation, and any person who touches her shall become unclean until the evening.
20 And anything upon which she lies down during her menstruation shall become unclean, and anything upon which she sits shall become unclean.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or "And"
  • [b]. Or "and"
  • [c]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
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