Leviticus 15:8

8 And if the person who discharges spits on [one who is] clean, then that one shall wash is garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.

Leviticus 15:8 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 15:8

And if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean
Not purposely, which is not usual for a man to do, and whenever it is done, nothing is more affronting; but accidentally, when, as Aben Ezra expresses it, he spreads his spittle, and it falls upon a clean person; and under this, as Gersom observes, is comprehended whatever is brought up by coughing, as phlegm, or flows from the nose, or is pressed out of it; and so Maimonides F26: and this may denote all corrupt communication which proceeds out of the mouth of evil men, whether immoral or heretical, which not only defiles the man himself, but those he converses with; for evil communication corrupts good manners:

then he shall wash his clothes
as in the foregoing instances. (See Gill on Leviticus 15:5).


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Hilchot Metame Mishcab, c. 1. sect. 16.

Leviticus 15:8 In-Context

6 And the person who sits on the object upon which the person who discharges has sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
7 And the person who touches the body of the person who discharges must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
8 And if the person who discharges spits on [one who is] clean, then that one shall wash is garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
9 And any saddle upon which the person who discharges rides becomes unclean.
10 And any person who touches anything that happened to be under him becomes unclean until the evening, and the person who carries them must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. The generic article designating a class of persons or things
  • [b]. Or "and"
  • [c]. Hebrew "he"
  • [d]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
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