Leviticus 15

Instructions About Bodily Discharges

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2 "Speak to the {Israelites}, and you shall say to them, '{Any man} when a fluid discharge occurs from his body, his fluid discharge [is] unclean.
3 And this becomes his uncleanness in his fluid discharge: [whether] his body secretes his fluid discharge or his body blocks his fluid discharge, it [is] his uncleanness.
4 Any bed upon which the person who discharges lies down becomes unclean, and any object upon which he sits becomes unclean.
5 And anyone who touches his bed must wash his garments and shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until evening.
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.
11 And anyone whom the person who discharges might touch {without} rinsing off his hands with water shall wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
12 But a clay vessel that the person who discharges touches must be broken, and any {wood object} must be rinsed with water.
13 " 'And when the person who discharges becomes clean from his body fluid discharge, he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing; then he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with {fresh} water, and he shall be clean.
14 Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two {young doves}, and he shall come {before} Yahweh at [the] tent of assembly's entrance, and he shall give them to the priest.
15 And the priest shall {sacrifice} one [as] a sin offering and {the other} [as] a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for him {before} Yahweh from his body fluid discharge.
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.
21 And any person who touches her bed must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
22 And any person who touches any object on which she sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
23 And if it [is] on the bed or on the object on which she sits, at his touching it he becomes unclean until the evening.
24 And if a man indeed lies with her and her menstruation occurs on him, then he shall be unclean [for] seven days, and any bed on which he lies down becomes unclean.
25 " 'And when a woman discharges a body fluid [consisting] of her blood [for] many days, [but] not [at] the time of her menstruation, or when she discharges in addition to her menstruation, all the days of her unclean body fluid discharge she shall become unclean as [in] the days of her menstruation.
26 Any bed on which she lies [during] all the days of her body fluid discharge shall become for her as her bed of menstruation, and any object on which she sits becomes unclean as her menstruation's uncleanness.
27 And any person who touches them becomes unclean, and he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
28 " 'And if she is clean from her body fluid discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and afterward she becomes clean.
29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two {young doves}, and she shall bring them to the priest at [the] tent of assembly's entrance.
30 And the priest shall {sacrifice} the one [as] a sin offering and the {other} [as] a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for her {before} Yahweh from her unclean body fluid discharge.'
31 "And you shall keep the {Israelites} separate from their uncleanness so that they might not die because of their uncleanness by their making my tabernacle, which [is] in their midst, unclean.
32 "This [is] the regulation of [the one with] the body fluid discharge and [the one] from whom an emission of semen goes out so that he becomes unclean by it
33 and {concerning} the menstruating [woman] in her bleeding and the person who discharges his body fluid, for the male and for the female and for a man who lies with an unclean woman."

Leviticus 15 Commentary

Chapter 15

Laws concerning ceremonial uncleanness.

- 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.

Footnotes 48

  • [a]. Or "And"
  • [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [c]. Literally "a man a man"
  • [d]. Or "becomes" or "shall be"
  • [e]. Or "bathe"
  • [f]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [g]. Or "bathe"
  • [h]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [i]. Or "bathe"
  • [j]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [k]. The generic article designating a class of persons or things
  • [l]. Or "and"
  • [m]. Hebrew "he"
  • [n]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [o]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [p]. Literally "and not"
  • [q]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [r]. Or "And"
  • [s]. Literally "object of wood"
  • [t]. Literally "and he shall count"
  • [u]. Or "and"
  • [v]. Or "running"; literally "living"
  • [w]. Or "And"
  • [x]. Literally "sons of dove"
  • [y]. Literally "to the faces of"
  • [z]. Literally "do" or "make"
  • [aa]. Literally "the one"
  • [ab]. Literally "to the faces of"
  • [ac]. Or "and"
  • [ad]. Or "And"
  • [ae]. Or "and"
  • [af]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [ag]. Literally "is discharging blood"
  • [ah]. Or "from"
  • [ai]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [aj]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [ak]. Or "and"
  • [al]. Or "beyond"
  • [am]. The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [an]. Or "and"
  • [ao]. Literally "sons of dove"
  • [ap]. Literally "do" or "make"
  • [aq]. Literally "one"
  • [ar]. Literally "the the faces of"
  • [as]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [at]. Or "by" or "in"
  • [au]. Literally "of"
  • [av]. See similar idiom at 12:2

Chapter Summary

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.

Leviticus 15 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.