Leviticus 15:16

16 And the man whose seed of copulation shall happen to go forth from him, shall then wash his whole body, and shall be unclean until 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 shall take to himself two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, and he shall bring them before the Lord to the doors of the tabernacle of witness, and shall give them to the priest.

15 And the priest shall offer them one for a sin-offering, and the other for a whole-burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his issue.

16 And the man whose seed of copulation shall happen to go forth from him, shall then wash his whole body, and shall be unclean until evening.

17 And every garment, and every skin on which there shall be the seed of copulation shall both be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.

18 And a woman, if a man shall lie with her with seed of copulation—they shall both bathe themselves in water and shall be unclean until evening.