Leviticus 15:2

2 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Suppose liquid waste is flowing out of a man's body. That liquid is not "clean."

Leviticus 15:2 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 15:2

Speak unto the children of Israel
From whence we learn, says the above mentioned writer, that these uncleannesses were only usual among the children of Israel, not among the Gentiles; that is, the laws respecting them were only binding on the one, and not on the other F19:

and say unto them, when any man;
in the Hebrew text it is, "a man, a man", which the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases, a young man, and an old man:

hath a running issue out of his flesh;
what physicians call a "gonorrhoea", and we, as in the margin of our Bibles, "the running of the reins":

[because of] his issue, he [is] unclean;
in a ceremonial sense, though it arises from a natural cause; but if not from any criminal one, from a debauch, but from a strain, or some such like thing, the man was not defiled, otherwise he was; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``if he sees it three times he is unclean;''

so the Misnah F20.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 So Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Edaiot, c. 5. sect. 1.
F20 Zabim, c. 1. sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

Leviticus 15:2 In-Context

1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,
2 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Suppose liquid waste is flowing out of a man's body. That liquid is not "clean."
3 It does not matter whether it continues to flow out of his body or is blocked. It will make him "unclean." Here is how his liquid body waste will make him "unclean."
4 " 'Any bed the man who has the flow of liquid body waste lies on will not be "clean." Anything he sits on will not be "clean."
5 " 'If any of you touches the man's bed, you must wash your clothes. You must take a bath. You will be "unclean" until evening.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.