Leviticus 15:1-18

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.

Leviticus 15:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Footnotes 32

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