Leviticus 15:16

16 "'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the 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 "'On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before Yahweh to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest:

15 and the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge.

16 "'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.

17 Every garment, and every skin, whereon the semen is, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.

18 If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.