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Texts -- Leviticus 15:1-23 (NET)

Context
Male Bodily Discharges
15:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron : 15:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body , his discharge is unclean . 15:3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge – whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, he is unclean. All the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge , this is his uncleanness . 15:4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean , and any furniture he sits on will be unclean . 15:5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:6 The one who sits on the furniture the man with a discharge sits on must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:7 The one who touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean , that person must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:9 Any means of riding the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean . 15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening , and the one who carries those items must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:12 A clay vessel which the man with the discharge touches must be broken , and any wooden utensil must be rinsed in water .
Purity Regulations for Male Bodily Discharges
15:13 “‘When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification , and he must wash his clothes , bathe in fresh water , and be clean . 15:14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons , and he is to present himself before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest , 15:15 and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering and the other a burnt offering . So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge . 15:16 “‘When a man has a seminal emission , he must bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until evening , 15:17 and he must wash in water any clothing or leather that has semen on it , and it will be unclean until evening . 15:18 When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and there is a seminal emission , they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening .
Female Bodily Discharges
15:19 “‘When a woman has a discharge and her discharge is blood from her body , she is to be in her menstruation seven days , and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening . 15:20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean , and anything she sits on will be unclean . 15:21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening . 15:23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on , when he touches it he will be unclean until evening ,

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • EVEN; EVENING; EVENTIDE

    [isbe] EVEN; EVENING; EVENTIDE - e'-v'-n, ev'-ning, ev-'-n-tid' ("even," "evening," 'erebh; opsia, opse; see Thayer under the word): The words are used in slightly different meanings: (1) The time of sunset, the beginning of the He...

  • Gonorrhea

    [nave] GONORRHEA, Lev. 15. See: Diseases.

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • TALMUD

    [isbe] TALMUD - tal'-mud (talmudh): I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND VERBAL EXPLANATIONS II. IMPORTANCE OF THE TALMUD III. THE TRADITIONAL LAW UNTIL THE COMPOSITION OF THE MISHNA IV. DIVISION AND CONTENTS OF THE MISHNA (AND THE TALMUD) 1...

  • UNCLEANNESS

    [isbe] UNCLEANNESS - un-klen'-nes: I. TERMS 1. In the Old Testament (Hebrew) 2. In the New Testament 3. In the Septuagint II. POSSIBLE RELATION OF ISRAEL'S LAWS ON UNCLEANNESS WITH THE LAWS OF TABOO AMONG THE NATIONS III. TEACHING ...

  • Disease

    [nave] DISEASE Sent from God, Lev. 14:34. As judgments, Psa. 107:17; Isa. 3:17. Instances of Upon the Egyptians, See: Plagues; upon Nabal, 1 Sam. 25:38; David's child, 2 Sam. 12:15; Gehazi, 2 Kin. 5:27; Jeroboam, 2 Chr. 13:20; J...

  • Defilement

    [nave] DEFILEMENT Laws relating to, Lev. 7:18-21; 11:43; 22:2-7. Caused by leprosy, Lev. 13:3, 44-46; 14; 22:4-7; gonorrhea, Lev. 15:1-15; 22:4; copulation, Lev. 15:17; emission of semen, Lev. 15:16, 17; childbirth, Lev. 12:2-8; L...

  • Purification

    [smith] in its legal and technical sense, is applied to the ritual observances whereby an Israelite was formally absolved from the taint of uncleanness. The essence of purification, in all eases, consisted in the use of water, whethe...
    [nave] PURIFICATION, sanitary and symbolical. For women before marriage, Esth. 2:12; after childbirth, Lev. 12:6-8; Luke 2:22; after menstruation, Lev. 15:19-33; 2 Sam. 11:4. Of the Jews before the passover, John 11:55. For those ...

  • Sanitation

    [nave] SANITATION. Carcasses Lev. 5:2; Lev. 10:4, 5; Lev. 11:24-28, 31-40; Lev. 22:4, 6; Num. 9:6, 10; Num. 19:11-16; Num. 31:19; Deut. 21:22, 23 Childbirth Lev. 12:3; Ezek. 16:4 Circumcision See: Circumcision. Contagion Le...

  • ABLUTION

    [ebd] or washing, was practised, (1.) When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest's office, they were washed with water previous to their investiture with the priestl...
    [isbe] ABLUTION - ab-lu'-shun: The rite of ablution for religious purification seems to have been practiced in some form in all lands and at all times. The priests of Egypt punctiliously practiced it (Herodotus ii.37). The Greeks w...

  • LEVITICUS, 1

    [isbe] LEVITICUS, 1 - le-vit'-i-kus: I. GENERAL DATA 1. Name 2. Character of Book 3. Unity of Book: Law of Holiness Examination of Critical Theory II. STRUCTURE 1. Modern Analyses (1) Theories of Disintegration (2) Reasons for Dism...

  • CLEANSE

    [isbe] CLEANSE - klenz: "Make clean," "purify" being a frequent rendering of the original. It is found often (American Revised Version) instead of "purge," "purify" (the King James Version), renders nearly the same roots, and has t...

  • Washing

    [nave] WASHING, Ex. 19:10, 14; Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:2-5, 8, 9; Luke 11:38; Heb. 9:10. Of priests, Ex. 29:4; 30:18-21; 40:12, 31, 32; Lev. 8:6; 16:4, 24, 26, 28; Num. 19:7-10, 19; 2 Chr. 4:6. Of burnt offerings, Lev. 1:9, 13; 9:14;...

  • Menstruation

    [nave] MENSTRUATION Law relating to, Lev. 15:19-30; 20:18; Ezek. 18:6. Cessation of, in old age, Gen. 18:11. Immunities of women during, Gen. 31:35. Of animals, Jer. 2:24. Uncleaess of, Isa. 30:22. Figurative Isa. 30:22; Lam....

  • Women

    [nave] WOMEN Creation of, Gen. 1:27; 2:21, 22. Named, Gen. 2:23. Fall of, and curse upon, Gen. 3:1-16; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14. Promise to, Gen. 3:15. Had separate apartments in dwellings, Gen. 24:67; 31:33; Esth. 2:9, 11. Ve...

  • DEFILE; DEFILEMENT

    [isbe] DEFILE; DEFILEMENT - de-fil', de-fil'-ment (Anglo-Saxon, afylau, etc.; Middle English, defoulen, "make foul," "pollute," render (the King James Version) 9 Hebrew roots (the Revised Version (British and American) six): ga`al,...

  • ESSENES

    [isbe] ESSENES - es-senz', (Essenoi, Essaioi): I. THE NAME Forms It Assumes--Etymology, Origin II. AUTHORITIES FOR THE TENETS OF THE ESSENES 1. Philo (1) Description from Quod Omnis Probus Liber (2) Description from Quotation in Eu...

  • Semen

    [nave] SEMEN Lev. 15:16, 17, 18, 32; 22:4

  • WASH; WASHING

    [isbe] WASH; WASHING - wosh, wosh'-ing: The two usual Hebrew words for "wash" are rachats, and kabhac, the former being normally used of persons or of sacrificial animals (Gen 18:4, etc., often translated "bathe"; Lev 15:5, etc.), ...

  • ISSUE, RUNNING

    [smith] (Leviticus 15:2,3; 22:4; Numbers 5:2; 2 Samuel 3:29) In (Leviticus 15:3) a distinction is introduced, which merely means that the cessation of the actual flux does not constitute ceremonial cleanness, but that the patient ...
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Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • God had promised to be with Jacob and to return him to Canaan (28:15). We see God doing this, in spite of Laban's opposition, in this section."It was only by divine prospering and protection (24) that Jacob brought anything, ...
  • "At first sight the book of Leviticus might appear to be a haphazard, even repetitious arrangement of enactments involving the future life in Canaan of the Israelite people. Closer examination will reveal, however, that quite...
  • Leviticus continues revelation concerning the second of three elements necessary for any nation to exist, namely, a people (Gen. 12:10--Exod. 19), their law (Exod. 20--Num. 10:10), and their land (Num. 10:11--Josh. 24).Leviti...
  • A change of subject matter indicates another major division in Leviticus. We move now from narrative to more legislation. These five chapters pick up the idea introduced in 10:10: ". . . make a distinction between the holy an...
  • We have here the same threefold division of animals that inhabit the land, sea, and air as the one that appears in the story of creation (Gen. 1:20-23)."It has long been recognized . . . that the order of the purity laws in L...
  • The laws of purification begun in this chapter connect in principle with the preceding ones that deal with unclean food and animals. The defilement dealt with in this group (chs. 12-15) proceeded from the human body. Pollutio...
  • This chapter concludes the regulations on uncleanness (chs. 11-15)."The uncleanness laws start with uncleanness that is permanent: that associated with various animals and food (ch. 11). Then they deal with the uncleanness of...
  • The sacrifices and offerings that Moses described thus far in the law were not sufficient to cleanse all the defilement that the sins of the people created. Much sinfulness still needed covering. Therefore God appointed a yea...
  • We learn from verse 1 that Moses received instructions regarding the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, immediately after the judgment of Nadab and Abihu (ch. 10). Consequently he must have inserted chapters 11-15 in the chronolog...
  • The preceding two chapters specify correct behavior. This one sets forth the punishments for disobedience. Chapters 18-19 already discussed most of the subjects dealt with in this chapter."The difference between the laws in t...
  • Genesis reveals how people can have a relationship with God. This comes through trust in God and obedience to Him. Faith is the key word in Genesis. God proves Himself faithful in this book.Exodus reveals that God is also sov...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell, The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. H...
  • Saul concluded at first that David had not come to the new moon sacrificial meal because he was unclean (cf. Lev. 7:20-21; 15:16). His continued absence required an explanation, which Saul looked to David's friend to provide....
  • Nob stood one and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem and two and one-half miles southeast of Gibeah. There Ahimelech served as high priest. Priestly activity and evidently the tabernacle were now there (cf. 17:54). It is s...
  • While Joab was continuing to subdue the Ammonites the following spring by besieging Rabbah (modern Amman, the capital of Jordan; cf. 10:7), David was residing in Jerusalem (11:1). By mentioning the fact that normally kings le...
  • 36:16-17 The Lord told Ezekiel that when the Israelites had lived in the Promised Land they had defiled it by the way they lived. They resembled a woman during her menstrual period who defiled everything she touched (cf. Lev....
  • It was common when Jesus lived for forerunners to precede important individuals to prepare the way for their arrival. For example, when a king would visit a town in his realm his emissaries would go before him to announce his...
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