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Texts -- Leviticus 15:2-33 (NET)

Context
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 , 15:24 and if a man actually has sexual intercourse with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him, then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean . 15:25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows many days not at the time of her menstruation , or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation , all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation – she is unclean . 15:26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation , any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation , 15:27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean , and he must wash his clothes , bathe in water , and be unclean until evening .
Purity Regulations from Female Bodily Discharges
15:28 “‘If she becomes clean from her discharge , then she is to count off for herself seven days , and afterward she will be clean . 15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent , 15:30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering . So the priest is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity .
Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges
15:31 “‘Thus you are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst . 15:32 This is the law of the one with a discharge : the one who has a seminal emission and becomes unclean by it, 15:33 the one who is sick in her menstruation , the one with a discharge , whether male or female , and a man who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.’”

Pericope

NET
  • Lev 15:13-18 -- Purity Regulations for Male Bodily Discharges
  • Lev 15:19-27 -- Female Bodily Discharges
  • Lev 15:28-30 -- Purity Regulations from Female Bodily Discharges
  • Lev 15:31-33 -- Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges

Bible Dictionary

  • 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.), ...

  • 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 ...

  • Turtle, Turtle-dove

    [ebd] Its peculiar peaceful and gentle habit its often referred to in Scripture. A pair was offered in sacrifice by Mary at her purification (Luke 2:24). The pigeon and the turtle-dove were the only birds permitted to be offered i...

  • 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...

  • Sin-offering

    [ebd] (Heb. hattath), the law of, is given in detail in Lev. 4-6:13; 9:7-11, 22-24; 12:6-8; 15:2, 14, 25-30; 14:19, 31; Num. 6:10-14. On the day of Atonement it was made with special solemnity (Lev. 16:5, 11, 15). The blood was th...

  • SACRIFICE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 2

    [isbe] SACRIFICE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 2 - V. The Mosaic Sacrificial System. 1. The Covenant Sacrifice: The fundamental function of Moses' work was to establish the covenant between Israel and God. This important transaction took ...

  • 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...

  • KIDNEYS

    [isbe] KIDNEYS - kid'-niz (always in the plural: kelayoth; nephroi; Latin renes, whence the English "reins"): "Reins" and "kidneys" are synonyms, but the King James Version undertook a distinction by using the former word in the fi...

  • ISSUE (OF BLOOD)

    [isbe] ISSUE (OF BLOOD) - (zobh, zubh; rhusis, haimorrhoos): When used as a description of a bodily affection the word signifies: (1) A discharge, the consequence of uncleanness and sin (Lev 15:2 ff; Nu 5:2). As such it was one of ...

  • FLESH

    [isbe] FLESH - @basar, she'er): 1. Etymology: Used in all senses of the word, the latter, however, most frequently in the sense of kin, family, relationship (compare sha'arah, "kins-woman," Lev 18:17): Lev 18:6; 25:49; Prov 11:17; ...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • DOVE

    [isbe] DOVE - duv (tor, yonah; peristera; Latin Zenaedura carolinensis): A bird of the family Columbidae. Doves and pigeons are so closely related as to be spoken and written of as synonymous, yet there is a distinction recognized ...

  • 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,...

  • 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...

  • BEYOND

    [isbe] BEYOND - be-yond': Found in the Hebrew only in its application to space and time, and for these ideas three words are employed: hale'ah (Gen 35:21) = "to the distance"; `abhar = "to go beyond" "to cross" derivative `ebher (C...

  • BAPTISM (THE BAPTIST INTERPRETATION)

    [isbe] BAPTISM (THE BAPTIST INTERPRETATION) - bap'-tiz-m: I. MEANING OF BAPTISM 1. Terminology 2. Proselyte Baptism 3. Greek Usage 4. New Testament Usage 5. The Didache 6. Baptismal Regeneration II. THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM III. THE...

  • ATONEMENT

    [isbe] ATONEMENT - a-ton'-ment: Translates kaphar; chaTa'; ratsah, the last employed only of human relations (1 Sam 29:4); translates the following Greek stems hilas-, simple and compounded with various prepositions; allag- in comp...

  • APART

    [isbe] APART - a-part' (badh, "separation," i.e. alone, by oneself; niddah, "uncleanness" i.e. something put away: "an abomination"): In Zec 12:12-14 the former word is used eleven times with powerful effect to indicate the separat...

  • 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...

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...
  • This section closes with a summary. This is a common feature of Leviticus (cf. 11:46-47; 13:59; 14:54-57; 15:32-33)."The sacrificial law, therefore, with the five species of sacrifices which it enjoins, embraces every aspect ...
  • 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...
  • Three cases illustrate this principle: a father doing right (vv. 5-9), his son doing evil (vv. 10-13), and his grandson doing right (vv. 14-18). In each case Ezekiel described the individual's actions and the Lord's responses...
  • 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...
  • This is one of the sections of Mark's Gospel that has a chiastic structure (cf. 3:22-30; 6:14-29; 11:15-19).A The appeal of Jairus for his daughter 5:21-24B The healing of the woman with the hemorrhage 5:25-34A' The raising o...
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