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Leviticus 15
New English Translation

Male Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man[a] has a discharge[b] from his body,[c] his discharge is unclean. 3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge[d]—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,[e] this is his uncleanness.[f]

4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean,[g] and any furniture he sits on will be unclean.[h] 5 Anyone who touches his bed[i] must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.[j] 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. 7 The one who touches the body[k] of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean,[l] that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 Any means of riding[m] that the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him[n] will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items[o] must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water[p] must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 A clay vessel[q] 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

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,[r] and be clean. 14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons,[s] and he is to present himself[t] before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest, 15 and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering[u] and the other a burnt offering.[v] So the priest[w] is to make atonement for him before the Lord for[x] his discharge.

16 “‘When a man has a seminal emission,[y] he must bathe his whole body in water[z] and be unclean until evening, 17 and he must wash in water any clothing or leather that has semen on it, and it will be unclean until evening. 18 As for a woman whom a man goes to bed with, then has a seminal emission,[aa] they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

Female Bodily Discharges

19 “‘When a woman has a discharge[ab] and her discharge is blood from her body,[ac] she is to be in her menstruation[ad] seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on,[ae] when he touches it[af] he will be unclean until evening, 24 and if a man actually goes to bed[ag] with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him,[ah] then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows[ai] many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation,[aj] all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation—she is unclean. 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, 27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.[ak]

Purity Regulations for Female Bodily Discharges

28 “‘If[al] she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons[am] and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.[an] So the priest[ao] is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.

Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges

31 “‘Thus you[ap] are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they[aq] do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst. 32 This is the law for the one with a discharge: for the one who has a seminal emission[ar] and becomes unclean by it,[as] 33 for the one who is sick in her menstruation, for the one with a discharge, whether male or female,[at] and for a man who goes to bed[au] with an unclean woman.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:2 tn Heb “Man man.” The duplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 17:3; 22:18, etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in GKC 395-96 §123.c).
  2. Leviticus 15:2 tn The term “discharge” actually means “to flow,” whether referring to a full flow as at a spring of water (Ps 78:20 and parallels) or in reference to the promised land as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:8 and parallels).
  3. Leviticus 15:2 tn Heb “when there is a discharge from his flesh.” It is well-recognized that the term “flesh” (i.e., “body”) in this chapter refers regularly and euphemistically to the male and female genital members or areas of the body (HALOT 164 s.v. בָּשָׂר 5.b; see also, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 93). The euphemism has been retained in this translation since it is intended in the Hebrew text. Some English versions partially remove the euphemism (e.g., NAB “from his private parts”; NRSV “from his member”) while some remove it completely (e.g., NLT “a genital discharge”; TEV “from his penis”; CEV “with an infected penis”).
  4. Leviticus 15:3 tn The LXX has “this the law of his uncleanness…” (cf. v. 32 and compare, e.g., 13:59; 14:2, 56).
  5. Leviticus 15:3 tc Smr, LXX, and the Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll from Qumran (11QpaleoLev; Fragment G contains Lev 14:52-15:5 and 16:2-4, and agrees with the LXX of Lev 15:3b) are in essential (although not complete) agreement against the MT in Lev 15:3b and are to be preferred in this case. The shorter MT text has probably arisen due to a lengthy haplography. See K. A. Mathews, “The Leviticus Scroll (11QpaleoLev) and the Text of the Hebrew Bible,” CBQ 48 (1986): 177-78, 198; D. N. Freedman, “Variant Readings in the Leviticus Scroll from Qumran Cave 11, ” CBQ 36 (1974): 528-29; D. N. Freedman and K. A. Mathews, The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll, 32. The MT of Lev 15:3 reads: “Now this is his uncleanness in [regard to] his discharge—whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, this is his uncleanness.” Smr adds after MT’s “blocks his discharge” the following: “he is unclean; all the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge, this is his uncleanness.” Thus, the MT appears to skip from Smr הוא טמא “he is unclean” in the middle of the verse to טמאתו/הו יא “this is his uncleanness” at the end of the verse, leaving out “he is unclean; all the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge” (cf. the BHS footnote). 11Q1 (paleoLeva frag. G) is indeed fragmentary, but it does have ימי ז בו כל “…in him, all the days of the fl[ow],” supporting Smr and LXX tradition. The LXX adds after MT “blocks his discharge” the following: “all the days of the flow of his body, by which his body is affected by the flow,” followed by “it is his uncleanness” (i.e., the last two words of the MT). sn The contrast between the dripping or flowing from the male sexual member as opposed to there being a blockage is important. One might not understand that even though a blockage actually causes a lack of discharge, it is still unclean.
  6. Leviticus 15:3 tn Heb “it is his uncleanness.” The last clause resumes the point of the first clause in this verse, while the material in between acts as parenthetic clarification. This verse introduces the regulations that follow in vv. 4ff.
  7. Leviticus 15:4 tn Heb “All the bed which the man with a discharge sits on it shall be unclean”; cf. NLT “Any bedding.”
  8. Leviticus 15:4 tn Heb “and all the vessel which he sits on it shall be unclean”; NASB “everything on which he sits.”
  9. Leviticus 15:5 tn Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.”
  10. Leviticus 15:5 tn Heb “he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening” (cf. also vv. 6-8, 10-11, etc.).
  11. Leviticus 15:7 tn Heb “And the one who touches in the flesh.” In this instance, “flesh” (or “body”) probably refers literally to any part of the body, not the genitals specifically (see the discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:914).
  12. Leviticus 15:8 tn Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.”
  13. Leviticus 15:9 tn The Hebrew term for “means of riding” is a cognate noun from the verb “ride” later in this verse. It refers to anything on which one may ride without the feet touching the ground including, for example, a saddle, a (saddle) blanket, or a seat on a chariot (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:916).
  14. Leviticus 15:10 tn Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.”
  15. Leviticus 15:10 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. Leviticus 15:11 tn Heb “And all who the man with the discharge touches in him and his hands he has not rinsed in water.”
  17. Leviticus 15:12 tn The Hebrew term כְּלִי (keli) can mean “vessel” (v. 12a) or “utensil, implement, article” (v. 12b). An article of clay would refer to a vessel or container of some sort, while one made of wood would refer to some kind of tool or instrument.
  18. Leviticus 15:13 tn For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above.
  19. Leviticus 15:14 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).
  20. Leviticus 15:14 tc The MT has the Qal form of the verb בּוֹא (boʾ) “to come” here, but the LXX (followed generally by the Syriac and Tg. Ps.-J.) reflects the Hiphil form of the same verb, “to bring” as in v. 29 below. In v. 29, however, there is no additional clause “and give them to the priest,” so the Hiphil is necessary in that context while it is not necessary here in v. 14.
  21. Leviticus 15:15 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
  22. Leviticus 15:15 tn Heb “and the priest shall make them one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.” See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”
  23. Leviticus 15:15 tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
  24. Leviticus 15:15 tn Heb “from”; see the note on 4:26.
  25. Leviticus 15:16 tn Heb “And a man when a lying of seed goes out from him”; KJV, ASV “any man’s seed of copulation”; NIV, NRSV, TEV, NLT “an emission of semen.”
  26. Leviticus 15:16 tn Heb “and he shall bathe all his flesh in water.”
  27. Leviticus 15:18 tn Heb “And a woman whom a man lies down with her, a lying of seed.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” can imply going to bed for sexual relations. The phrase “a lying down of seed” or “an emission of seed” is adverbial, specifying the circumstance with which the regulation is concerned.
  28. Leviticus 15:19 tn See the note on Lev 15:2 above.
  29. Leviticus 15:19 tn Heb “blood shall be her discharge in her flesh.” The term “flesh” here refers euphemistically to the female sexual area (cf. the note on v. 2 above).
  30. Leviticus 15:19 tn See the note on Lev 12:2 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-27.
  31. Leviticus 15:23 tn Heb “and if on the bed it (הוּא, huʾ) is or on the vessel which she sits on it, when he touches it….” The translation and meaning of this verse is a subject of much debate in the commentaries (see the summary in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:938-40). It is difficult to determine what הוּא refers to, whether it means “he” referring to the one who does the touching, “it” for the furniture or the seat in v. 22, “she” referring to the woman herself (see Smr היא rather than הוא), or perhaps anything that was lying on the furniture or the bed of vv. 21-22. The latter view is taken here (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 202).
  32. Leviticus 15:23 tn The MT accent suggests that “when he touches it” goes with the preceding line, but it seems to be better to take it as an introduction to what follows (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 202).
  33. Leviticus 15:24 tn Heb “actually lies down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” acts as a euphemism, implying going to bed for sexual relations.
  34. Leviticus 15:24 tn Heb “and if a man indeed lies with her and her menstrual impurity is on him.”
  35. Leviticus 15:25 tn Heb “And a woman when the flow of her blood flows.”
  36. Leviticus 15:25 tn Heb “in not the time of her menstruation or when it flows on her menstruation.”
  37. Leviticus 15:27 tn See the note on v. 5 above.
  38. Leviticus 15:28 tn Heb “And if….” Although this clause is parallel to v. 13 above, it begins with וְאִם (veʾim, “and if”) here rather than וְכִי (vekhi, “and when/if”) there.
  39. Leviticus 15:29 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).
  40. Leviticus 15:30 tn Heb “And the priest shall make the one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.”
  41. Leviticus 15:30 tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
  42. Leviticus 15:31 tn Heb “And you shall.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
  43. Leviticus 15:31 tn Heb “and they.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) indicates a negative purpose (“lest,” so NAB, NASB).
  44. Leviticus 15:32 tn Heb “and who a lying down of seed goes out from him.”
  45. Leviticus 15:32 tn Heb “to become unclean in it.”
  46. Leviticus 15:33 tn Heb “and the one with a discharge, his discharge to the male and the female.”
  47. Leviticus 15:33 tn Heb “who lies down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” acts as a euphemism, implying going to bed for sexual relations.
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Leviticus 15
Lexham English Bible

Instructions About Bodily Discharges

15 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites,[b] and you shall say to them, ‘Any man[c] when a fluid discharge occurs[d] 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[e] himself[f] 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[g] himself[h] 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[i] himself[j] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 8 And if the person who discharges spits on one who is[k] clean, then[l] that one[m] shall wash is garments, and he shall wash himself[n] 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[o] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 11 And anyone whom the person who discharges might touch without[p] rinsing off his hands with water shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[q] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 12 But[r] a clay vessel that the person who discharges touches must be broken, and any wood object[s] must be rinsed with water.

13 “‘And when the person who discharges becomes clean from his body fluid discharge, he shall count[t] for himself seven days for his cleansing; then[u] he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with fresh[v] water, and he shall be clean. 14 Then[w] on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves,[x] and he shall come before[y] Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall give them to the priest. 15 And the priest shall sacrifice[z] one as a sin offering and the other[aa] as a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for him before[ab] Yahweh from his body fluid discharge.

16 “‘And if an emission of semen goes out from anyone, then[ac] 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[ad] there is a woman with whom a man lies down and there is an emission of semen, then[ae] they shall wash themselves[af] with water, and they shall be unclean until the evening.

19 “‘And when a woman is menstruating,[ag] her body fluid discharge occurs in[ah] her body; for seven days she shall be in her menstruation, and any person who touches her shall become unclean until the evening. 20 And anything upon which she lies down during her menstruation shall become unclean, and anything upon which she sits shall become unclean. 21 And any person who touches her bed must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[ai] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 22 And any person who touches any object on which she sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[aj] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 23 And if it is on the bed or on the object on which she sits, at his touching it he becomes unclean until the evening. 24 And if a man indeed lies with her and her menstruation occurs on him, then[ak] he shall be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies down becomes unclean.

25 “‘And when a woman discharges a body fluid consisting of her blood for many days, but not at the time of her menstruation, or when she discharges in addition to[al] her menstruation, all the days of her unclean body fluid discharge she shall become unclean as in the days of her menstruation. 26 Any bed on which she lies during all the days of her body fluid discharge shall become for her as her bed of menstruation, and any object on which she sits becomes unclean as her menstruation’s uncleanness. 27 And any person who touches them becomes unclean, and he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[am] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.

28 “‘And if she is clean from her body fluid discharge, then[an] she shall count for herself seven days, and afterward she becomes clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young doves,[ao] and she shall bring them to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance. 30 And the priest shall sacrifice[ap] the one as a sin offering and the other[aq] as a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for her before[ar] Yahweh from her unclean body fluid discharge.’

31 “And you shall keep the Israelites[as] separate from their uncleanness so that they might not die because of[at] their uncleanness by their making my tabernacle, which is in their midst, unclean.

32 “This is the regulation of the one with the body fluid discharge and the one from whom an emission of semen goes out so that he becomes unclean by it 33 and concerning[au] the menstruating woman in her bleeding[av] and the person who discharges his body fluid, for the male and for the female and for a man who lies with an unclean woman.”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 15:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Leviticus 15:2 Literally “a man a man”
  4. Leviticus 15:2 Or “becomes” or “shall be”
  5. Leviticus 15:5 Or “bathe”
  6. Leviticus 15:5 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  7. Leviticus 15:6 Or “bathe”
  8. Leviticus 15:6 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  9. Leviticus 15:7 Or “bathe”
  10. Leviticus 15:7 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  11. Leviticus 15:8 The generic article designating a class of persons or things
  12. Leviticus 15:8 Or “and”
  13. Leviticus 15:8 Hebrew “he”
  14. Leviticus 15:8 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  15. Leviticus 15:10 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  16. Leviticus 15:11 Literally “and not”
  17. Leviticus 15:11 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  18. Leviticus 15:12 Or “And”
  19. Leviticus 15:12 Literally “object of wood”
  20. Leviticus 15:13 Literally “and he shall count”
  21. Leviticus 15:13 Or “and”
  22. Leviticus 15:13 Or “running”; literally “living”
  23. Leviticus 15:14 Or “And”
  24. Leviticus 15:14 Literally “sons of dove”
  25. Leviticus 15:14 Literally “to the faces of”
  26. Leviticus 15:15 Literally “do” or “make”
  27. Leviticus 15:15 Literally “the one”
  28. Leviticus 15:15 Literally “to the faces of”
  29. Leviticus 15:16 Or “and”
  30. Leviticus 15:18 Or “And”
  31. Leviticus 15:18 Or “and”
  32. Leviticus 15:18 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  33. Leviticus 15:19 Literally “is discharging blood”
  34. Leviticus 15:19 Or “from”
  35. Leviticus 15:21 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  36. Leviticus 15:22 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  37. Leviticus 15:24 Or “and”
  38. Leviticus 15:25 Or “beyond”
  39. Leviticus 15:27 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  40. Leviticus 15:28 Or “and”
  41. Leviticus 15:29 Literally “sons of dove”
  42. Leviticus 15:30 Literally “do” or “make”
  43. Leviticus 15:30 Literally “one”
  44. Leviticus 15:30 Literally “the the faces of”
  45. Leviticus 15:31 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  46. Leviticus 15:31 Or “by” or “in”
  47. Leviticus 15:33 Literally “of”
  48. Leviticus 15:33 See similar idiom at 12:2
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