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LEVITICUS 15

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. Israel's guidelines about ceremonial uncleanness (see NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 365-375; and vol. 4, pp. 479-486) is confusing to moderns. The key verse is Lev. 15:31. Israel was uniquely YHWH's covenant people. YHWH was pure and holy, so must His people be. To approach YHWH (i.e., the Tabernacle) in an unclean condition could cause death.
   
   
2. YHWH gave Israel the Tabernacle (i.e., the sacrificial system) to allow unclean humans to approach Him and maintain fellowship, but there were rigid procedures involved to clearly demonstrate the holiness of Israel's Deity. His character involved
   1. holiness
   2. purity
      but also
   3. compassion
   4. mercy
      See SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT).
   
   
3. This chapter may be outlined as
   1. Lev. 15:1-18 deals with male discharges and how they make others unclean
      1. disease (Lev. 15:2-15)
      2. sexual activity (Lev. 15:16-18; see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1198-1211)
   2. Lev. 15:19-30 deals with female discharges
      1. disease
      2. sexual activity and birthing (for "menstruate" see NIDOTTE, vol. 1, pp. 925-928)
   3. Lev. 15:31-33 is a summary
   
   
4. Please remember these are OT guidelines which do not relate to new covenant Gentile or Jewish believers in Christ. Please read
   1. Jeremiah 31:31-34, described in Ezek. 36:22-36
   2. Jesus changing the OT law (i.e., Matt. 5:27-32; Mark 7:19)
   3. the acceptance of Cornelius in Acts 10
   4. the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15
   5. Paul's discussion of the purpose of the Mosaic Law in Galatians 3 (see SPECIAL TOPIC: PAUL'S VIEWS OF THE MOSAIC LAW)

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:1-12
  ¹The Lord also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²"Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. ³This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge. ⁴Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. ⁵Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; ⁶and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ⁷Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ⁸Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ⁹Every saddle on which the person with the discharge rides becomes unclean. ¹⁰Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and he who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ¹¹Likewise, whomever the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ¹²However, an earthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.'"

15:2 "any man" Literally the MT has "adam adam," which was an idiom for "any man" or "every man who. . ." (i.e., Lev. 17:3; 22:18) of the covenant people.

▣ "a discharge from his body" Remember that this chapter is divided into two categories between (1) male and female and (2) a discharge that lasts for a brief period and one that lasts for a long period. It must be remembered that any kind of bodily emission caused one to be ceremonially unclean. This initially goes back to the reverence that the Jews had for the blood (cf. Lev. 17:11).

15:3 "or whether his body obstructs its discharge" This verse is referring to some type of venereal disease. The TEV (Lev. 15:2-3) expresses the thought, "When any man had a discharge from his penis, the discharge is unclean, whether the penis runs with it or is stopped up by it." This is also the understanding of the LXX.

15:4 Physical contact with an unclean person or anything that has come into contact with them (bed, clothes, spit, cookware, saddles, etc.) becomes unclean.

15:5 There is a set procedure (cf. Lev. 15:5,6,7,8,10,11,21,22,27) for the transferred uncleanness.

1. wash clothes
2. wash body
3. be unclean until evening (i.e., the next day)

For the unclean person there is a similar procedure (Lev. 15:13), but also a sacrifice (Lev. 15:14-15).

15:12 The "earthenware" would refer to any pot that contained a liquid or dried weight. It could be for

1. preparing food
2. working with animals
3. related to ones daily work

It must be destroyed (cf. Lev. 6:28; 11:33,35).

The "wooden" could refer to

1. a tool
2. a weapon
3. a bowl

The MT has BDB 479, which could be translated "article," "utensil," "vessel," or "pouch" (cf Lev. 11:32).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:13-15
  ¹³"'Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean. ¹⁴Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; ¹⁵and the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord because of his discharge.'"

15:13-15 These verses describe the sacrifice for the cleansing of a male discharge.

15:13 "running water" See note at Lev. 14:5.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:16-18
  ¹⁶"'Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening. ¹⁷As for any garment or any leather on which there is seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening. ¹⁸If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.'"

15:16-18 "seminal emission" Sexual intercourse made one ceremonially unclean. This has nothing to do with the idea that sex was sin. It was God's idea that men and women reproduce themselves by sexual union (cf. Gen. 1:28; 9:1,7). It was God's command that we be fruitful and multiply. It was God's will that a man leave father and mother and cleave only to his wife (cf. Gen. 2:24). The sex act itself, within God's bounds (i.e., one man, one woman for life), can be sin but because it involves the exchange of bodily fluids it made one ceremonially unclean.

15:18 "unclean until evening" This may have been done in Hebrew society to separate the sexual act from worship, which was so common in the pagan world. Therefore, after sexual contact, a person remained unclean until evening. This seemed to separate the time between the worship event and the sexual event.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:19-24
  ¹⁹"'When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. ²⁰Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²²Whoever touches any thing on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²³Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. ²⁴If a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.'"

15:24 "actually lies with her" This is the intensified grammatical form of an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and an IMPERFECT VERB of the same root (BDB 1011, KB 1486).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:25-30
  ²⁵"'Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. ²⁶Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness at that time. ²⁷Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²⁸When she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean. ²⁹Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them in to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ³⁰The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord because of her impure discharge.'"

15:25 This refers to an issue of blood not related to a woman's normal monthly period. This was the problem of the woman mentioned in Matt. 9:20; Mark 5:25; Luke 8:43.

15:28-30 This describes the sacrifices for a female to be cleansed from discharges.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:31-33
  ³¹"Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them." ³²This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it, ³³and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for the one who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who lies with an unclean woman.

15:31-33 This is a summary of chapter 15. Notice that it is the cleanliness of the Tabernacle that is significant. YHWH dwelt with His people but His people had to remain clean in order for Him to remain. His people were not clean, so He provided a way whereby they could be clean and He could remain in their midst (i.e., the Tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrificial system).

15:31 As the food laws separated Israel from their pagan neighbors' feasts, the separation of sexual activity from the Tabernacle also emphasized Israel's distinction from her fertility worshiping neighbors.

As the purpose of the food laws is missed by moderns, so too, the purpose of these bodily emission laws.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Does Lev. 15:2-15 refer to sexually transmitted diseases?
2. Why are the sex act and the birthing act considered to be ceremonially unclean?
3. Why did bodily discharges exclude one from worship?
4. Why is Lev. 15:31 so theologically significant?

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