Net English TranslationLeviticus 15 =
Male Bodily Discharges
15

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man1 has a discharge2 from his body,3 his discharge is unclean. 3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge4 – 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,5 this is his uncleanness.6

4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean,7 and any furniture he sits on will be unclean.8 5 Anyone who touches his bed9 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.10 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 body11 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,12 that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 Any means of riding13 the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him14 will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items15 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 water16 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 A clay vessel17 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,18 and be clean. 14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons,19 and he is to present himself20 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 offering21 and the other a burnt offering.22 So the priest23 is to make atonement for him before the Lord for24 his discharge.

16 “‘When a man has a seminal emission,25 he must bathe his whole body in water26 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 When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and there is a seminal emission,27 they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

Female Bodily Discharges

19 “‘When a woman has a discharge28 and her discharge is blood from her body,29 she is to be in her menstruation30 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,31 when he touches it32 he will be unclean until evening, 24 and if a man actually has sexual intercourse with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him,33 then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows34 many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation,35 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.36

Purity Regulations from Female Bodily Discharges

28 “‘If37 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 pigeons38 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.39 So the priest40 is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.

Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges

31 “‘Thus you41 are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they42 do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst. 32 This is the law of the one with a discharge: the one who has a seminal emission43 and becomes unclean by it,44 33 the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female,45 and a man46 who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.’”

1tn Heb “Man man.” The reduplication 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). 2tn 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). 3tn Heb “man, man when there is a discharge from his flesh.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any [or “every”] man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c). 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, in fact, 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”). 4tn The LXX has “this the law of his uncleanness…” (cf. v. 32 and compare, e.g., 13:59; 14:2, 56). 5tc 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 טמא הוא “he is unclean” in the middle of the verse to יא/טמאתו הו “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. 6tn Heb “it is his uncleanness,” but the last clause recapitulates the effect of the first clause in this verse, both of which introduce the regulations for such uncleanness in the following verses. In other words, whether his discharge flows from his penis or is blocked in it, he is still unclean and must proceed according to the following regulations (vv. 4ff). 7tn Heb “All the bed which the man with a discharge sits on it shall be unclean”; cf. NLT “Any bedding.” 8tn Heb “and all the vessel which he sits on it shall be unclean”; NASB “everything on which he sits.” 9tn Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.” 10tn Heb “he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening” (cf. also vv. 6-8, 10-11, etc.). 11tn 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). 12tn Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.” 13tn 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). 14tn Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.” 15tn Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 16tn Heb “And all who the man with the discharge touches in him and his hands he has not rinsed in water.” 17tn The Hebrew term כְּלִי (kÿli) 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. 18tn For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above. 19tn 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). 20tc The MT has the Qal form of the verb בּוֹא (bo’) “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. 21sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.” 22tn 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.” 23tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here. 24tn Heb “from”; see the note on 4:26. 25tn 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.” 26tn Heb “and he shall bathe all his flesh in water.” 27tn Heb “And a woman who a man lies with her a lying of seed.” 28tn See the note on Lev 15:2 above. 29tn 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). 30tn See the note on Lev 12:2 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-27. 31tn Heb “and if on the bed it (הוּא, hu’) 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). 32tn The MT accent suggest 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). 33tn Heb “and if a man indeed lies with her and her menstrual impurity is on him.” 34tn Heb “And a woman when the flow of her blood flows.” 35tn Heb “in not the time of her menstruation or when it flows on her menstruation.” 36tn See the note on v. 5 above. 37tn Heb “And if…” Although this clause is parallel to v. 13 above, it begins with וְאִם (vÿ’im, “and if”) here rather than וְכִי (vÿkhi, “and when/if”) there. 38tn 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). 39tn Heb “And the priest shall make the one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.” 40tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here. 41tn Heb “And you shall.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV). 42tn Heb “and they.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) indicates a negative purpose (“lest,” so NAB, NASB). 43tn Heb “and who a lying of seed goes out from him.” 44tn Heb “to become unclean in it.” 45tn Heb “and the one with a discharge, his discharge to the male and the female.” 46tn Heb “and for a man.”
=