Leviticus 15:1-33

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them:

'When any man has a discharge¹ from his member, his discharge makes him ceremonially unclean. The uncleanness of his discharge is this: whether his member flows with his discharge, or his member is stopped from discharging,² it is uncleanness for him. Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.³ Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.⁴ All who sit on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.⁵ All who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. If the one with the discharge spits⁶ on persons who are clean, then they shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. Any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean.⁷ All who touch anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and all who carry such a thing shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. All those whom the one with the discharge touches without his having rinsed his hands in water⁸ shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. Any earthen vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken;⁹ and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

When the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days¹⁰ for his cleansing; he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean. On the eighth day he shall take two turtle-doves or two pigeons¹¹ and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. The priest shall offer them, one for a sin-offering¹² and the other for a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement¹³ on his behalf before the Lord for his discharge.

If a man has an emission of semen,¹⁴ he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening. Everything made of cloth or of skin on which the semen falls shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.¹⁵

When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days,¹⁶ and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean.¹⁷ Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening; whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. If any man lies with her, and her impurity falls on him, he shall be unclean for seven days;¹⁸ and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, for all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean.¹⁹ Every bed on which she lies during all the days of her discharge shall be treated as the bed of her impurity; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity. Whoever touches these things shall be unclean,²⁰ and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. If she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count seven days, and after that she shall be clean. On the eighth day she shall take two turtle-doves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The priest shall offer one for a sin-offering²¹ and the other for a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.²²

This is the ritual for those who have a discharge: for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby, for her who is in the infirmity of her period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.'”

1 Considering that semen is already covered later, this “discharge” must be some sort of result of disease.

2 Or his member is stopped from discharging? What does that mean exactly? Is that meant to refer to a specific different symptom of disease?

3 I am curious to know whether, due to the clothing customs at the time, whether a bed or a place one sits could possibly be contaminated by such discharge, or whether the “uncleanliness” is strictly ceremonial.

4 Even other people can become vicariously unclean simply by touching objects the unclean person had touched.

5 As with other types of uncleanliness, washing is essential to removing the stain of uncleanliness, but one still remains unclean until evening.

6 Under what circumstances would an unclean person be spitting on another person.

7 The number of specific circumstances being listed here is quite extensive.

8 Handwashing is encouraged for those who are sick with disease.

9 Since earthen vessels cannot be cleansed with the same kind of purity, they are worthless once the unclean have used them.

10 Unlike someone who had touched the unclean person's things, and then remained unclean until night, the person with the discharge remains unclean for a full seven days after it stops.

11 Like a leprous skin disease, a sacrifice must be made in addition to the physical steps, but the physical steps are much less extensive and the sacrifice is much smaller.

12 Like with the leprous disease, some sort of sin is assumed to be at the root of this.

13 Not the kind of “atonement” we think of today.

14 Semen, though not a symptom of disease, also leads to uncleanliness. It is possible that this kind of care around the emission of semen could help prevent the spread of disease.

15 Sex makes someone unclean. I can imagine a tiny chance that disease prevention could be aided in such a way, but not much of a chance. However, it does make sex an “unclean” act, thereby stigmatizing it in a way.

16 Menstruating women are thereby automatically unclean ¼ of the time.

17 This would create quite a inconvenience.

18 This punishment seems quite different from Leviticus 20:18

19 This would add quite a relational/spiritual torment to her physical torment.

20 Jesus, famously, was touched by the woman with the 12-year discharge, and healed both her physical ailment and her uncleanliness as a result.

21 Like the man with the discharge, some sort of sin-cause is attached to the woman's discharge.

22 “Clean” people and “unclean” people are kept distinct, and only the “clean” are worthy of being in the presence of the Lord.


Take-home: Like skin diseases, discharges from the sexual organs get extra scrutiny in the cleanliness laws. Unhealthy discharges from both men and women get the strictest attention and must eventually be rectified by sacrifice after the condition has abated. A woman's regular monthly period leads them to a much longer period of uncleanliness than a man's discharge of semen.