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Leviticus 15

Leviticus 15 regulates bodily uncleanness and cleansing to protect Israel from defiling the dwelling of YHWH among them.

YHWH speaks to Moses and Aaron about bodily discharges among the Israelites, giving instructions for men and women. The laws address discharges, emissions of semen, and menstrual bleeding, including bleeding that continues beyond a period. Contact with affected people or objects can make someone unclean. Washing and waiting are required, with offerings after certain discharges end. The closing explanation names the central concern: Israel must guard against defiling God's tabernacle, which stands among them.

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1The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean.
3This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
4“‘Every bed on which he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean.
5Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
6He who sits on anything on which the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
8“‘If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
10Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
12“‘The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
13“‘When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
14“‘On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest.
15The priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD for his discharge.
16“‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
18If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.
19“‘If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
20“‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean.
21Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
24“‘If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.
25“‘If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period. She is unclean.
27Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
28“‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
29On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.
31“‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’”
32This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it;
33and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.
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Key verses
Leviticus 15:5Contact with an unclean bed requires washing and waiting, showing how these rules extend into shared household life.
Leviticus 15:19Menstrual bleeding brings a defined period of uncleanness, placing an ordinary bodily process within Israel's purity laws.
Leviticus 15:25Bleeding outside the usual menstrual period extends uncleanness throughout the discharge, with cleansing instructions following in later verses.
Where this chapter reaches

Numbers shares laws about uncleanness through contact and cleansing with water, while Hebrews discusses ritual washings and the cleansing associated with sacrificial blood. Matthew and Mark describe a woman with a prolonged flow of blood, a condition addressed in these laws.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the warning about God's tabernacle in verse 31 shape your reading of the earlier rules?

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What questions arise as you read the different requirements for ordinary bodily processes and prolonged discharges?

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Questions people ask about Leviticus 15

Does Leviticus 15 say menstruation is a sin?

The chapter treats menstruation as a state of ritual uncleanness. It does not say menstruation is a sinful act. Men also become unclean through bodily discharges and emissions of semen. These conditions affect contact with others and require periods of waiting or cleansing within Israel's worship life.

Why does Leviticus 15 require sacrifices for bodily discharges?

After the discharges described in verses 13–15 and 28–30 cease, the person waits seven days and brings birds for offerings on the eighth. The priest makes atonement for the person's uncleanness. Verse 31 connects these laws with protecting God's tabernacle from defilement; the chapter identifies no particular moral offense causing the discharge.

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Leviticus · 27 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).