Leviticus 15:5-13

15:5 Anyone who touches his bed ¹  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²  15:6 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. 15:7 The one who touches the body ³  of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean, ⁴  that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:9 Any means of riding ⁵  the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him ⁶  will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items ⁷  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water ⁸  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:12 A clay vessel ⁹  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

15:13 “‘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, ¹⁰  and be clean.

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¹ tn Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.”

² 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.).

³ 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).

⁴ tn Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.”

⁵ 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).

⁶ tn Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.”

⁷ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “And all who the man with the discharge touches in him and his hands he has not rinsed in water.”

⁹ tn 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.

¹⁰ tn For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above.