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THE MESSAGE

Leviticus 15:16

"When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water; he remains unclean until evening. Every piece of clothing and everything made of leather which gets semen on it must be washed with water; it remains unclean until evening. When a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both are to wash in water; they remain unclean until evening.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Defilement;   Purification;   Sanitation;   Spermatorrhea;   The Topic Concordance - Uncleanness;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Uncleanness;   Water;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Clean, Unclean;   Woman;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Leper;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Discharge;   Leprosy;   Leviticus;   Sex, Biblical Teaching on;   Water;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Clean and Unclean;   Medicine;   Numbers, Book of;   Seed, Seedtime;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Baptism ;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ablution;   Baptism (the Baptist Interpretation);   Cleanse;   Defile;   Essenes, the;   Seed;   Uncleanness;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Ablution;   Commandments, the 613;   Deuteronomy;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
King James Version
And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Lexham English Bible
"‘And if an emission of semen goes out from anyone, then he shall wash all of his body with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.
New Century Version
"‘If semen goes out from a man, he must bathe in water; he will be unclean until evening.
New English Translation
"‘When a man has a seminal emission, he must bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until evening,
Amplified Bible
'Now if any man has a seminal emission, he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
New American Standard Bible
'Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Also if any mans issue of seede depart from him, he shal wash all his flesh in water, and be vncleane vntill the euen.
Legacy Standard Bible
‘Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening.
Contemporary English Version
Any man who has a flow of semen must take a bath, but he still remains unclean until evening.
Complete Jewish Bible
(RY: vii, LY: vi) "‘If a man has a seminal emission, he is to bathe his entire body in water; he will be unclean until evening.
Darby Translation
And if any man's seed of copulation pass from him, then he shall bathe his whole flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Easy-to-Read Version
"If a man has a flow of semen, he must bathe his whole body in water. He will be unclean until evening.
English Standard Version
"If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening.
George Lamsa Translation
And if any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until the evening.
Good News Translation
When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body, and he remains unclean until evening.
Christian Standard Bible®
“When a man has an emission of semen, he is to bathe himself completely with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.
Literal Translation
And if any man's semen goes out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan a mans sede departeth from him in slepe, the same shal bathe all his flesh wt water, and be vncleane vntyll the euen.
American Standard Version
And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Bible in Basic English
And if a man's seed goes out from him, then all his body will have to be bathed in water and he will be unclean till evening.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
If any mans seede depart fro hym in his sleepe, he shall washe all his fleshe in water, and be vncleane vntyll ye euen.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And if the flow of seed go out from a man, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
King James Version (1611)
And if any mans seede of copulation goe out from him, then hee shall wash all his flesh in water, and bee vncleane vntill the Euen.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the man whose seed of copulation shall happen to go forth from him, shall then wash his whole body, and shall be unclean until evening.
English Revised Version
And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Berean Standard Bible
When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A man fro whom the seed of letcherie, `ethir of fleischli couplyng, goith out, schal waische in watir al his bodi, and he schal be vncleene `til to euentid.
Young's Literal Translation
`And when a man's seed of copulation goeth out from him, then he hath bathed with water all his flesh, and been unclean till the evening.
Update Bible Version
And if any man's semen goes out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
Webster's Bible Translation
And if any man's seed of copulation shall go from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
World English Bible
"'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
New King James Version
"If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
New Living Translation
"Whenever a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until the next evening.
New Life Bible
‘If a man's seed comes from his sex part, he must wash his whole body in water. And he will be unclean until evening.
New Revised Standard
If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when there goeth out from, any man, an outflow of seed, then shall he bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The man from whom the seed of copulation goeth out, shall wash all his body with water: and he shall be unclean until the evening.
Revised Standard Version
"And if a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening.

Contextual Overview

1 God spoke to Moses and Aaron: "Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When a man has a discharge from his genitals, the discharge is unclean. Whether it comes from a seepage or an obstruction he is unclean. He is unclean all the days his body has a seepage or an obstruction. 4"Every bed on which he lies is ritually unclean, everything on which he sits is unclean. If someone touches his bed or sits on anything he's sat on, or touches the man with the discharge, he has to wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening. 8"If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person has to wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening. Every saddle on which the man with the discharge rides is unclean. Whoever touches anything that has been under him becomes unclean until evening. Anyone who carries such an object must wash his clothes and bathe with water; he remains unclean until evening. If the one with the discharge touches someone without first rinsing his hands with water, the one touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water; he remains unclean until evening. 12 "If a pottery container is touched by someone with a discharge, you must break it; a wooden article is to be rinsed in water. 13"When a person with a discharge is cleansed from it, he is to count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe in running water. Then he is clean. On the eighth day he is to take two doves or two pigeons and come before God at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. The priest then offers one as an Absolution-Offering and one as a Whole-Burnt-Offering and makes atonement for him in the presence of God because of his discharge. 16"When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water; he remains unclean until evening. Every piece of clothing and everything made of leather which gets semen on it must be washed with water; it remains unclean until evening. When a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both are to wash in water; they remain unclean until evening.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Leviticus 15:5, Leviticus 22:4, Deuteronomy 23:10, Deuteronomy 23:11, 2 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Peter 2:11, 1 John 1:7

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 20:26 - he is not clean

Cross-References

Genesis 15:5
Then he took him outside and said, "Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"
Genesis 15:8
Abram said, "Master God , how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"
Genesis 15:9
God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon."
Exodus 12:40
The Israelites had lived in Egypt 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, God 's entire army left Egypt. God kept watch all night, watching over the Israelites as he brought them out of Egypt. Because God kept watch, all Israel for all generations will honor God by keeping watch this night—a watchnight.
Daniel 8:23
"‘As their kingdoms cool down and rebellions heat up, A king will show up, hard-faced, a master trickster. His power will swell enormously. He'll talk big, high-handedly, Doing whatever he pleases, knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right. He'll plot and scheme to make crime flourish— and oh, how it will flourish! He'll think he's invincible and get rid of anyone who gets in his way. But when he takes on the Prince of all princes, he'll be smashed to bits— but not by human hands. This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning, is accurate but confidential. Keep it to yourself. It refers to the far future.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him,.... Not in lawful cohabitation, nor voluntarily, but involuntarily, as Aben Ezra observes; not through any disorder, which came by an accident, or in any criminal way, but through a dream, or any lustful imagination; what is commonly called nocturnal pollution c;

then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even; and so the Egyptian priests, when it happened that they were defiled by a dream, they immediately purified themselves in a laver d so the Jewish priests did when the like happened to them asleep in the temple e; see Deuteronomy 23:10.

c "----& noctem flumine purgas." Pers. Satyr. 2. d Chaeremon. apud Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. c. 7. e Misn. Tamid. c. 1. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Most of the ancient religions made a similar recognition of impurity and of the need of purfication.

Leviticus 15:17

Every garment - Compare Jude 1:23.


 
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