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.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- BSB When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- NKJV ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
- NASB ‘Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening.
- NLT “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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A man with an emission of semen must bathe and is unclean until evening. Even a normal bodily event brought temporary ceremonial impurity.
Overview
A natural seminal emission renders a man unclean until evening, requiring bathing. This was not treated as sin but as a temporary state of ritual impurity that fitted poorly with the holy realm of worship. The recurring need for washing reminded Israel of the gulf between human ordinariness and divine holiness, bridged ultimately by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 23:10–11If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
- Lev 22:4What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
- Lev 15:5And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
- 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
- 1 Pet 2:11Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
- 2 Cor 7:1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 15:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.