The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
Parallel translations
- WEB If 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.
- BSB If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.
- NKJV Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
- NASB If a man sleeps with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
- NLT After a man and a woman have sexual intercourse, they must each bathe in water, and they will remain 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
After marital relations, both husband and wife bathe and are unclean until evening. Sexual intimacy brought temporary ceremonial uncleanness, though not moral fault.
Overview
Marital relations within God's design render both partners ceremonially unclean until evening, requiring bathing. This was not a condemnation of marriage, which Scripture honors, but a marker that even good and ordinary human life stands apart from the holy sphere of worship. It underscores that fitness to approach God comes not from ourselves but from His provision in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Cor 6:18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
- Exod 19:15And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
- 1 Cor 6:12All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
- 2 Tim 2:22Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Heb 13:4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
- Eph 5:3–11But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
- 1 Sam 21:4–5And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.
- Eph 4:17–19This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
- 1 Pet 2:11Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
- Ps 51:5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
- Lev 15:5And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
- 1 Th 4:3–5For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
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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 15:18 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
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