and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- KJV And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
- ESV And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.
- NKJV Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
- NASB Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
- NLT If any of you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Anyone touching her bed must wash, bathe, and be unclean until evening. Contact with the defiled bed conveys impurity.
Overview
Touching the woman's bed requires the standard washing and waiting until evening. The repetition mirrors the earlier laws for men, reinforcing consistency and seriousness. These rituals continually pressed upon Israel the need for purity to dwell with God, ultimately granted through Christ's cleansing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 22:14The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Rev 7:14“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
- Heb 9:26Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
- Lev 15:5–6Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- 2 Cor 7:1Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 15:21 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.