Limitless Word
Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
Leviticus 15:5 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
  • KJV And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
  • NKJV And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
  • NASB Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening;
  • NLT So if you touch the man’s bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until 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

Anyone touching the unclean man's bed must wash, bathe, and remain unclean until evening. Contact with defilement requires cleansing and a waiting period.

Overview

The remedy for secondary contact involves washing clothes, bathing, and waiting until evening. These repeated rituals kept Israel mindful that approaching God required purity and could not be taken lightly. The recurring need for water and waiting points toward the deeper washing of regeneration and the cleansing accomplished by Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Lev 11:25and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.
  • Lev 16:26The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.
  • Lev 17:15And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
  • Lev 16:28The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
  • Num 19:10The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them.
  • Lev 14:27and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD.
  • Ezek 36:25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
  • Ezek 36:29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you.
  • Lev 11:32When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.
  • 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.
  • Lev 14:46–47Anyone who enters the house during any of the days that it is closed up will be unclean until evening.
  • Num 19:22Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”
  • 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.
  • Ps 51:2Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
  • Lev 14:8–9The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.
  • Ps 26:6I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
  • Heb 10:22let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
  • Ps 51:7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
  • Lev 11:28and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.
  • 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.
  • Isa 1:16Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!
  • Lev 13:6The priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean.
  • Heb 9:14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
  • Lev 13:34On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scaly outbreak, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean. He must wash his clothes, and he will be clean.
  • Jas 4:8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Leviticus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Leviticus 15:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LeviticusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 15:5 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.