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Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
Leviticus 15:5 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
  • BSB Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
  • 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 11:25Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.
  • Lev 16:26“He who lets the goat go for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
  • Lev 17:15“‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he shall be clean.
  • Lev 16:28He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
  • Num 19:10He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. It shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.
  • Lev 14:27and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh.
  • Ezek 36:25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
  • Ezek 36:29I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
  • Lev 11:32On whatever any of them falls when they are dead, it shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean.
  • Isa 22:14Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
  • Lev 14:46–47“Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.
  • Num 19:22“Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”
  • Heb 9:26or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
  • Ps 51:2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
  • Lev 14:8–9“He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.
  • Ps 26:6I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh;
  • Heb 10:22let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body 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 11:28He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.
  • Rev 7:14I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
  • Isa 1:16Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.
  • Lev 13:6The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and behold, if the plague has faded, and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
  • Heb 9:14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
  • Lev 13:34On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread in the skin, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes, and 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.