Leviticus 15 Summary

The LORD instructs Moses and Aaron to communicate to Israel the laws concerning ritual uncleanness caused by bodily discharges. A man with a chronic bodily discharge renders unclean anyone and anything he touches, sits, or lies upon, requiring washing of clothes, bathing in water, and waiting until evening; upon recovery he counts seven days, washes in running water, and on the eighth day presents two birds to the priest for a sin offering and a burnt offering. Similar rules apply to seminal discharge for both men and women, incurring uncleanness only until evening. A woman's menstrual flow renders her and all she touches unclean for seven days, while an abnormal or prolonged discharge extends the period of uncleanness with the same cleansing rites — seven days of counting followed by the offering of two birds — upon its cessation. The closing summary states that these laws exist to keep Israel separate from their uncleanness so that they do not defile the tabernacle dwelling among them and thereby die.