Leviticus 15 4

Leviticus 15:4 kjv

Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean.

Leviticus 15:4 nkjv

Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

Leviticus 15:4 niv

"?'Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.

Leviticus 15:4 esv

Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

Leviticus 15:4 nlt

Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies and anything on which he sits will be ceremonially unclean.

Leviticus 15 4 Cross References

VerseTextReference
Lev 15:1-3"The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, "When any man has a discharge... it is unclean."’"Foundation: Defines the zav and the initial impurity.
Lev 15:5"Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening."Consequence of Contact: Immediate consequence for touching.
Lev 15:6"Whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash..."Parallel: Specific consequence for sitting.
Lev 15:10"Any item he sits on or lies on when he is on his period will be unclean, like an item made unclean by menstrual fluid."Direct Parallel: Applying similar transfer laws to a zavah.
Lev 11:24"By these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcass becomes unclean until evening."Contagious Impurity: General principle of defilement by touch.
Num 5:2"Command the sons of Israel that they send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a discharge and everyone who is unclean by a dead person."Exclusion from Camp: Practical consequence of ritual impurity for community.
Num 19:11"Whoever touches a dead person, any human corpse, will be unclean for seven days."Different Source of Impurity: Another instance of strong uncleanness.
Ezek 36:17"Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity."Sin as Uncleanness: Spiritual parallel of physical defilement.
Hag 2:13"‘If someone who is unclean by touching a corpse touches any of these,’ says the Lord, ‘will it become unclean?’ The priests answered, ‘It will become unclean.’"Spread of Uncleanness: Confirms that impurity can be transmitted.
Pss 51:7"Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."Desire for Cleansing: Expresses a longing for purity from sin.
Isa 1:16"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil."Internal Cleansing: Shift towards moral and spiritual purity.
Zech 13:1"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity."Fountain for Sin: Prophetic vision of ultimate cleansing for Israel.
Matt 8:3"Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."Jesus Transcends Purity Laws: Jesus' touch cleanses rather than defiles.
Mark 5:25-34"A woman... who had a hemorrhage for twelve years... touched His garment... immediately the hemorrhage stopped."Jesus Cleanses Defilement: Woman with chronic flow is healed and declared well.
Matt 15:11"It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man."Source of Defilement: Shift from external ritual purity to internal moral purity.
Mark 7:15-23"For from within, out of the heart of men, come the evil thoughts... These are the things which defile the man."Heart's Impurity: True defilement originates from sin in the heart.
Acts 10:14-15"But Peter said, 'By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.' Again a voice came to him a second time, 'What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.'"Ceremonial Laws Overruled: Peter's vision declaring ritual distinctions obsolete.
Col 2:16-17"Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival... which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."Shadow vs. Reality: OT ritual laws are fulfilled in Christ.
Heb 9:13-14"For if the blood of goats and bulls... sanctifies for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ... cleanse your conscience from dead works?"Superior Cleansing: Christ's sacrifice cleanses truly and completely.
Heb 10:1"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never... make perfect those who draw near."Law's Imperfection: Highlights the inadequacy of ritual purity for perfect cleansing.
Gal 5:1"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."Freedom in Christ: No longer bound by the ritual "yoke."
1 John 1:7"But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."Ongoing Spiritual Cleansing: Applies the New Covenant reality to believers.
Titus 1:15"To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."Inner Purity Matters: True purity is an internal state of being.

Leviticus 15 verses

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Leviticus 15 4 Meaning

Leviticus 15:4 states that any bed or article of furniture on which a person with a bodily discharge (zav) lies or sits becomes ritually unclean. This uncleanness is transferable, meaning that whatever touches these items would also become defiled, emphasizing the contagious nature of such impurity within the Israelite ritual system. The verse defines the physical extension of the zav's impurity, making ordinary household objects carriers of ritual defilement.

Leviticus 15 4 Context

Leviticus Chapter 15 provides detailed regulations concerning ritual impurity (Hebrew: tum'ah) caused by various bodily discharges. This specific verse, 15:4, falls within the section describing the "zav" (male with a prolonged or abnormal bodily discharge). The overarching purpose of these laws was to maintain the holiness of the Israelite camp and, by extension, the tabernacle (God's dwelling place). Bodily discharges, whether natural (like menstruation, childbirth) or abnormal (like the zav's condition, leprosy), created states of ritual impurity. These conditions were not necessarily considered sin, but rather rendered a person temporarily unfit to participate in worship or to enter the sacred space.

Historically, these purity laws distinguished Israel from surrounding pagan cultures, whose religious practices often included ritual uncleanness, sometimes related to fertility cults in ways antithetical to Israel's God. These laws underscored the holiness of God and His demand for holiness in His people, creating a disciplined people separated unto Him. The contagion described in this verse served to illustrate the pervasive nature of impurity and sin's defiling influence, subtly teaching the need for diligent separation and prescribed purification processes.

Leviticus 15 4 Word analysis

  • Every (כָּל־ - kol): Denotes universality. No exception is made for beds or items; anything designated as such becomes unclean. It emphasizes the absolute and pervasive nature of the impurity’s transfer.
  • bed (הַמִּשְׁכָּב - hamishkav): Lit. "the lying place," often rendered "bed." Derived from shakhav (to lie down). This signifies a common item for rest, making the impact of impurity broad within the household. It indicates deep or prolonged contact with the person's discharge.
  • on which he who has the discharge (אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב עָלָיו הַזָּב - asher yishkav alav hazav):
    • he who has the discharge (hazav): Refers to a male afflicted with a seminal or non-seminal, non-gonorrheal bodily fluid discharge, specifically mentioned as zav. It implies a condition beyond normal or fleeting. The term 'discharge' (zav) emphasizes a flowing condition. This term implies the condition of defilement stems from the body of the zav.
  • lies (יִשְׁכַּב - yishkav): From shakhav, meaning to lie down. This action signifies full, extended contact, enabling the transfer of ritual impurity from the body of the zav to the object.
  • will be unclean (יִטְמָא - yitma): From the root tame', meaning to be defiled, contaminated, ritually impure. This is not a moral condemnation but a statement of ritual status. The item's inherent quality is not changed, but its ritual status shifts from clean to unclean, rendering it unable to be used in sacred contexts or by a person wishing to maintain a state of purity. It emphasizes the contagious nature of the zav's defilement.
  • and everything (וְכָל־הַכְּלִי - v’chol hakli):
    • and everything (v’chol): Reinforces the breadth of items affected, akin to "every."
    • article (hakli): Lit. "the vessel," often translated as "utensil" or "article." It covers a broader category than "bed," encompassing any implement, furniture, or object one might sit upon.
  • on which he sits (אֲשֶׁר יֵשֵׁב עָלָיו - asher yeshev alav): yeshev (he sits), from yashav (to sit). This further clarifies the methods of impurity transfer through physical contact, covering common domestic interactions with objects.

Leviticus 15 4 Bonus section

The specific laws concerning the zav in Leviticus 15 are more extensive and demanding than those for menstruation, including a more elaborate cleansing process involving animal sacrifices (Lev 15:13-15). This suggests that the zav's condition was considered a more profound or pervasive ritual defilement within the system. While some ancient near eastern cultures also had purity codes, Israel's were uniquely tied to a monotheistic theology emphasizing God's transcendence and absolute holiness, distinguishing them significantly. The "contagion" of impurity in Lev 15 contrasts starkly with Jesus' interactions with those considered unclean (e.g., Mark 5:25-34), where His holy touch transmitted cleanness rather than absorbing defilement, illustrating His divine authority over sin and uncleanness.

Leviticus 15 4 Commentary

Leviticus 15:4, in conjunction with the broader purity codes, demonstrates the pervasive nature of ritual defilement and God's absolute standard of holiness. The transmission of impurity through contact with common household items like beds and seating highlights how such a state permeated everyday life for the Israelites. This was not a moral judgment on the zav himself, but rather a necessary demarcation between the clean and the unclean, emphasizing the separation God required of His people. The laws served multiple purposes: hygienically, to encourage separation from infectious states (though not directly linked to germ theory); pedagogically, to instruct Israel about the consequences of spiritual contamination (sin); and polemically, to differentiate Israel's pure worship from pagan practices that might have incorporated defilement. The laws were not an end in themselves but foreshadowed the ultimate need for spiritual cleansing, which ritual washings could not fully accomplish. This pointed towards a future where true purity would come not from avoiding touch, but from a divine touch that cleanses, and a cleansing of the heart from within, as demonstrated supremely in Christ.