Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 15:16
And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
16. A similar precept is found in Deu 23:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Most of the ancient religions made a similar recognition of impurity and of the need of purfication.
Lev 15:17
Every garment – Compare Jud 1:23.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Go out from him; not through weakness of the parts, as that Lev 15:3; but in his sleep, which is called nightly pollution, which, though involuntary, might arise from some lustful dream or imagination. But if it was voluntary, and by a mans own procurement when awake, it was esteemed abominable, and a degree of murder. See Gen 38:9.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him,…. Not in lawful cohabitation, nor voluntarily, but involuntarily, as Aben Ezra observes; not through any disorder, which came by an accident, or in any criminal way, but through a dream, or any lustful imagination; what is commonly called nocturnal pollution c;
then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even; and so the Egyptian priests, when it happened that they were defiled by a dream, they immediately purified themselves in a laver d so the Jewish priests did when the like happened to them asleep in the temple e; see De 23:10.
c “—-& noctem flumine purgas.” Pers. Satyr. 2. d Chaeremon. apud Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. c. 7. e Misn. Tamid. c. 1. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Involuntary emission of seed. – This defiled for the whole of the day, not only the man himself, but any garment or skin upon which any of it had come, and required for purification that the whole body should be bathed, and the polluted things washed.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 16-18:
A man was considered ceremonially unclean by reason of any seminal emission, either by involuntary nocturnal emission (De 23:10), masturbation (Ge 28:9, 10), or sexual intercourse. The woman with whom the man had sexual relations also became ceremonially unclean.
Cleansing of and purification from uncleanness by seminal emission did not require any kind of sacrifice; it merely required a washing of the body and of the garments. This implies that no sin was involved which required the shedding of blood.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
INVOLUNTARY EMISSION OF SEED 15:1618
TEXT 15:1618
16
And if any mans seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
17
And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.
18
The woman also with whom a man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 15:1618
321.
What caused this loss of seed?
322.
In what sense unclean? How to be cleansed?
323.
What else could be made unclean? How cleansed?
324.
Are we to understand from this text that the sex-act is here condemned? Discuss.
PARAPHRASE 15:1618
Whenever a mans semen goes out from him, he shall take a complete bath and be unclean until the evening. Any clothing or bedding the semen spills on must be washed and remain ceremonially defiled until evening. After sexual intercourse, the woman as well as the man must bathe, and they are ceremonially defiled until the next evening.
COMMENT 15:1618
Lev. 15:16-18 Involuntary emission of seed.This defiled for the whole of the day, not only the man himself, but any garment or skin upon which any of it had come, and required for purification that the whole body should be bathed, and the polluted things washed.Lev. 15:18. Sexual connection. If a man lie with a woman with the emission of seed, both shall be unclean till the evening, and bathe themselves in water. Consequently it was not the concubitus as such which defiled, as many erroneously suppose, but the emission of seed in the coitus. This explains the law and custom, of abstaining from conjugal intercourse during the preparation for acts of divine worship, or the performance of the same (Exo. 19:5; 1Sa. 21:5-6; 2Sa. 11:4), in which many other nations resembled the Israelites. (For proofs see Leyrers article in Herzogs Cyclopedia, and Knobel in loco, though the latter is wrong in supposing that conjugal intercourse itself defiled.)
FACT QUESTIONS 15:1618
347.
No word of condemnation is here given, only a free admission of the physical impotence or weakness of man. Nonetheless cleansing must be made. Why?
348.
There is nothing wrong in the sex-act per se or as such; the prohibition here helps explain Exo. 19:5; 1Sa. 21:5-6; 2Sa. 11:4. How so?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(16) And if any mans seed.The second case, discussed in this and the following verses, is that of an involuntary emission, as in Deu. 23:10. The man who sustained it had simply to immerse his whole body in water the following morning, and remain unclean till sundown. Similar rites were performed by the ancients under the same circumstances. Thus the Egyptian priests when they were defiled by a dream purified themselves by bathing their bodies; and, according to the directions of the Koran, any faithful Mahommedan who meets with such an accident must not perform his prayers till he has gone through the prescribed oblation. (Koran, 4:46.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Seed of copulation In the restatement of this law in Deu 23:10, the impurity is described as involuntary. It is not an infusion, but an effusion. In Luther’s version the words im schlaf, in the sleep, are added. In the light of this precept of the law it would not seem that “the sexual impulses, and their dream images in sleep, are morally wholly indifferent.” The spirit feels disgraced, as though it had lost its kingly sceptre and had been involuntarily dragged about by the wheel of nature, as Hector was dishonoured when his feet were bound to the axle of Achilles’s chariot. Antiquity, from India to Egypt, loathes the dreamer who defiles the flesh. The form of expression, go out from him, does not seem to refer to the solitary vice, masturbation, improperly called Onanism, (Gen 38:9,) one of the most destructive crimes ever committed by fallen man; and yet it must include this vice. “In many respects,” says Dr.
A. Clarke, “it is several degrees worse than common whoredom, and has in its train more awful consequences, though practised by numbers who would shudder at the thought of criminal connexion with a prostitute. It excites the powers of nature to undue action, and produces violent secretions, which necessarily and speedily exhaust the vital energy. Appetite ceases; nutrition fails, tremors are generated; and the wretched victim, superannuated even before he had time to arrive at man’s estate, debilitated in mind to idiotism, tumbles into the grave, and his guilty soul (guilty of self-murder) is hurried into the awful presence of its Judge.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Uncleanness of A Man’s Natural Emission ( Lev 15:16-18 ).
Lev 15:16-17
“And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.”
More remarkably a man’s natural emissions are seen as rendering the man unclean. For they too are seen as producing imperfect life, life which will die, and as reducing his strength and his ‘perfection’. There is no way here that a man’s sexual relationship with a woman can be seen as anything but secular. Far from connecting him with God, it is seen to keep him at a distance. He cannot enter the tabernacle court, nor can he partake of peace offerings on the same day as he engages in sexual relations. So whatever else it is sex is not an aid to spirituality. It is therefore significant that the angels in Heaven do not engage in it, they ‘neither marry nor are given in marriage’ (Mat 22:30).
And as a result of his emission he must wash himself thoroughly and will be unclean until the evening. Note that as ever it is the passage of time that finally cleanses. The washing removed the earthiness and the semen, the passage of time makes clean. (Old Testament ritual washing never cleanses on its own).
Under special circumstances sexual relations have to be abstained from altogether by a man for they prevent his approach to God, and his effectiveness as a soldier of God. See Exo 19:15; Lev 22:4; Deu 23:10; 1Sa 21:4-5; 2Sa 11:11. Indeed any time he would approach God in the tabernacle court or partake in peace offerings he must abstain from sexual relations that day..
This view of the semen as being polluted was a regular one outside Canaan, both in Babylon and Egypt and among certain Semites.
Lev 15:18
“The woman also with whom a man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.”
The same is true for the woman. Once she has had contact with the man’s semen she too is unclean until the evening.
It should, however, be noted that these things are not seen as especially unclean. The requirement for their removal is at the lower level, even in the case of the necessary offerings for the unusual emission. We should note here that no offerings are required in respect of normal emissions. They were not seen as sinful in themselves, only as a men and women losing something of their wholeness, and being connected with sin indirectly.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 15:16 And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Ver. 16. Go out from him. ] By nocturnal pollutions, filthy dreams, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
wash = bathe. Here, with eth kol added, meaning all his body, to distinguish it from the word “flesh”, which is thus probably used in this section by the Figure of speech Euphemy (App-6) for private parts. Compare Lev 15:5-8, Lev 15:10, Lev 15:11, Lev 15:18, Lev 15:21, Lev 15:22, Lev 15:27, where the Authorized Version has inserted “himself’, in italics. See further note on Lev 14:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 15:5, Lev 22:4, Deu 23:10, Deu 23:11, 2Co 7:1, 1Pe 2:11, 1Jo 1:7
Reciprocal: 1Sa 20:26 – he is not clean
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 15:16-18. And be unclean until the even So as that they should not dare to approach the sanctuary for that day; until even That is, till next day began. This law served both to preserve a due regard to natural purity, and to restrain the immoderate use of the marriage-bed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 15:16-18. Emissions, Voluntary or Otherwise.Here only washing is needed. The existence of the first part of the law may well help to allay the horror with which the phenomenon is often needlessly regarded. In the second part, there is no suggestion of sin, as in the writings of Augustine and other fathers, or in the medieval deductions from Genesis 3. Cf., however, Exo 19:15, 1Sa 21:5, 2Sa 11:11, 1Co 7:5, Rev 14:4; in the OT passages the ritual aspect of the act is emphasized, in the NT the moral. To primitive thought, the act has its significance for good or evil quite apart from considerations of wedlock (cf. also Lev 15:24).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
15:16 And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his {f} flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
(f) Meaning, all his body.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The second case deals with a voluntary emission of semen. Note that it was not sexual intercourse generally that produced the uncleanness but specifically the emission of semen in coitus or at other times (cf. Exo 19:15; 1Sa 21:5-6; 2Sa 11:4).
"The intent was to keep a legitimate but ’unclean’ biological function from defiling that which was [otherwise] holy." [Note: Harrison, p. 162.]
One writer pointed out that this passage does not condemn masturbation, though he did not argue for the practice. [Note: James R. Johnson, "Toward a Biblical Approach to Masturbation," in Journal of Psychology and Theology 10:2 (Summer 1982):137-146. See also Clifford L. Penner, "A Reaction to Johnson’s Biblical Approach to Masturbation," in Journal of Psychology and Theology 10:2 (Summer 1982): 147-149.]
The purification process involved no sacrifice, only washing and waiting until evening (Lev 15:16; Lev 15:18).
"The practical effect of this legislation was that when a man had religious duties to perform, whether this involved worship or participation in God’s holy wars, sexual intercourse was not permitted." [Note: Wenham, The Book . . ., p. 219.]
"The banning of the sexual and the sensual from the presence of God (Exo 19:15; Exo 20:26; Lev 15:16-18) may have been one of the most noteworthy characteristics of Israel’s religion, uniquely distinguishing it from the other religions of the ancient Near East." [Note: Schultz, p. 78.]
"One valuable feature of this legislation that had an important bearing upon Israel’s cultic and social life was the rule which made partners in coition unclean for the whole day. This contingency separated sexual activity from cultic worship in a unique manner, and this precluded the orgiastic fertility rites that were so much a part of religion among peoples such as the Canaanites. Furthermore, the continuous state of ceremonial uncleanness experienced by the prostitute in Israel would remove any possibility of her participation in Hebrew worship, and take away anything approaching respectability from her way of life, if, indeed, she was at all sensitive to the requirements of the sanctuary." [Note: Harrison, pp. 165-66.]
"God was saying very clearly that sex, any aspect of sex, any bodily functions connected with sex, had to be kept completely apart from the holy place. He was not saying that sex and bodily functions were dirty or sinful, as some see in this passage." [Note: Ross, p. 307.]