Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 15:11
And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water, and be unclean until the even.
11. without having rinsed his hands in water ] This is the only case mentioned in the law where a person who is unclean can, by washing his hands, avoid communicating uncleanness to another.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. And whomsoever he toucheth] Here we find that the saliva, sitting on the same seat, lying on the same bed, riding on the same saddle, or simple contact, was sufficient to render the person unclean, meaning, possibly, in certain cases, to communicate the disorder; and it is well known that in all these ways the contagion of this disorder may be communicated. Is it not even possible that the effluvia from the body of an infected person may be the means of communicating the disease? Sydenham expressly says that it may be communicated by lactation, handling, the saliva, sweat, and by the breath itself, as well as by those grosser means of which there is no question. But the term unclean, in this and the following cases, is generally understood in a mere legal sense, the rendering a person unfit for sacred ordinances. And as there was a mild kind of gonorrhoea that was brought on by excessive fatigue and the like, it may be that kind only which the law has in view in the above ordinances.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This may be understood, either,
1. Of the person touching, if he that hath an issue toucheth another with unwashen hands. Thus most take it. But why then should it be limited to his hands? for if he had touched him by any other part, as suppose by kissing him, he had defiled him, though his hands had been washed. Or rather,
2. Of the person touched, to whom the washing of his hands is prescribed as an easier way of cleansing himself, if speedily used; but if that was neglected or delayed, a more laborious course was enjoined him. And thus the Syriac interpreter understands it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue,…. Not only he that touched him that had the issue, but whomsoever, and indeed whatsoever he touched, as the Targum of Jonathan, the Septuagint, and Arabic versions, were unclean; [See comments on Le 15:4];
and hath not rinsed his hands in water; which is to be understood, not of the man that is touched, but of him that toucheth; and is interpreted by the Jewish writers, generally, of bathing the whole body; according to Aben Ezra, the simple sense is, every clean person, whom he that hath an issue touches and hath rinsed his hands, he is indeed unclean, but not his garments; and if his hands are not rinsed his garments are unclean, and this is as he that touches all that is under him; wherefore it follows:
he shall wash his clothes, c. that is, if a man is touched, as the Targum of Jonathan, and not a thing, as directed and prescribed in the above cases instanced in all which are designed to instruct men to abstain from conservation with impure persons in doctrine and practice.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This also applied to every one whom the man with an issue might touch, without first rinsing his hands in water.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(11) And hath not rinsed his hands in water.If the patient happens to touch any one with his hands without having first washed his hands, the man who has thus been touched by the unwashen hands of the defiled invalid contracts pollution till sundown of the day on which he has been touched. He has to wash his clothes and immerse his whole body in water before he can partake of the privileges of the sanctuary. This is the only instance where the touch of the hand as imparting defilement is expressly mentioned, and where the washing of the hands alone is ordered in the Mosaic-Law to prevent the communication of pollution. The washing of the hands over the heifer, ordered in Deu. 21:6, is of a different kind. It is meant to renounce any share in the guilt of the murder, or rather, to protest their innocence.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Rinsed his hands It is generally understood that this act refers to the diseased man. The Greek and Latin versions convey this meaning. The Hebrew is doubtful. The Syriac refers the hand rinsing to the person touched, though it is strange that he should be cleansed by washing his hands when some other part was touched.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
whomsoever: It is rather doubtful whether the words hath not rinsed his hands in water refer to him who was diseased, or to him who had his hands touched. Most understand it of the former, that if the person who had the issue rinsed his hands in water, just before he touched any one, he did not communicate any pollution; otherwise, he did. But the Syriac refers it to the person touched by him, though it seems strange that he should be cleansed by washing his hands, when perhaps some other part was touched.
Reciprocal: Lev 15:13 – wash Num 8:7 – wash their Deu 23:11 – wash himself