Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 15:31
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that [is] among them.
31. A reason for these purifications is given.
my tabernacle ] Another name for the tabernacle is (Heb. mishkn) dwelling, e.g. Exo 25:9 R.V. mg. In Exodus 25-27, and in parts of 35 40 the word is used to denote the structure described in 26, 36, and distinguished as the ‘tabernacle’ from the ‘tent over the tabernacle’ (Exo 26:7; Exo 36:14 in R.V.). But in other passages it is used as the equivalent of the ‘tent of meeting’ for the tabernacle with its covering tent. It indicates the place where God dwells among the children of Israel according to His promise (so in Lev 16:16, Lev 26:11 f.; Exo 29:45; cp. Exo 25:8; Num 5:3; Num 35:34), and is used only of the tabernacle 1 [52] (in the plur., Num 24:5, it is used of Israel in poetical parallelism with ‘tents’). The combination ‘tabernacle of the tent of meeting’ occurs Exo 40:2; Exo 40:6; Exo 40:29 . As the A.V. renders both ‘ohel (see on Lev 1:1) and mishkn by ‘tabernacle,’ the difference does not appear in that version.
[52] The use of the word tabernacle of the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (see McNeile C. B. ad loc. Num 16:24; Num 16:27) is very strange, and the text must be considered doubtful.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This solemn admonition is addressed to Moses and Aaron, see Lev 15:1.
Lev 15:31
My tabernacle – Strictly, my dwelling-place mshkan, as in Lev 8:10; Lev 17:4; Lev 26:11. The word rendered tabernacle elsewhere in Leviticus is properly tent. See the Exo 26:1 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness] By this separation the cause became less frequent, and the contagion, if it did exist, was prevented from spreading. So pest-houses and fever-wards are constructed for the purpose of separating the infected from the sound; and thus contagion is lessened, and its diffusion prevented.
That they die not] That life may be prolonged by these prudential cares; and that he who is morally and legally unclean, may not presume to enter into the tabernacle of God till purified, lest he provoke Divine justice to consume him, while attempting to worship with a polluted mind and impure hands.
1. How unpromising and how forbidding, at the first view, is this chapter! and yet how full of wise, humane, and moral regulations, manifesting at once the wisdom and kindness of the great Legislator! Every word of God is pure in itself, and of great importance to us. He who cannot derive instruction from the chapter before him, and be led by a proper consideration of its contents to adore the wisdom and goodness of God, must have either a very stupid or a very vitiated mind.
2. In all these ordinances we may plainly see that God has purity of heart continually in view – that the soul may be holy, he cuts off the occasions of sin; and that men may be obliged to keep within due bounds, and possess their vessels in sanctification and honour, he hedges up their way with briars and thorns, and renders transgression painful, shameful, and expensive.
3. Preventing grace is not less necessary than that which saves and which preserves. These three chapters, avoided and neglected by most, contain lessons of instruction for all; and though many things contained in them belong exclusively to the Jewish people as to the letter, yet in their spirit and gracious design they form a part of those revealed things which are for us and for our children; and although they cannot be made the subject of public oral instruction, yet they are highly necessary to be known, and hence the advantage of reading the Scriptures in regular order in private. May we read so as to understand, and practise what we know, that, being wise unto salvation, we may walk as children of the light and of the day, in whom there shall be no occasion of stumbling!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When they defile my tabernacle; which they did both ceremonially, by coming into it in their uncleanness, and morally, by the gross neglect and contempt of Gods express and positive command to cleanse themselves.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31-33. Thus shall ye separate thechildren of Israel from their uncleannessThe divine wisdom wasmanifested in inspiring the Israelites with a profound reverence forholy things; and nothing was more suited to this purpose than todebar from the tabernacle all who were polluted by any kind ofuncleanness, ceremonial as well as natural, mental as well asphysical. The better to mark out that people as His family, Hisservants and priests, dwelling in the camp as in a holy place,consecrated by His presence and His tabernacle, He required of themcomplete purity, and did not allow them to come before Him whendefiled, even by involuntary or secret impurities, as a want ofrespect due to His majesty. And when we bear in mind that God wastraining a people to live in His presence in some measure as priestsdevoted to His service, we shall not consider these rules for themaintenance of personal purity either too stringent or too minute(1Th 4:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness,…. Or because of it, and while they are in it, as from other persons, even their nearest relations, and from the house of God, as the next clause shows; or teach them, by observing the above laws and rules, to separate themselves, and that they be careful and cautions to keep themselves apart while in such impurities; and the children of Israel are only made mention of, because these laws are only binding upon them, with their proselytes and servants, free or not free l, but not upon Gentiles; [See comments on Le 15:2]:
that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that [is] among them; from whence it appears, that men and women, in the above circumstances, might not go into the tabernacle; and it was chiefly to prevent their access to it that these laws were given, for the greater reverence and honour of it; and that for such persons to enter there was a pollution of it, and the punishment was cutting off, or death; and for one to die in his impurity, without purification and sacrifice, was a dreadful thing, and to be deprecated, and to be guarded against by an observance of the above laws. But the Jews now say m, that forasmuch as the reason of these precepts was, because such persons were forbidden to enter into the temple, that being destroyed, all these precepts of uncleanness are ceased also.
l Misn. Zabim, c. 2. sect. 1. m Leo Modena’s History of Rites, Customs, &c. of the present Jews, par. 1. c. 8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 31-33:
The primary purpose of the laws regarding cleanness was ceremonial, not merely sanitary or hygienic. It was to reinforce the purity and holiness of God and His house, and to insure that there would be no corruption or defilement of His house by the very appearance of anything unclean.
Israel’s laws, particularly those having to do with diet, dress, and decorum, were for the purpose of emphasizing the holiness of the Chosen People. They were to be different from their heathen neighbors, in all areas of life.
This illustrates the principle of holy living for God’s child today. Some things which may be permissible for the people of the world are forbidden to the child of God, Ro 12:1,2; 1Co 9:22-27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(31) Thus shall ye separate.That is, according to the regulations laid down in this chapter. Yei.e., Moses and Aaron, to whom they were conjointly addressed (see Lev. 15:1)are to restrain the children of Israel, lest they be punished with death when they approach the Lord in a defiled state.
Defile my tabernacle.Better, my dwelling place, which can here be used, though in Lev. 8:10, where it also occurs, the expression dwelling-place does not suit so well.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. That they die not, when they defile my tabernacle These words explain the minute requirements of this chapter. Continuance in uncleanness without the prescribed purification was followed by death, not merely in the case of the unclean man venturing into the sanctuary, but also in the case of all who persisted in defiling Israel, called to be a holy nation. The holy Jehovah had condescended to abide in the midst of Israel.
Nothing offensive or uncomely should be suffered within the sacred precincts of his presence. The trifling spot upon the person must be carefully inspected by the official custodians of the holy place. It was because of his holiness that Jehovah exercised the most jealous care over all the habits of his people, at home and abroad, by day and by night. Their food, their clothing, their most hidden privacy, were under his constant inspection. This elaborate code of ceremonialism was perpetually uttering in the ear of the spiritually-minded Hebrew the sublime cry of the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isa 6:3. To lovers of holiness these restraints would not be irksome, but delightful; while they would be the most intolerable burden to the carnally minded. Thus the Levitical law tested and sifted the Israelites as the requirements of faith in the atoning blood of Christ is the touchstone of character to-day. To the sceptic who declares that this chapter is derogatory to the Divine Being, we reply that it is the office of the Spirit of inspiration to reveal truth by “interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Final Summary ( Lev 15:31-33 ).
Lev 15:31
“Thus shall you separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is in the midst of them.”
The purpose of these laws was in order to continually separate the people of Israel from their uncleanness. God wanted them to be as wholly clean as possible, given the limitations. They were also in order to prevent Israel defiling the tabernacle by anyone from the High Priest downwards entering its court in a ritually unclean state. Limited uncleanness was allowed in the holy camp, but not in the holy sanctuary precincts, for the sanctuary was of a superior holiness. This would result in the people regulating their lives in such a way that this was prevented. The whole camp would regulate matters so that men and women could avoid uncleanness as far as possible.
This would ‘incidentally’ prevent much spreading of disease, and ensure the respectful treatment of women at difficult times. It made men and women constantly in mind of the fall, and of their own sinfulness, and in mind that death, which the pouring out of blood pointed to, was ever at hand. But the possibility of restoration to cleanness, and the resulting worship of God that could result, was a reminder that in their sin God had provided a way back to Himself, and that they could be restored into His favour. For they were the people of His covenant.
There is no suggestion in all this that normal sex is sinful within the marriage relationship, only that it comes short of what man was intended to be in his ‘perfection’, in his wholeness as in the image of God There will be no sex in Heaven.
Lev 15:32-33
“This is the law of him who has an issue, and of him whose seed of copulation goes from him, so that he is unclean by it, and of her who is sick with her impurity, and of him who has an issue, of the man, and of the woman, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.”
Again we have what might well be a colophon to this record. It describes the content of the record, and what it is about for filing purposes.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 15:31 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that [is] among them.
Ver. 31. That they die not. ] Which is worse than to die in a ditch.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ye = Moses and Aaron.
tabernacle. Hebrew. mishkan, dwelling-place.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Thus shall: Lev 11:47, Lev 13:59, Num 5:3, Deu 24:8, Psa 66:18, Eze 44:23, Heb 10:29, Heb 12:14, Heb 12:15, Jud 1:4
that they: Lev 19:30, Lev 21:23, Num 5:3, Num 19:13, Num 19:20, Eze 5:11, Eze 23:38, Eze 44:5-7, Dan 9:27, 1Co 3:17, These laws were principally intended to impress the minds of the Israelites with reverence for the sanctuary; and, on the one hand, to shew them what need they had of circumspection, and purity of heart and life, in order to worship the holy God with acceptance; and, on the other hand, that being sinners in a world full of temptations and defilements, they would continually need forgiveness, through the great atonement typified by all the sacrifices, and the sanctification of the Spirit, showed forth by all the purifications. While they were encamped in the desert, it would not be very burdensome to bring the prescribed oblations; but after they were settled in Canaan, many of them at a great distance from the tabernacle, this would become much more difficult. We may, however, observe, continues Mr. Scott, that many of the cases stated only required such washings as might any where be performed, and that those, respecting which sacrifices were appointed, would more rarely occur. We may also suppose, that provided these were brought, when the person who had been unclean first came to the sanctuary, it would suffice: though distance or other hindrances prevented its being done immediately, at the expiration of the seven days.
Reciprocal: Lev 22:2 – General 2Ch 30:19 – though he be not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 15:31. When they defile my tabernacle Both ceremonially, by coming into it in their uncleanness; and morally, by the contempt of Gods express command to cleanse themselves. This shows that one main design of these laws was to impress the minds of that carnal people with a high respect and veneration for the worship of God, and whatever bore the name of sacred. It was to separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness. Hereby they were taught their privilege and their honour, that they were purified unto God a peculiar people; for that was a defilement to them which was not to others. They were also taught their duty, which was to keep themselves clean from all pollution.
From all this, 1st, Let us learn to bless God that we are not under the yoke of these carnal ordinances; that, as nothing can defile us, so nothing can destroy us, but sin. They may now partake of the Lords supper, who durst not then eat of the peace-offering. And the defilement we contract by our daily infirmities we may be cleansed from in secret, by the renewed acts of repentance and faith, without bathing in water, or bringing an offering to the door of the tabernacle. 2d, Let us carefully abstain from all sin, as defiling to the conscience, and particularly from all fleshly lusts; possessing our vessel in sanctification and honour, and not in the lusts of uncleanness, which not only pollute the soul, but war against it, and threaten its ruin. 3d, Let us consider, and be persuaded, how indispensably necessary real holiness is to our future happiness; and get our hearts purified by faith, that we may be admitted to see God, and enter into the heavenly sanctuary to worship and rejoice before him. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, and none else; for without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 15:31-33. Conclusion.These five chapters, and especially the last, throw a strong light on the conception of sin in P. Sin is not an act, but a condition. The sacrifices prescribed for it are not punishments, nor even methods of escape, but means by which, the abnormal conditions gone, the functions of the normal can be safely resumed. But the connexion of the abnormal, as well as the strictly pathological, with a sense of sin and guilt, is a truth familiar to psychology, and is illustrated by common feelings about all four of the cases in Leviticus 15. But, in fairness to P, it must be remembered that P does not brand as sins, in our modern sense, acts or states for which the individual cannot be held responsible; it simply asserts that they necessitate ritual seclusion, and that escape from them demands the performance of certain ceremonies not by any means particularly burdensome.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
15:31 Thus shall ye {l} separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that [is] among them.
(l) Seeing that God required purity and cleanliness of his own: we cannot be his, unless our filth and sins are purged with the blood of Jesus Christ, and so we learn to detest all sin.