The Fallible Study Bible

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Leviticus15:28–33

The Cleansing of Women

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Leviticus 15:28–33 — The Cleansing of Women. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

28

When a woman is cleansed of her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’im- ṭā·hă·rāh miz·zō·w·ḇāh wə·sā·p̄ə·rāh lāh šiḇ·‘aṯ yā·mîm wə·’a·ḥar tiṭ·hār

Word by word9 · parsed
וְאִֽם־wə·’im-WhenH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
wə·’im (H518) — “and if”; a conditional opening the clause. It marks this as a casuistic law (“if X, then Y”), the standard legal form of the chapter.
טָהֲרָ֖הṭā·hă·rāh[a woman] is cleansedH2891
√ ṭâhêr — to be pure (physical sound, clear, unadulteratedVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular
ṭāhărāh — the pivot. The same triliteral √ṭâhêr opens and closes the verse, and it is the key positive term of Leviticus: not merely not-unclean but actively pure, fit to draw near. The woman’s healing is stated as fact before any ritual is named — God’s grace precedes the rite.
מִזּוֹבָ֑הּmiz·zō·w·ḇāhof her dischargeH2101
√ zôwb — a seminal or menstrual fluxPreposition-mNounmasculine singular constructthird person feminine singular
וְסָ֥פְרָהwə·sā·p̄ə·rāhshe must count offH5608
√ çâphar — properly, to score with a mark as a tally or record, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular
wəsāp̄ərāh — the verb of counting. The same root names a scribe (sōphēr) and a book (sēpher): to count is to keep a record. Seven counted days form the bridge between cessation and cleanness.
לָּ֛הּlāh
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
שִׁבְעַ֥תšiḇ·‘aṯsevenH7651
√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numbermasculine singular construct
šiḇʻaṯ (H7651) — “seven,” the sacred full number (Strong’s: “as the sacred full one”). Seven days of counted purity mirror the seven of creation’s rest and the seven-day rhythm woven through Levitical cleansing.
יָמִ֖יםyā·mîmdaysH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Nounmasculine plural
וְאַחַ֥רwə·’a·ḥarand after thatH310
√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partConjunctive wawAdverb
תִּטְהָֽר׃tiṭ·hārshe will be ceremonially cleanH2891
√ ṭâhêr — to be pure (physical sound, clear, unadulteratedVerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular
tiṭhār — “she shall be clean,” imperfect of the same root as word 1. The verse is a closed circle of ṭâhêr: cleansed at the start, clean at the end, with seven counted days between.
29

On the eighth day she is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

haš·šə·mî·nî ū·ḇay·yō·wm tiq·qaḥ- lāh šə·tê ṯō·rîm ’ōw šə·nê bə·nê yō·w·nāh wə·hê·ḇî·’āh ’ō·w·ṯām ’el- hak·kō·hên ’el- pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ

Word by word18 · parsed
הַשְּׁמִינִ֗יhaš·šə·mî·nîOn the eighthH8066
√ shᵉmîynîy — eightArticleNumberordinal masculine singular
haššəmînî — “the eighth.” In Leviticus the eighth day is the day of newness: Aaron’s sons minister on it (Lev 9:1), the male child is circumcised on it (Lev 12:3), the cleansed leper is presented on it (Lev 14:23). Seven completes; eight inaugurates.
וּבַיּ֣וֹםū·ḇay·yō·wmdayH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular
תִּֽקַּֽח־tiq·qaḥ-she is to takeH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)VerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular
לָהּ֙lāh
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
שְׁתֵּ֣יšə·têtwoH8147
√ shᵉnayim — twoNumberfeminine dual construct
תֹרִ֔יםṯō·rîmturtledovesH8449
√ tôwr — a ring-dove, often (figuratively) as a term of endearmentNounfeminine plural
ṯōrîm — turtledoves, the bird of the poor (cf. Lev 5:7). That God’s own provision for atonement bends to the purse of the poorest is itself gospel: no one is priced out of cleansing.
א֥וֹ’ōworH176
√ ʼôw — desire (and so probably in Proverbs 31:4)Conjunction
שְׁנֵ֖יšə·nêtwoH8147
√ shᵉnayim — twoNumbermasculine dual construct
בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêyoungH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
יוֹנָ֑הyō·w·nāhpigeonsH3123
√ yôwnâh — a dove (apparently from the warmth of their mating)Nounfeminine singular
וְהֵבִיאָ֤הwə·hê·ḇî·’āhand bringH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular
אוֹתָם֙’ō·w·ṯāmthemH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine plural
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
הַכֹּהֵ֔ןhak·kō·hênthe priestH3548
√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular
hakkōhēn (H3548) — “the priest,” literally one officiating. The woman may not enter, but she is not turned away: the priest stands at the threshold to receive what she brings. Mediation meets her exactly where her uncleanness halted her.
אֶל־’el-atH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
פֶּ֖תַחpe·ṯaḥthe entranceH6607
√ pethach — an opening (literally), iNounmasculine singular construct
peṯaḥ (H6607) — “the entrance/opening.” The decisive spatial word: not inside the tent but at its door. The whole drama of clean and unclean is a drama of access — how near one may come to where God dwells.
אֹ֥הֶל’ō·helto the TentH168
√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine singular
מוֹעֵֽד׃mō·w·‘êḏof MeetingH4150
√ môwʻêd — properly, an appointment, iNounmasculine singular
môwʻēḏ — “meeting / appointment.” The tent is named for its purpose: the appointed place where God meets His people. Impurity is grave precisely because it threatens that meeting.
30

The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·‘ā·śāh hā·’e·ḥāḏ ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ wə·’eṯ- hā·’e·ḥāḏ ‘ō·lāh hak·kō·hên wə·ḵip·per ‘ā·le·hā lip̄·nê Yah·weh ṭum·’ā·ṯāh miz·zō·wḇ

Word by word15 · parsed
הַכֹּהֵן֙hak·kō·hênThe priestH3548
√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
וְעָשָׂ֤הwə·‘ā·śāhis to sacrificeH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular
wəʻāśāh (H6213) — “and he shall make/do.” The priest acts on the woman’s behalf; she brings, he offers. Mediation is the structure of the whole chapter’s remedy.
הָאֶחָ֣דhā·’e·ḥāḏoneH259
√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iArticleNumbermasculine singular
חַטָּ֔אתḥaṭ·ṭāṯas a sin offeringH2403
√ chaṭṭâʼâh — an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiationNounfeminine singular
ḥaṭṭāṯ — “sin offering.” The pairing of a sin-offering with a non-moral impurity is the theological crux of Leviticus 15: ritual uncleanness, though innocent, still requires expiation to restore access to God’s house. It teaches that holiness is about nearness to God, not merely about ethics.
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
הָאֶחָ֖דhā·’e·ḥāḏand the otherH259
√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iArticleNumbermasculine singular
עֹלָ֑ה‘ō·lāhas a burnt offeringH5930
√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine singular
ʻōlāh — “burnt offering,” the ascending whole-offering of total devotion. Sin-offering removes the barrier; burnt-offering renders the restored worshiper wholly God’s. The two together complete the cleansing: cleared, then consecrated.
הַכֹּהֵן֙hak·kō·hênIn this way the priestH3548
√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular
וְכִפֶּ֨רwə·ḵip·perwill make atonementH3722
√ kâphar — to cover (specifically with bitumen)Conjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular
wəḵipper — the great Levitical verb. From it comes kappōreṯ, the ‘mercy seat’ — the lid that covered the ark. Here the same covering is enacted for an ordinary woman at the door: the logic of the Day of Atonement, applied to a private life.
עָלֶ֤יהָ‘ā·le·hāfor herH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person feminine singular
לִפְנֵ֣יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct
יְהוָ֔הYah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yahweh (H3068) — the covenant name. The whole transaction is ‘before’ Him: it is His holiness that makes cleansing necessary and His provision that makes it possible.
טֻמְאָתָֽהּ׃ṭum·’ā·ṯāhfor her uncleanH2932
√ ṭumʼâh — religious impurityNounfeminine singular constructthird person feminine singular
ṭumʼāṯāh (H2932) — “her uncleanness,” religious impurity (Strong’s). The word is not dirt but cultic incapacity — the condition of being unfit to approach. It is precisely this that the atonement lifts.
מִזּ֖וֹבmiz·zō·wḇdischargeH2101
√ zôwb — a seminal or menstrual fluxPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
31

You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·hiz·zar·tem ’eṯ- bə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl miṭ·ṭum·’ā·ṯām wə·lō yā·mu·ṯū bə·ṭum·’ā·ṯām bə·ṭam·mə·’ām ’eṯ- miš·kā·nî ’ă·šer bə·ṯō·w·ḵām

Word by word13 · parsed
וְהִזַּרְתֶּ֥םwə·hiz·zar·temYou must keepH5144
√ nâzar — to hold aloof, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural
wəhizzartem — “you shall keep them separate.” The verb shifts to second-person plural: the command is to the leaders. Keil & Delitzsch render it ‘cause that the children of Israel free themselves from their uncleanness’ — a deliverance, not merely a barrier.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the childrenH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לyiś·rā·’êlof Israel {separate}H3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
yiśrāʼēl (H3478) — “Israel.” The named covenant people; their identity as a holy nation (Lev 11:44) is precisely what their uncleanness threatens. Privilege and peril are bound together.
מִטֻּמְאָתָ֑םmiṭ·ṭum·’ā·ṯāmfrom their uncleannessH2932
√ ṭumʼâh — religious impurityPreposition-mNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural
וְלֹ֤אwə·lōso that they do notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle
יָמֻ֙תוּ֙yā·mu·ṯūdieH4191
√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural
yāmuṯū — “they die.” This is the theological hinge of the whole chapter: the laws of purity are not hygiene but life-and-death proximity to the Holy. The God who dwells in the midst is a consuming fire (cf. Lev 10:1–2).
בְּטֻמְאָתָ֔םbə·ṭum·’ā·ṯām. . .H2932
√ ṭumʼâh — religious impurityPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural
בְּטַמְּאָ֥םbə·ṭam·mə·’āmby defilingH2930
√ ṭâmêʼ — to be foul, especially in a ceremial or moral sense (contaminated)Preposition-bVerbPielInfinitive constructthird person masculine plural
bəṭamməʼām — “by their defiling,” intensive Piel. The verb makes uncleanness aggressive: it does not merely cling to a person, it spreads to what it touches, and the sanctuary is the one place it cannot be allowed to reach.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
מִשְׁכָּנִ֖יmiš·kā·nîMy tabernacleH4908
√ mishkân — a residence (including a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, figuratively, the graveNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular
miškānî — “My dwelling.” The climactic word of the verse and the reason for the entire chapter: God has condescended to dwell in the midst of a mortal, leaky, impure people. Their purity laws guard the staggering fact of His nearness.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerwhichH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
בְּתוֹכָֽם׃bə·ṯō·w·ḵāmis among themH8432
√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural
bəṯôwḵām (H8432) — “in their midst.” The phrase that makes the danger acute and the grace immense: the Holy One is not distant but among them. Immanuel logic, centuries before the name.
32

This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

zōṯ tō·w·raṯ haz·zāḇ wa·’ă·šer tê·ṣê mim·men·nū šiḵ·ḇaṯ- ze·ra‘ ḇāh lə·ṭā·mə·’āh-

Word by word10 · parsed
זֹ֥אתzōṯThisH2063
√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular
תּוֹרַ֖תtō·w·raṯis the lawH8451
√ tôwrâh — a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or PentateuchNounfeminine singular construct
tôwraṯ — “the law/instruction of.” The recapitulation formula (vv. 32–33) gathers the whole chapter under one heading. ‘This is the tôrāh of…’ is Leviticus’s way of signing off a unit — the same formula closes the laws of clean and unclean animals (Lev 11:46) and of the leper (Lev 14:54).
הַזָּ֑בhaz·zāḇof him who has a dischargeH2100
√ zûwb — to flow freely (as water), iArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
hazzāḇ — “the one discharging,” the man of vv. 1–15. The summary lists the cases out of their original order (so Ellicott), gathering male and female, chronic and occasional, under a single instruction.
וַאֲשֶׁ֨רwa·’ă·šerof the man whoH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatConjunctive wawPronounrelative
תֵּצֵ֥אtê·ṣêhasH3318
√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximVerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular
מִמֶּ֛נּוּmim·men·nūvvvH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionthird person masculine singular
שִׁכְבַת־šiḵ·ḇaṯ-an emissionH7902
√ shᵉkâbâh — a lying down (of dew, or for the sexual act)Nounfeminine singular construct
šiḵḇaṯ- — “a lying-down of,” the construct that forms the euphemism for an emission. The chapter’s consistent reticence about the body models a dignity even in legislating its impurities.
זֶ֖רַעze·ra‘of semenH2233
√ zeraʻ — seedNounmasculine singular
בָֽהּ׃ḇāhwhereby
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
לְטָמְאָה־lə·ṭā·mə·’āh-he is uncleanH2930
√ ṭâmêʼ — to be foul, especially in a ceremial or moral sense (contaminated)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person feminine singular
ləṭāmʼāh — “to become unclean.” The recurring verb that the whole chapter exists to manage. Note the parse oddity: the form carries a feminine suffix though the subject is the man — a grammatical wrinkle the sources read as agreement with the (feminine) ‘emission.’
33

of a woman in her menstrual period, of any male or female who has a discharge, and of a man who lies with an unclean woman.’”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·had·dā·wāh bə·nid·dā·ṯāh laz·zā·ḵār wə·lan·nə·qê·ḇāh wə·haz·zāḇ ’eṯ- zō·w·ḇōw ū·lə·’îš ’ă·šer yiš·kaḇ ‘im- ṭə·mê·’āh

Word by word12 · parsed
וְהַדָּוָה֙wə·had·dā·wāhof a womanH1739
√ dâveh — sick (especially in menstruation)Conjunctive waw, ArticleAdjectivefeminine singular
wəhaddāwāh — “the languishing woman.” A rare, evocative word: dāwāh means faint with sickness. Gill notes the courses ‘make a woman languid and faint.’ The same word in Lamentations 1:13 describes Zion ‘faint all the day’ — the body’s impurity becomes the soul’s desolation.
בְּנִדָּתָ֔הּbə·nid·dā·ṯāhin her menstrual periodH5079
√ niddâh — properly, rejectionPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person feminine singular
bənidāṯāh — “in her separation.” Niddâh, ‘rejection / impurity,’ is the word the prophets weaponize: Ezra calls the land’s sin a niddâh, an impurity (Ezra 9:11). What is here a monthly, bodily, innocent state becomes elsewhere the metaphor for moral defilement that must be washed away.
לַזָּכָ֖רlaz·zā·ḵārof any maleH2145
√ zâkâr — properly, remembered, iPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular
lazzāḵār — “for the male.” With its pair (word 3, ‘the female’) this echoes the creation pairing of Genesis 1:27. The law of impurity is co-extensive with the human race God made.
וְלַנְּקֵבָ֑הwə·lan·nə·qê·ḇāhor femaleH5347
√ nᵉqêbâh — female (from the sexual form)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular
wəlannəqēḇāh — “and for the female.” The merism completes the inventory: no one is exempt. The whole of fallen humanity, male and female, lives under the shadow of impurity and the need for cleansing.
וְהַזָּב֙wə·haz·zāḇwho has a dischargeH2100
√ zûwb — to flow freely (as water), iConjunctive waw, ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
זוֹב֔וֹzō·w·ḇōwH2101
√ zôwb — a seminal or menstrual fluxNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
וּלְאִ֕ישׁū·lə·’îšand of a manH376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular
אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerwhoH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
יִשְׁכַּ֖בyiš·kaḇliesH7901
√ shâkab — to lie down (for rest, sexual connection, decease or any other purpose)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yiškaḇ (H7901) — “lies.” The same root (šâkab) appeared in v. 32 as ‘a lying-down of seed.’ The verb of intimacy is also the verb that transmits impurity: the closest human bond is exactly where contagion spreads.
עִם־‘im-withH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition
טְמֵאָֽה׃פṭə·mê·’āhan unclean womanH2931
√ ṭâmêʼ — foul in a religious senseAdjectivefeminine singular
ṭəmēʼāh — “unclean.” The final word of Leviticus 15. The chapter that legislates cleansing closes on the bare word unclean — a system that can diagnose and contain impurity but, by its own design, must keep repeating itself. The longing it leaves unmet points beyond Sinai.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The seven counted days — grace before rite — 15:28

The unit opens not with a command but with a healing already granted: “and-if she-has-been-cleansed (טָהֲרָה) from-her-discharge.” The bleeding stops first; only then does she count off (וְסָפְרָה, √çâphar H5608 — Strong’s, to score with a mark as a tally) seven days. Matthew Poole reads the seven as a probation — “for trial whether it was only a temporary obstruction, or a real cessation” (1685) — and Charles Ellicott notes the word ‘cleansed’ here, as in Leviticus 15:13, marks “the disappearance of the complaint” (1878). The grammar makes the point the doctrine will labor: the change of state precedes the counting; God’s mercy runs ahead of the woman’s observance. The verse is a sealed circle of one root — ṭâhêr at the open (word 1) and ṭâhêr at the close (word 8) — purity declared, then purity confirmed, seven sacred days (שִׁבְעַת, H7651, ‘the sacred full one’) between.

ii. Two birds at the threshold — the offering of the poor — 15:29–30

On the eighth day (הַשְּׁמִינִי) — the recurring Levitical day of newness — the woman brings two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the opening of the tent of meeting (פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד). She comes to the threshold, the limit of approach; the priest receives what she may not carry in. John Gill observes these are the very birds “the man that had an issue was obliged to bring” (1746–63), and Ellicott that the rite is offered “exactly in the same manner as described in Leviticus 15:15” (1878) — the woman’s atonement is, word for word, the man’s. The priest makes one a sin-offering (חַטָּאת) and the other a burnt-offering (עֹלָה), and so makes atonement (וְכִפֶּר, √kâphar H3722 — to cover) before the face of YHWH. The astonishment, which Gill names, is that an innocent, involuntary flow still draws a sin-offering and is covered with the same verb that caulked Noah’s ark and roofed the mercy seat. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown give the governing key: the bodily flux “typified a moral impurity” (1871), and so its remedy quietly rehearses a deeper one.

iii. ‘That they die not’ — the dwelling in their midst — 15:31

The chapter’s theological center: “you shall keep the sons of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die (יָמֻתוּ) in their uncleanness by their defiling My dwelling (מִשְׁכָּנִי) which is in their midst.” Albert Barnes insists on the lost word: not the ordinary ‘tent’ but mishkân, “my dwelling-place… properly ‘tent’ elsewhere” (1834) — God names the place by His own indwelling. The stakes are death, because the Holy One dwells in their midst. The Pulpit Commentary states the system’s whole logic: “to keep first God’s house and then God’s people free from the danger of defilement… these foul things, symbolizing sinful things, create a ceremonial defilement symbolizing moral defilement” (1880s). Joseph Benson reads the defilement as “both ceremonially… and morally, by the contempt of God’s express command” (1810s). The verb wəhizzartem (√nâzar) is causative and addressed to the leaders — Moses and Aaron must make the people keep apart; Keil & Delitzsch render it not as mere distance but as deliverance: “cause that the children of Israel free themselves from their uncleanness” (1860s).

iv. The subscription — the law that ends on the word ‘unclean’ — 15:32–33

“This is the tôrāh (תּוֹרַת) of the one discharging…” — the formal seal that closes a Levitical instruction. Ellicott notes these verses “give a summary of the contents of the chapter,” with “the order of the enactments… not strictly adhered to” (1878); Cambridge sets out the three graded remedies the summary gathers — evening, washing, and sacrifice (1880s). The roll-call spans the male and the female (לַזָּכָר וְלַנְּקֵבָה — the very pairing of Genesis 1:27) and rises to a rare, aching word: haddāwāh (הַדָּוָה, √dâveh H1739, only five occurrences), the faint, languishing woman. John Gill hears its overtone, glossing it from Lamentations 1:13 as “languid and faint” (1746–63). And the chapter’s last word is the one it set out to abolish — ṭəmēʼāh, unclean. A system that can diagnose, separate, and contain impurity ends still saying ‘unclean,’ pointing past itself to a cleansing it cannot finally give.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

(⚙ machine synthesis — fallible, offered to be tested against Scripture.) Read whole, Leviticus 15:28–33 is a small parable of grace under law. The healing comes first (v. 28); the rite ratifies what God has already done. The remedy is identical for man and woman (vv. 29–30, with Ellicott), the offering is the poor’s two birds, and the costly word kipper (‘to cover,’ the Day-of-Atonement verb) is spent on a private, innocent impurity at the tent door — as if to say that no condition is too small, and no person too poor, for atonement. Verse 31 unveils the engine of the whole chapter: God dwells in their midst, and that nearness is at once Israel’s glory and her peril. Every law of clean and unclean is finally a law about access — how a mortal, leaking, dying people may live next door to the Holy and not be consumed. And the chapter’s last word, unclean, is its own confession of insufficiency: the system can hold impurity at bay but cannot expel it from the heart. It is a door left ajar — toward a Priest who would touch the unclean and make them clean, and a blood that covers not the flow but the conscience. The Levitical reader is meant to leave this chapter clean by the rite and still longing for a cleanness the rite only signs. This reading is the tool’s own and may err; weigh it against the text.

The book of purity ends on the word ‘unclean’ — a system that can contain the flood but never dam its source. (A fallible synthesis, not Scripture.)

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The man’s issue and the woman’s — one law, one cleansing verbal / quotation — confirmed

Verses 28–30 deliberately replay the cleansing of the man with a discharge in Leviticus 15:13–15: the same seven counted days (שִׁבְעַת יָמִים), the same rare flux-word zôwb, the same two birds made a sin-offering and burnt-offering, the same verb kâphar ‘to atone.’ Ellicott and Gill both note the woman brings exactly what the man brought. The Verifier confirms a dense verbal overlap; the law is impartial between the sexes.

Leviticus 15:13 · Leviticus 15:15

basis: Rare shared lexeme H2101 zôwb (in only 10 vv) ties the male and female purification across both pairs; with v. 13 also H2891 ṭâhêr, H5608 çâphar, H7651 shebaʻ, and with v. 15 also H3722 kâphar, H5930 ʻôlâh, H2403 chaṭṭâʼâh — the same prescription recorded verbatim.

Two turtledoves — the new mother and the new Lord structural / thematic — confirmed

The pair “two turtledoves or two young pigeons” (שְׁתֵּי תֹרִים … בְּנֵי יוֹנָה) is the offering of the poor woman after childbirth (Leviticus 12:8) as well as of the man healed of an issue (Leviticus 15:14). It is precisely this offering Mary brings at Jesus’ presentation (Luke 2:24) — the holy family enrolled among the poor. The same threshold-birds that cleanse the unclean are laid down for the One who would be ‘holy to the Lord.’

Leviticus 12:8 · Leviticus 15:14 · Luke 2:24

basis: Rare shared lexemes H8449 tôwr (in 14 vv) + H3123 yôwnâh (in 31 vv) link Lev 15:29 to Lev 12:8 and 15:14 within the Hebrew; Luke 2:24 is an explicit NT citation of Lev 12:8 (LXX). The Greek↔Hebrew leg cannot rest on a shared Strong’s — it is recorded as a named quotation, not a lexeme match.

Defiling the dwelling — and dying for it structural / thematic — confirmed

Leviticus 15:31’s warning — that uncleanness left unpurged defiles My dwelling (מִשְׁכָּן) and brings death (מוּת) — is the same logic Numbers 19:13 spells out for the corpse-defiled who fails to purify: ‘he defiles the dwelling of the LORD; that soul shall be cut off.’ Both texts bind ṭumʼâh (impurity), ṭâmêʼ (to defile), mishkân (dwelling), and mûwth (death) into a single chain. The motif is shared but neither verse quotes the other.

Numbers 19:13

basis: Shared lexemes H2932 ṭumʼâh (31 vv), H4908 mishkân (129 vv), H2930 ṭâmêʼ (142 vv), H4191 mûwth (700 vv) — a common motif-chain, not a rare quotation; tiered structural/thematic because the words are common and no citation is claimed.

‘Faint with sickness’ — the rare word that the prophets weaponize verbal / quotation — confirmed

The closing verse names the menstruant haddāwāh (הַדָּוָה, √dâveh) — ‘the faint / languishing one,’ a word in only five verses. Leviticus 20:18 reuses it for the prohibited act; but the prophets lift it into metaphor — Isaiah 30:22 has idols flung away ‘as a menstruous cloth’ (dāwāh), Lamentations 1:13 makes Zion ‘faint all the day,’ and Lamentations 5:17 confesses ‘for this our heart is faint (dāwāh).’ Gill himself routes the Leviticus word through Lamentations. The bodily faintness becomes the figure of a soul’s desolation and of sin’s revulsion — the same word naming a woman’s monthly weakness and a nation’s spiritual collapse.

Leviticus 20:18 · Isaiah 30:22 · Lamentations 1:13 · Lamentations 5:17

basis: Rare shared lexeme H1739 dâveh (in only 5 vv) is the verbal hinge across all four; with Lev 20:18 also H7901 shâkab. Rarity (5 occurrences) makes the verbal link recorded, not merely thematic — though the prophetic uses are metaphorical extensions, noted as such.

The layman’s emission and the priest’s table — one standard of purity verbal / quotation — confirmed

The subscription’s clause on the man ‘from whom goes out an emission of seed’ (שִׁכְבַת־זֶרַע, v. 32) reappears almost word for word in Leviticus 22:4, where the very same impurity bars a priest from eating the holy offerings until he is clean. The rare construct šᵉkâbâh (‘a lying-down,’ in only 9 verses) and the flux-verb zûwb tie the two. The point is striking: the purity the layman owes at the tent door is the identical purity the priest owes at the holy table — impurity is no respecter of office. The same flow that keeps the woman of v. 33 from the sanctuary keeps a son of Aaron from his bread, which quietly prepares the question Hebrews will answer: who, then, can offer a purity that does not fail?

Leviticus 22:4

basis: Rare shared lexeme H7902 shᵉkâbâh (in only 9 vv) plus H2100 zûwb (41 vv) and H2233 zeraʻ link Lev 15:32 to Lev 22:4 — the same emission-impurity legislated for layman and priest alike; the rarity of shᵉkâbâh carries the verbal badge.

Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The woman with the flow — impurity reversed by a touch widely-held

Leviticus 15 makes a woman’s flow of blood (זוֹב) contagious: whatever she touches is defiled, and the man who even lies beside her becomes unclean (v. 33). The Gospels set against this exact law the woman with a twelve-year flow of blood (Mark 5:25–34), whose touch ought to have defiled Jesus — and instead He is the one who cleanses her, the contagion running backward. He receives at His person what the tabernacle could not admit at its door, and pronounces the very word the law withheld from such a woman: ‘Go in peace… be healed.’ JFB’s reading that the flux ‘typified a moral impurity’ finds its answer here. The link is thematic-typological, not verbal: it crosses Testaments (Greek↔Hebrew) and shares no Strong’s lexeme.

Mark 5:25 · Leviticus 15:25 · Leviticus 15:33

Covered by two birds — atonement that pointed past itself widely-held

The two birds that cover (כִּפֶּר) the woman ‘before the LORD’ (v. 30) belong to a sacrificial economy the New Testament reads as a shadow: ‘the blood of goats and bulls… sanctify for the purifying of the flesh’ — but only the blood of Christ can ‘cleanse our conscience’ (Hebrews 9:13–14). John Gill draws the line in his note on v. 30: the offering is ‘typical of the atonement of Christ, who by himself has purged our sins,’ and the Geneva gloss on v. 31 adds that we cannot be God’s ‘unless our filth and sins are purged with the blood of Jesus Christ.’ The chapter that ends on the word unclean awaits the One who makes finally clean. Cross-Testament and so non-verbal: typological, argued from the structure of atonement, not from a shared word.

Hebrews 9:13 · Leviticus 15:30 · Leviticus 15:31

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Voices. Several commentators (Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes, JFB, Keil & Delitzsch) supply the same block of text across multiple verses in this chapter, because Biblehub attaches a single chapter- or section-level note to each verse in a pericope; I have therefore drawn each verse’s voices from the commentators who wrote something specific to that verse, and have not reused an identical block twice. Matthew Henry’s only note here is his chapter-wide summary of 15:1–33, so it is referenced in the synthesis rather than quoted per verse; Keil & Delitzsch likewise supply one chapter-level block, so I quote it once (at v. 31, its proper anchor) rather than repeating it on vv. 28–30. Poole has ‘No text… on this verse’ for vv. 29, 30, 32, 33 — those gaps are real and unfilled. (2) Cross-Testament threads. The two Christ-readings (the hemorrhaging woman; atonement by blood) cross from Hebrew to Greek and therefore cannot rest on a shared Strong’s number; they are tiered typological / thematic and argued from motif and from the explicit witness of Gill and the Geneva annotators, not asserted as verbal quotations. (3) Luke 2:24. The ‘two turtledoves’ thread treats Luke 2:24 as a recognized NT citation of Leviticus 12:8 (Septuagint); the Hebrew↔Hebrew leg (Lev 15:29 ↔ 12:8, 15:14) is verbally confirmed by the rare birds-lexemes, but the NT leg is a named quotation across languages, recorded as such. (4) Parses. Word 9 of v. 32 (ləṭāmʼāh) carries a third-person feminine suffix though the subject is the man; I have followed the Berean/Strong’s parse and read the agreement as with the (feminine) ‘emission,’ flagging the oddity rather than smoothing it. (5) Restraint. Common-word links (e.g. the ṭumʼâh/mishkân/mûwth chain shared with Numbers 19:13) are deliberately downgraded to structural/thematic; only genuinely rare lexemes (zôwb, 10 vv; dâveh, 5 vv; šᵉkâbâh, 9 vv; tôwr, 14 vv) are allowed to carry a ‘verbal’ badge. (6) Lev 22:4 thread. The Verifier confirms the layman-emission of v. 32 and the priest’s purity-law of Lev 22:4 share the rare šᵉkâbâh (9 vv) plus zûwb; the link is verbal within the Hebrew, and the typological inference I draw from it (one purity binds layman and priest) is the tool’s own application, not the bare lexeme match.

= human, public-domain source, quoted and named. = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)