Leviticus 15:19
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This passage isn't just about a physical issue; it highlights that any blood flow from a woman's body is considered an issue, distinguishing it from blood loss elsewhere. It also specifies that the uncleanness isn't about blame, but about a state of ritual separation, a crucial distinction for understanding the tabernacle's holiness.
“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Following the regulations for men with bodily discharges, this section turns to women. It details the impurity associated with a woman's menstrual cycle, specifying a period of seven days of separation and outlining how contact with her also leads to uncleanness. This instruction continues the broader theme of maintaining ritual purity within the Israelite community, emphasizing that bodily matters, even natural ones, carried ritual implications.
The laws of Leviticus often describe bodily functions that, in our modern context, we consider entirely normal. What does it mean for these natural processes to be described as 'unclean'?
Leviticus 15:19-24 addresses the natural, monthly cycle of menstruation. The text calls this a state of 'impurity' or 'uncleanliness'. It's crucial to understand that 'unclean' in this context doesn't mean 'dirty' or 'sinful' in a moral sense. Instead, it refers to a state of ceremonial separation required by God for His people.
Why Separation?
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The verse states that 'whoever touches her shall be unclean.' What does this 'contagion' of uncleanness teach us about the spiritual life?
The immediate consequence of touching someone in a state of impurity was also becoming impure until evening. This illustrates a principle that resonates throughout Scripture: spiritual states can have far-reaching effects.
What This Meant:
Understand the original words
niddah · Hebrew Noun
A state of ritual separation or 'menstrual impurity.' It indicates a period where the woman is set apart due to a natural bodily process, requiring temporary social and religious distancing to maintain the holiness of the camp.
zob · Hebrew Noun
A continuous flow or issue of bodily fluids. In the context of Leviticus 15, it refers to various types of physical discharges that render a person ritually impure, emphasizing the holiness of the physical body.
This New Testament passage shows a woman suffering from a similar issue of blood, and her desperate attempt to be healed highlights the profound shame and isolation associated with such conditions in ancient times.
Hebrews 9:13This passage discusses the Old Testament sacrificial system, explaining how the blood of animals offered purification from ceremonial uncleannesses, including those described in Leviticus, pointing towards Christ's ultimate sacrifice.
1 Corinthians 6:19While Leviticus deals with ceremonial purity, this verse speaks to the spiritual reality that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, implying a need for holistic purity, both outward and inward.
Matthew 9:20This account shows Jesus healing the woman with the issue of blood, demonstrating His power to transcend and ultimately abolish these ceremonial laws of uncleanness through His own purity and sacrifice.
bensonLeviticus 15:19: "And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even."
Leviticus 15:19 . She shall be put apart — Not out of the camp, but from converse with her husband and others, and from access to the house of God. Seven days — During the time of her infirmity, which might perhaps continue so long, and it was decent to allow time for her purification after the ceasing of her issue.…
gillLeviticus 15:19: "And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even."
And if a woman have an issue,.... Having finished, as Aben Ezra observes, what was to be said of the male, now the Scripture begins with the female, whose issue, of a different sort, is thus described: and her issue in her flesh be blood; or, "blood be her issue in her flesh"; not in any part of her, but in that whic…
This passage isn't just about a physical issue; it highlights that any blood flow from a woman's body is considered an issue, distinguishing it from blood loss elsewhere. It also specifies that the uncleanness isn't about blame, but about a state of ritual separation, a crucial distinction for understanding the tabernacle's holiness.
Following the regulations for men with bodily discharges, this section turns to women. It details the impurity associated with a woman's menstrual cycle, specifying a period of seven days of separation and outlining how contact with her also leads to uncleanness. This instruction continues the broader theme of maintaining ritual purity within the Israelite community, emphasizing that bodily matters, even natural ones, carried ritual implications.
Following the regulations for men with bodily discharges, this section turns to women. It details the impurity associated with a woman's menstrual cycle, specifying a period of seven days of separation and outlining how contact with her also leads to uncleanness. This instruction continues the broader theme of maintaining ritual purity within the Israelite community, emphasizing that bodily matters, even natural ones, carried ritual implications.
"“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening." — This passage isn't just about a physical issue; it highlights that any blood flow from a woman's body is considered an issue, distinguishing it from blood loss elsewhere. It also specifies that the…
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Last reviewed October 2026
