Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.

LEVITICUS 15:2KJV
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Leviticus 15:2 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 15:2 mean?

Leviticus 15:2 instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that if any man has a bodily discharge, he is considered unclean because of it. This verse sets out a rule about ritual purity related to certain physical conditions.

God is speaking to Moses, who is to relay these instructions to the people of Israel. The verse addresses a specific situation: when a man has a "running issue" or discharge from his body, which in the context of ancient Israel made him ritually unclean. This is part of a larger section in Leviticus that deals with laws about cleanliness and uncleanliness, especially regarding bodily fluids and health.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 15:2

  • "Speak" (דָּבַר, dabar): This word means to communicate or declare. Here, it shows that Moses is to formally announce God's instructions, not just casually mention them.
  • "Issue" (זוּב, zub): This word refers to a flow or discharge, usually understood as an abnormal bodily fluid. Its use signals that the law is about a specific medical or physical condition, not just any ordinary bodily function.
  • "Unclean" (טָמֵא, tame): This term means ritually impure, not necessarily sinful or dirty in a moral sense. It marks someone as temporarily unable to participate in certain community or religious activities.

Why Leviticus 15:2 matters

  • Leviticus 15:2 clarifies that ritual impurity in ancient Israel could be caused by natural, physical conditions, not just moral failings or intentional actions.
  • The verse introduces a detailed section about bodily health and community standards, showing how daily life and worship were closely connected.
  • Understanding the specific meaning of "unclean" here helps avoid confusion with modern ideas of cleanliness or sin, highlighting the cultural and religious context of these laws.

Where else these words appear

“issue” Hebrew H2101 · used in 10 verses

  • Leviticus 15:3 And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness.
  • Leviticus 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 15:28 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

“issue” Hebrew H2100 · used in 41 verses

  • Exodus 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
  • Leviticus 15:25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.
  • Deuteronomy 26:15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

“unclean” Hebrew H2931 · used in 78 verses

  • Leviticus 5:2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.
  • Leviticus 14:40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city:
  • Deuteronomy 14:8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.