Imamat 5:2

5:2 Or when there is ¹  a person who touches anything ceremonially ²  unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or the carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, even if he did not realize it, ³  but he himself has become unclean and is guilty; ⁴ 

Imamat 15:4-12

15:4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, ⁵  and any furniture he sits on will be unclean. ⁶  15:5 Anyone who touches his bed ⁷  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁸  15:6 The one who sits on the furniture the man with a discharge sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:7 The one who touches the body ⁹  of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean, ¹⁰  that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:9 Any means of riding ¹¹  the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him ¹²  will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items ¹³  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water ¹⁴  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:12 A clay vessel ¹⁵  which the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed in water.

[5:2]  ¹ tc The insertion of the words “when there is” is a reflection of the few Hebrew mss, Smr, and LXX that have כִּי (ki, “when, if”; cf. vv. 3 and esp. 4) rather than the MT’s אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who”). Many English versions render this as a conditional clause (“if”).

[5:2]  ² tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the uncleanness involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.

[5:2]  ³ tn Heb “and it is hidden from him,” meaning that the person who contracted the ceremonial uncleanness was not aware at the time what had happened, but later found out that he had become ceremonially unclean. This same phrase occurs again in both vv. 3 and 4.

[5:2]  ⁴ sn Lev 5:2-3 are parallel laws of uncleanness (contracted from animals and people, respectively), and both seem to assume that the contraction of uncleanness was originally unknown to the person (vv. 2 and 3) but became known to him or her at a later time (v. 3; i.e., “has come to know” in v. 3 is to be assumed for v. 2 as well). Uncleanness itself did not make a person “guilty” unless he or she failed to handle it according to the normal purification regulations (see, e.g., “wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening,” Lev 15:5 NIV; cf. Lev 11:39-40; 15:5-12, 16-24; Num 19, etc.). The problem here in Lev 5:2-3 is that, because the person had not been aware of his or her uncleanness, he or she had incurred guilt for not carrying out these regular procedures, and it would now be too late for that. Thus, the unclean person needs to bring a sin offering to atone for the contamination caused by his or her neglect of the purity regulations.

[15:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “All the bed which the man with a discharge sits on it shall be unclean”; cf. NLT “Any bedding.”

[15:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and all the vessel which he sits on it shall be unclean”; NASB “everything on which he sits.”

[15:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.”

[15:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening” (cf. also vv. 6-8, 10-11, etc.).

[15:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “And the one who touches in the flesh.” In this instance, “flesh” (or “body”) probably refers literally to any part of the body, not the genitals specifically (see the discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:914).

[15:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.”

[15:9]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term for “means of riding” is a cognate noun from the verb “ride” later in this verse. It refers to anything on which one may ride without the feet touching the ground including, for example, a saddle, a (saddle) blanket, or a seat on a chariot (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:916).

[15:10]  ¹² tn Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.”

[15:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And all who the man with the discharge touches in him and his hands he has not rinsed in water.”

[15:12]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term כְּלִי (kÿli) can mean “vessel” (v. 12a) or “utensil, implement, article” (v. 12b). An article of clay would refer to a vessel or container of some sort, while one made of wood would refer to some kind of tool or instrument.