What Does Leviticus 15:20 Mean in the King James?
And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Here, ritual impurity reaches beyond the body: the surfaces that bear her weight share its status.
THE MEANING
During her menstrual separation, the bed beneath her and the seat she uses take on the same ritual status. The verse describes a condition carried through contact with ordinary objects, not an accusation of wrongdoing.
THE ROOT
יִטְמָא
yiṭmāʾ
GROWS FROM
טמא
ṭ-m-ʾ
To be or become ritually impure; in related forms, to make something impure.
“shall be unclean” in this verse is yiṭmāʾ. The Hebrew verb names a state that comes to be, and the verse applies it to both the place she lies and the place she sits. The root’s related forms name both the condition of impurity and the state of being unclean, showing how one status extends across the body’s surroundings.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāmēʾ: Ritually unclean; impure.
טָמֵא
This adjective names the status that the verse says the bed and seat acquire.
ṭumʾāh: Ritual impurity; the condition of being unclean.
טֻמְאָה
This noun names the condition shared by the surfaces that receive her weight.
THE PATTERN
Ritual impurity can pass through contact from a source to the objects that receive it.
And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.THE THREAD
And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.In Leviticus, a woman’s menstrual separation extends ritual impurity to the surfaces her body touches. In Mark, a woman with a flow of blood has just touched Jesus’ garment, and the narrative turns to her healing: contact is followed by restoration.
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