What Does Leviticus 15:24 Mean in the King James?
And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth 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
Her menstrual state reaches beyond her body: the man becomes unclean, and even the bed he lies on carries that same condition.
THE MEANING
The verse shows a bodily state passing through contact and extending into shared space: the man is unclean for seven days, and the bed he lies on is unclean too. It names a condition and its duration, not either person’s character.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a bodily state stays sealed inside one person is undone here: contact carries it to another body and onto a shared surface.
THE ROOT
נִדָּתָהּ
niddātāh
GROWS FROM
נדה
n-d-h
Associated with separation or exclusion; נִדָּה names menstruation and its ritual impurity.
The word rendered “flowers” names her menstrual state directly. The phrase “be upon him” shows that this state carries consequences across the boundary between bodies.
ALSO GROWS
nadah: To remove or put away.
נָדָה
This verb carries the root’s sense of separation, illuminating the exclusion associated with ritual impurity.
niddah: Menstruation; menstrual impurity.
נִדָּה
This is the noun in the verse, naming the bodily state that comes upon the man.
הַמִּשְׁכָּב
hamishkav
GROWS FROM
שכב
sh-k-b
To lie down or recline.
The Hebrew uses the same root for “bed” and “lies”: the bed is literally the lying-place. That repeated root ties the act to the surface where its consequence remains.
ALSO GROWS
shakav: To lie down or recline.
שָׁכַב
This is the action in the verse: the man lies with her and later lies on the bed.
mishkav: A bed or lying-place.
מִשְׁכָּב
The noun makes the bed part of the same root-family as the act of lying.
טָמֵא
ṭāmēʾ
GROWS FROM
טמא
ṭ-m-ʾ
To be or become unclean.
This root names a condition that can extend through contact, as well as the act of making something unclean. The verse applies that condition to the man and the bed, linking person and place.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāmēʾ: Unclean.
טָמֵא
This describes the man’s condition for seven days.
ṭumʾāh: Uncleanness or impurity.
טֻמְאָה
This noun names the state the verse assigns to both the man and the bed.
ṭimmēʾ: To make unclean or defile.
טִמֵּא
This verbal form shows the root can describe uncleanness as something that is carried or imparted.
THE PATTERN
In these passages, contact carries a condition between bodies and the things they touch, while healing can reverse its direction.
Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean.And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.THE THREAD
And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.The Hebrew root טמא names the unclean person, the condition passed to what is touched, and the next person’s state. Leviticus 15:24 gives that chain a specific intimate scene: the man’s condition reaches even the bed.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us