What Does Leviticus 15:5 Mean in the King James?
And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
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, touch is not incidental: it carries a condition from the bed onto the one who contacts it.
THE MEANING
Touching the bed changes the person’s ritual state, and both clothing and body undergo washing. That state lasts until evening, holding cleansing and time together; impurity here names a ritual condition, not a moral verdict.
THE ROOT
יִגַּע
yiggaʿ
GROWS FROM
נגע
n-g-ʿ
To touch, reach, or strike.
“touches” in this verse is yiggaʿ. The verb comes from נגע (nagaʿ), a root whose branches include both contact and affliction. That shared seed makes the touch consequential: the verse describes contact as a crossing through which a condition can pass.
ALSO GROWS
negaʿ: A blow, affliction, or plague.
נֶגַע
This branch gives contact its other edge: the same root can name an impact or affliction, echoing the verse’s account of touch changing ritual status.
magaʿ: Contact or a point of touching.
מַגָּע
This noun makes the threshold in the verse visible: the consequential moment is the contact itself, not the toucher’s intention.
THE PATTERN
Touch can carry a condition from one body or object to another, and contact with wholeness can carry healing.
And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.THE THREAD
And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.Both verses use נגע (nagaʿ), meaning “to touch, reach, or strike.” Numbers makes the movement explicit: the condition passes from the person to what is touched, then to the next person, and lasts until evening.
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