What Does Leviticus 15:5 Mean?
And whoever touches his lying place shall tread his garments, wash himself in the waters, and be soiled until evening.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.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 whoever touches the flesh of the one who flows shall tread his garments, wash himself in the waters, and be soiled until evening.And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and the living soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be delivered."THE THREAD
And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and the living soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.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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