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Leviticus

About this book
Chapter 15

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. 3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, he is unclean. All the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge, this is his uncleanness. 4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and any furniture he sits on will be unclean. 5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 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. 7 The one who touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean, that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 Any means of riding that the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 A clay vessel which the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed in water. 13 “‘When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge, he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, and be clean. 14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and he is to present himself before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest, 15 and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge. 16 “‘When a man has a seminal emission, he must bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until evening, 17 and he must wash in water any clothing or leather that has semen on it, and it will be unclean until evening. 18 As for a woman whom a man goes to bed with, then has a seminal emission, they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 19 “‘When a woman has a discharge and her discharge is blood from her body, she is to be in her menstruation seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.⁠ 20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening, 24 and if a man actually goes to bed with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him, then he will be unclean seven days, and any bed he lies on will be unclean. 25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation, all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation—she is unclean. 26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation, 27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 28 “‘If she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. So the priest is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity. 31 “‘Thus you are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst.⁠ 32 This is the law for the one with a discharge: for the one who has a seminal emission and becomes unclean by it, 33 for the one who is sick in her menstruation, for the one with a discharge, whether male or female, and for a man who goes to bed with an unclean woman.’”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 15:19 and Protoevangelium of James 8

Hebrew Bible · Early Christian

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Summary

The Protoevangelium of James uses Leviticus 15 to explain why Mary must leave the temple when she reaches puberty. It relies on purity laws about menstruation, which declare a woman ritually impure, making her unfit for temple service.

Passages

Leviticus 15:19

Hebrew Bible
19 “‘When a woman has a discharge and her discharge is blood from her body, she is to be in her menstruation seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening, 24 and if a man actually goes to bed with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him, then he will be unclean seven days, and any bed he lies on will be unclean.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Protoevangelium of James 8

Early Christian · Gospel of James
8 Her parents left, marveling and praising the Lord because the child hadn’t turned back. Mary remained in the temple of the Lord, like a dove living there, receiving food from the hand of an angel. When she turned twelve, the priests gathered and said, “Look, Mary has reached the age of twelve here in the temple. What should we do with her so that she doesn’t defile the sanctuary of the Lord?” They said to the high priest, “You stand at the altar of the Lord; go in and pray about her, and whatever the Lord reveals to you, that’s what we’ll do.” The high priest went in, taking the robe with the twelve bells, and entered the holy of holies. As he prayed about her, an angel of the Lord appeared beside him, saying, “Zacharias, Zacharias, go out and gather the widowers of the people. Let each one bring his staff. The Lord will show a sign to one of them, and she will be his wife.” So the heralds went throughout all of Judea, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded, and everyone came running.
150–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Protoevangelium of James

References

"... This verse serves as the transitional link between the preceding chapters of the Gospel of Mary and the beginning of the Joseph Council in the Protoevangelium of James 8:3 within the context of the redactional enhancement by the Composer’s interpolation of the Joseph Council before the Veil Council. In that setting the genitive absolute was introduced by the Composer to facilitate the abrupt transition from Protoevangelium 8:2, which briefly describes Mary’s life in the temple from the age of three, to 8:3, where Mary is now a physically mature twelve years old, thus obliging the priests to hold the Joseph Council to resolve the issue of her new impure status vis-à-vis the purity laws regarding menstruant women in the temple. (Compare the classical biblical passage in Leviticus 15:19-31) ..."
George Zervos, The Protevangelium of James: Greek Text and English Translation with a Critical Introduction (Volume 1) (London: T&T Clark, 2019), 24–25.

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Leviticus 15:19 and Protoevangelium of James 8

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