Глава 15

1–30. Several types of uncleanness associated with sexual life: 1) painful suppuration in a man (vv. 2-15); 2) ejaculation in a man during emission or coitus (Articles 16–18); 3) desecration of a woman during menstruation (vv. 19–24); 4) painful bleeding in a woman (vv. 25–30) and religious and ritual cleansing of these impurities. 31–33. General conclusion of the resolution. Lev.15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: The general meaning of the cleansing instructions of Lev.XV, and together with all the laws about clean and unclean (Lev.11-15), is expressed in the words of Lev.15 of this chapter: “so protect the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness, desecrating My habitation, which is among them.” In particular, the laws on the purity of sexual life, which undoubtedly had a high educational value, “were very decent for the Israelites, as extremely lustful and greedy people” (Blessed Theodoret, question XXI on Lev.). Lev.15:2. declare to the children of Israel and say to them: if anyone has a discharge from his body, then because of his discharge he is unclean. Lev.15:3. And this is [the law] about his uncleanness from his flow: when his flow flows out of his body, and when his flow is retained in his body, this is his uncleanness; Lev.15:4. Every bed on which he who has a discharge lies is unclean, and every thing on which he [who has a discharge of semen] sits is unclean; Lev.15:5. and whoever touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:6. Whoever sits on any thing on which someone with a discharge has sat must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:7. and whoever touches the body of one who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:8. If he who has a discharge spits on a clean person, then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:9. and every cart in which he who had a discharge rode was unclean [until the evening]; Lev.15:10. and whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until the evening; and whoever carries it must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:11. and anyone who has a discharge touches him without washing his hands in water must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:12. an earthen vessel that is touched by one with a discharge must be broken, and every wooden vessel must be washed with water [and it will be clean]. Lev.15:13. And when he who has an issue is freed from his issue, then he must count seven days for himself for his cleansing and wash his clothes and wash his body with living water, and he will be clean; Lev.15:14. and on the eighth day he will take for himself two turtle doves or two young doves, and will come before the Lord to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and will give them to the priest; Lev.15:15. And the priest shall offer one of these birds, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make an atonement for it before the Lord for the issue thereof. We are talking about some kind of disease of the male genital organ (basar, flesh instead of pudenda, cf. Lev. 15:19; Ezek. 16:26, 23.20), but not about seminal flow (as in the Vulgate: qui patitur fluxum seminis). It is difficult to define a disease in terms of modern medicine. According to Beyer (de hemorroidibus ex lege mosaica impuris, ad Levit. Comment, Lips. 1792), this is hemorrhoids, fluid and erect or blind, but this contradicts the text’s indication of the sexual nature of the disease. According to Michaelis, Rosenmüller and others, this is the so-called gonorrhea virulenta or gonorrhoea, but its knowledge to the ancient Jews is not confirmed by anything. It seems better to accept the opinion of Maimonides that this disease consisted of an extreme weakening of the male genital parts, as a result of which purulent fluid flowed out involuntarily (in addition to the influences of climate, the origin of this disease could be influenced by the unbridled excess of sexual unions among the Jews). In such a painful state, a person was not only unclean to the first degree, but also transmitted uncleanness (to a second lesser degree - for one day) to all other persons and all things and objects that he touched in one way or another. However, the patient was not subjected to any forced separation or even supervision by anyone; he himself should have known when he would be able to enter into communication with other members of society (cf. Deut. 23.11–12). But his communication with the sanctuary required, firstly, a seven-day period of home cleansing (Lev. 15:13) and, secondly, sacrificial cleansing of the recovered person, who, due to illness, was excommunicated from the sanctuary; two doves or turtle doves were offered as a sin sacrifice and as a burnt offering. Lev.15:16. If someone has an outpouring of semen, he must wash his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:17. and every garment and every skin on which the seed falls shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:18. If a man lies with a woman and he has an ejaculation, then they must wash themselves in water and be unclean until the evening. This refers to random, mainly nocturnal defilements - wet dreams (cf. Deut. 23.11), as well as defilements during coitus. As almost normal phenomena, they desecrated a man to a lesser extent than the painful phenomenon mentioned above, and therefore were removed by simple ablution, without sacrifice. The moral and educational meaning of this resolution of Blessed. Theodoret defines it this way (question 20 on Lev.): “the law calls (the law) unclean the one with whom defilement occurs in a dream, and who sleeps with his wife according to the law of marriage (Lev. 15:18), although God himself decreed the law on marriage” ... (Gen. 2.24). “It is obvious that this teaches moderation in marital communication, and teaches that one enters into a marital union for the purpose of procreation, and not for voluptuousness; therefore he calls those who have slept unclean; and commands the use of purification, so that the work of purification will hinder frequent communication.” While forcing every Israeli to be careful and attentive to his mental and physical purity, the law did not directly condemn polygamy and, in general, excessive service to the carnal – sexual need. Lev.15:19. If a woman has an issue of blood flowing from her body, then she must sit for seven days during her purification, and whoever touches her will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:20. and everything on which she lies to continue her purification is unclean; and whatever it sits on is unclean; Lev.15:21. and whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:22. and whoever touches any thing on which she sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:23. and if anyone touches anything on the bed or on the thing on which she was sitting, he will be unclean until the evening; Lev.15:24. if her husband sleeps with her, then her uncleanness will be on him; he will be unclean for seven days, and every bed on which he lies will be unclean. The article about a menstruating wife has the same goal, i.e., limiting sexual intercourse. In this natural, normal phenomenon, sacrificial cleansing was not required (only, according to legend, ablution), as in the previous case (also normal). But sexual intercourse between a man and her at this time was certainly prohibited (Lev.15:24). Lev.15:25. If a woman bleeds for many days not during her cleansing, or if she has a flow longer than her usual cleansing, then throughout the flow of her uncleanness, just as during the continuation of her cleansing, she is unclean; Lev.15:26. every bed on which she lies during the entire period of her expiration will be unclean, just like the bed during the continuation of her cleansing; and every thing on which she sits will be unclean, just as it was unclean at the time of her cleansing; Lev.15:27. and whoever touches them will be unclean, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and will be unclean until the evening. Lev.15:28. And when she is freed from her expiration, then she must count seven days for herself, and then she will be clean; Lev.15:29. on the eighth day she will take for herself two turtle doves or two young doves and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting; Lev.15:30. And the priest shall offer one of the birds for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall cleanse it before the Lord from the issue of its uncleanness. If a woman’s bleeding was not the result of monthly cleansing, but a painful and prolonged phenomenon (as in the woman healed by the Lord, Matthew 9.20 et seq.), then this state of her, in terms of the degree of uncleanness, was completely equal to the similar painful state of a man (Lev. 15:1-15). Just as in the last case, even after the cessation of the illness, a 7-day state of uncleanness continued (cf. Lev. 15:13); Such sacrifices were required: sin sacrifices and burnt offerings (cf. Lev. 15:14–15). Lev.15:31. So protect the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness, desecrating My habitation, which is among them: Lev.15:32. This is the law about the one who has an issue and about the one who has an outpouring of semen, making him unclean, Lev.15:33. and about the one who suffers from her purification, and about those who have a discharge, man or woman, and about the husband who sleeps with an unclean woman. Lev.15 contains the same indication of the purpose of the described regulations regarding the sanctuary, and Lev.15:32–33 names 4 articles of the law set forth in Lev.15. You might be interested in: