The first reference to a person becoming unclean is:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 5:1-13 "'If a person sins
because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding
something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible. "'Or
if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean--whether the carcasses of
unclean wild animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean creatures that move
along the ground--even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is
guilty. "'Or if he touches human uncleanness--anything that would make him
unclean--even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be
guilty. "'Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything,
whether good or evil--in any matter one might carelessly swear about--even
though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
"'When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way
he has sinned And, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to HaShem a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest
shall make atonement for him for his sin. "'If
he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two
young pigeons to HaShem as a penalty for his sin--one for a sin offering and
the other for a burnt offering. He is to bring them
to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to
wring its head from its neck, not severing it completely, And is to sprinkle
some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest
of the blood must be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin
offering. The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the
prescribed way and make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he
will be forgiven. "'If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young
pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine
flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense
on it, because it is a sin offering. He is to bring it to the priest, who shall
take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar on top of
the offerings made to HaShem by fire. It is a sin
offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these
sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will
belong to the priest, as in the case of the grain offering.'"
It is called ‘sin’, but we can not bring the required offering. This seems to be referring to a dead creature.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 11:20-32 "'All flying insects that walk on all
fours are to be detestable to you. There are, however, some winged creatures
that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that
have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of
locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. But all other winged creatures that
have four legs you are to detest. "'You will make
yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean
till evening. Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash
his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. "'Every animal that
has a split hoof not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is
unclean for you; whoever touches [the carcass of] any of them will be unclean. Of
all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are
unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. Anyone
who picks up their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till
evening. They are unclean for you. "'Of the animals that move about on the
ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great
lizard, The gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the
chameleon. Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you.
Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. When one
of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be
unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water;
it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.
We become unclean by touching a dead unclean animal. If we pick one up, we must wash our clothes.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 11:39-45 "'If an animal that you are allowed to
eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening. Anyone
who eats some of the carcass must wash
his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the
carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. "'Every
creature that moves about on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. You
are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on
its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable. Do not
defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by
means of them or be made unclean by them. I am HaShem
your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make
yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am HaShem
who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God;
therefore be holy, because I am holy.
We ought not to eat clean animals that die by themselves. If we do, we must wash our clothes.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 12:1-8 HaShem said to Moses, "Say to the
Israelites: 'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be
ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is
unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three
days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go
to the sanctuary until the days of her purification
are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks
the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six
days to be purified from her bleeding. "'When the days of her purification
for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old
lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall offer them before HaShem to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially
clean from her flow of blood. "'These are the regulations for the woman
who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to
bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt
offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make
atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"
Why is she unclean longer for a girl?
In this next pasuk we see that even a house can be unclean.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 14:43-46 "If the mildew reappears in the house
after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, The
priest is to go and examine it and, if the mildew has spread in the house, it
is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down--its
stones, timbers and all the plaster--and taken out of the town to an unclean
place. "Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be
unclean till evening.
Watch out for destructive mildew.
The following passage treats men and women alike:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 15:1-33 HaShem said to
Moses and Aaron, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When any man
has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. Whether it continues flowing
from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean.
This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness: "'Any bed the man
with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be
unclean. Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes
and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever sits on
anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash his clothes and bathe
with water, and he will be unclean till evening. "'Whoever touches the man
who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be
unclean till evening. "'If the man with the discharge spits on someone who
is clean, that person must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will
be unclean till evening. "'Everything the man sits on when riding will be
unclean, And whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be
unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash his clothes and
bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. "'Anyone the man
with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash his
clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. "'A
clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be
rinsed with water. "'When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to
count off seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he
must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean.
On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young
pigeons and come before HaShem to the entrance to the Tent
of Meeting and give them to the priest. The
priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering
and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before HaShem for the man because of his
discharge. "'When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole
body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Any clothing or leather
that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till
evening. When a man lies with a woman and there
is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean
till evening. "'When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity
of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be
unclean till evening. "'Anything she lies on during her period will be
unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed must
wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever
touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he
will be unclean till evening. Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting
on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening. "'If a man
lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven
days; any bed he lies on will be unclean. "'When a woman has a discharge
of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a
discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she
has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while
her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly
period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever
touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water,
and he will be unclean till evening. "'When she is cleansed from her
discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be
ceremonially clean. On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young
pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The
priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt
offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before HaShem for the
uncleanness of her discharge. "'You must keep the Israelites separate from
things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for
defiling my dwelling place, which is among
them.'" These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone
made unclean by an emission of semen, For a woman in her monthly period, for a
man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who
lies with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.
When you have sex you are to bathe and then you will be unclean until evening.
A discharge makes you unclean for seven days after the discharge stops. You become unclean by touching anything touched by an unclean person.
The main reason seems to be because of the potential to defile the Tabernacle or the Temple.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 17:15-16 "'Anyone, whether native-born or alien, who eats anything found
dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and
bathe with water, and he will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then he
will be clean. But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will
be held responsible.'"
Bamidbar (Numbers) 5:1-4 HaShem said to
Moses, "Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has
an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially
unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and
female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp,
where I dwell among them." The Israelites did
this; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as HaShem had instructed
Moses.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 9:2-14 "Have the Israelites
celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. Celebrate
it at the appointed time, at twilight on the
fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules
and regulations." So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the
Passover, And they did so in the Desert of Sinai at
twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
The Israelites did everything just as HaShem commanded Moses. But some of them
could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially
unclean on account of a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same
day And said to Moses, "We have become unclean because of a dead body, but
why should we be kept from presenting HaShem'S offering with the other
Israelites at the appointed time?" Moses answered them, "Wait until I
find out what HaShem commands concerning you." Then HaShem said to Moses, "Tell
the Israelites: 'When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a
dead body or are away on a journey, they may still celebrate HaShem's Passover.
They are to celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the
second month at twilight. They are to eat the
lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They must not leave any
of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover,
they must follow all the regulations. But if a man who is ceremonially clean
and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, that person must be cut
off from his people because he did not present HaShem's offering at the
appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.
"'An alien living among you who wants to
celebrate HaShem's Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and
regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the
native-born.'"
We must be ceremonially clean to celebrate the Lord's Passover.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 19:11-22 "Whoever touches the dead body of anyone
will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the
third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not
purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. Whoever
touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles HaShem's
tabernacle. That person must be cut off from
Here we need the ashes of the red heifer in order to become clean after touching a dead body or a grave.
Was Yeshua unclean after dying and being in a tomb?
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 23:9-14 When you are encamped against your enemies,
keep away from everything impure. If one of your men is unclean because of a
nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp and stay there. But as evening
approaches he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may
return to the camp. Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to
relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and
when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. For HaShem
your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to
you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything
indecent and turn away from you.
Ezra 6:19-22 On the fourteenth day of the first month,
the exiles celebrated the Passover.
The priests and Levites had purified themselves and
were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all
the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. So the
Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had
separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile
neighbors in order to seek HaShem, the God of
Isaiah 6:1-7 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne,
high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered
their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one
another: "Holy, holy, holy is HaShem Almighty; the whole earth is full of
his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds
shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried.
"I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, HaShem Almighty." Then one
of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with
tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has
touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin
atoned for."
Isaiah had an interesting view of how his uncleanness affected him.
Isaiah 35:1-8 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will
rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, It will burst into bloom; it will rejoice
greatly and shout for joy. The glory of
Lamentations 1:8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become
unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she
herself groans and turns away.
Sin seems to make us unclean.
Ezekiel 22:23-26 Again the word of HaShem came to me: "Son of man, say to the
land, 'You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.' There
is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey;
they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows
within her. Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish
between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between
the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Ezekiel 44:21-23 No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court. They must
not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite
descent or widows of priests. They are to teach my people the difference
between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the
unclean and the clean.
* * *
Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:19 "'Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her
monthly period.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:24-30 "'Do not defile yourselves in any of
these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before
you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin,
and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my
laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you
must not do any of these detestable things, For all these things were done by
the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And
if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations
that were before you. "'Everyone who does any of these detestable
things--such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements
and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you
came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am HaShem your God.'"
Vayikra (Leviticus) 20:18 "'If a man lies with a woman during
her monthly period and has sexual relations with
her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both
of them must be cut off from their people.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 20:22-26 "'Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing
you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according to the customs
of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these
things, I abhorred them. But I said to you, "You will possess their land;
I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land
flowing with milk and honey." I am HaShem your
God, who has set you apart from the nations. "'You must therefore make a
distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean
birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves
along the ground--those which I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to
be holy to me because I, HaShem, am holy, and I have set you apart from the
nations to be my own.
Ezekiel 18:1-9 The word of HaShem came to me: "What do you people mean by
quoting this proverb about the
Here we have an unclean woman touching Yeshua:
Mark 5:24-34 So Yeshua went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around
him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the
care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better
she grew worse. When she heard about Yeshua, she came up behind him in the
crowd and touched his cloak, Because she thought, "If I just touch his
clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt
in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Yeshua realized that
power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who
touched my clothes?" "You see the people crowding against you,"
his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'" But
Yeshua kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what
had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told
him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you.
Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
A. Touch a dead unclean creature.
B. Touch human uncleaness or a dead person.
C. Touch four legged, winged insects.
D. Touch a clean animal that dies or eat one that
does.
E. Give birth.
F. During monthly period.
G. Going into an unclean house.
H. A person with a bodily discharge and whatever
that person touches.
I. Contact with people who have infectious
diseases.
This study was written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be submitted to:
Greg Killian
1101 Surrey Trace SE
Tumwater, WA 98501
Internet address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
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Send comments to Greg Killian at his email address: gkilli@aol.com