Leviticus 15: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Leviticus 15 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron about laws for discharges. If a man has a discharge, he is unclean. His uncleanness applies whether the discharge is ongoing or has stopped (vv. 1-3). Anything he lies on or sits on is unclean. Those who touch these items must wash and be unclean until evening (vv. 4-7). If he spits on someone clean, that person becomes unclean as well (vv. 8-9). After cleansing, he must bring offerings to the priest (vv. 13-15).

Key verse

“‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’”
Leviticus 15:31 (WEB)

Outline

Leviticus 15:1–7 Laws on Male Discharges
Leviticus 15:8–15 Purification After Discharges
Leviticus 15:16–24 Discharges Related to Semen
Leviticus 15:25–30 Laws on Female Discharges
Leviticus 15:31–33 Significance of the Purification Laws

Discussion questions

In v14, what offerings does the man bring to the priest after his cleansing?
What does the phrase 'seven days' in v19 indicate about the woman's impurity?
In vv. 25-26, why are the days of the woman's discharge treated as 'unclean' like her period?
The act of touching a bed in v21: what does this say about communal purity?
How do you respond to situations that make you feel 'unclean' or out of place?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Leviticus 15: Mark 5, Leviticus 11, Numbers 19.

Before next time: read Leviticus 16.