Impure Genital Emissions

(Leviticus 15:1- 15:33)

Jehovah told Moses and Aaron to give the people of Israel the following instructions: "Any man who has an unnatural emission of fluid from his penis is ritually impure.  The emission is impure whether his organ is dripping with it or is experiencing a blockage because of it.  The bed on which he has lain is impure and so is any place he has sat.  If you touch the bed on which such a person has lain, or any place where he sat, you must wash your clothes and bath yourself; you will remain ritually impure until evening.  And if you touch the man with the emission, or if he spits upon you, you must also wash your clothes and bath; you will remain ritually impure until evening.  Any saddle or blanket on which the man has sat during riding will be impure.  If you touch anything that has been under him or if the man touches you without first rinsing his hands, you must wash your clothes and bathe; you will be ritually impure until evening.  Any earthenware vessel he has touched must be smashed and any wooden utensil he has used must be rinsed with water.

"When the person who has had the emission has recovered, he must devote 7 days to his ritual purification.  Afterwards, he must wash his clothes and bath himself in fresh water so that he may be ritually pure.  On the eighth day he must take two turtledoves or young pigeons and present them to the priest at the Sacrificial Altar in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle Sanctum.  The priest will sacrifice them, one as a sin offering, the other as a burnt offering.  By this means he will complete the ceremony of purification for the bodily discharge and obtain for the man atonement with Jehovah.

"Whenever a man has an discharge of semen, he must bathe his entire body; he will remain ritually impure until evening.  Anything of cloth or leather with semen on it should be washed and will be impure until evening.  If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, resulting in an ejaculation, they must both bathe; both will remain impure until evening.

"When a woman experiences a flow of menstrual blood, she will remain ritually impure for 7 seven days.  Anyone who touches her during the time of her menstrual period will be ritually impure until evening.  Anything the woman lies upon or sits on will be impure.  If you touch her bed or anything she has sat upon, you must wash your clothes and bathe.  Whether you have touched her bed or something she has sat upon, you will remain impure until evening.  If a man has sexual intercourse with her, then her ritual impurity of her menstrual period  is transferred to him; he will be ritually impure for 7 days and any bed upon which he lies will become impure.

"If a woman suffers a flow of blood unrelated to her menstrual period or if the blood flow of menstruation continues beyond the normal time of her period, she will be considered ritually impure.  As with her menstrual period, she will be impure so long as the discharge continues.  And as with her period, any bed she lies upon or place she sits will be impure.  If you touch these things, you, too, will become impure.  You must then wash your clothes and bathe; you will be ritually impure until evening.

"When a woman's flow of blood ceases, she must wait 7 days, after which she will be ritually pure.  On the eighth day she must take two turtledoves or young pigeons and present them to the priest at the Sacrificial Altar in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle Sanctum.  The priest will sacrifice them, one as a sin offering, the other as a burnt offering.  By this means he will complete the ceremony of purification for the impure flow of blood and obtain for the woman atonement with Jehovah.

"You must therefore protect the people of Israel from ritual impurity, for they will die, anyone defiling with impurity my Tabernacle, which stands in their midst.

"These are the regulations concerning persons with bodily discharges -- a man who become impure because of an emission of semen, a woman during her menstrual period, any man or woman with genital emissions, and a man who has had sexual relations with a woman who is ritually impure.”

Notes
1.  Although many Bible translations are (perhaps understandably) vague and euphemistic in describing the first-mentioned “bodily discharge,” what is meant here is an emission of fluid from the penis most likely caused by gonorrhea, an STD with a long history.  (Syphillis, on the other hand, was not known in the Old World until 1494, traditionally and still widely believed to have been brought to Europe by Columbus’ sailors.)   

2. Ritual impurity after intercourse and during the menstrual period would be common and natural.  Impurity, it can be concluded, would not always be the result of imprudent behavior or physical affliction.  Any person would, at various times, be deemed impure.  It would seem that someone who was sexual active would be ritually impure most of the time.

3.  One can imagine social complications ensuing from concerns about ritual purity.  A man might visit another's house.  He is invited to sit down.  But the guest would need to be cautious in order to maintain his ritual purity.  Would he tell his host, "Yes, thank you, but, you know, your wife seemed a bit out of sorts today.  Is she possibly having her period now?  And if so, did she sit in this chair you offer me."  And one would hesitate visiting anyone who was sick for fear of becoming ritually impure.  One can’t help but thinking that this emphasis on ritual purity would have a very chilling effect on whatever the practice of medicine consisted of at the time.

4.  The enforcement of ritual purity is to make certain that no one and nothing impure ever violates the Tabernacle.  The punishment is death.  It is not spelled out how this occurs.  Does the impure violator of the Tabernacle suddenly die of a heart attack?  Is he struck down by lightning or consumed by the roaring flames of the altar fire?  Or does he waste away days later?  This is a frightful thing, considering that one might very easily become ritually impure without knowing it, sitting in the wrong place, drinking from the wrong cup, touching the wrong person.  Would not the Hebrew community be consumed by paranoia and fear, each person safeguarding his purity?

5.  I might present a theory to explain the origin of the concept of ritual purity (which is not exclusive to the Hebrews, but is nearly universal among primitive religions).  It is this.  If extraterrestrial beings came to earth and had intercourse with human beings, they would be accepted by the earth men as gods and temples would be build to honor and worship them.  The temples might also be places where the extraterrestrial beings might physically visit their worshipers.  But the "gods" would need to be wary of the humans.  They could easily protect themselves physically with weapons and defenses, but might not so easily guard themselves from the germs that humans could carry.  Therefore, they might insist that they be approached only by healthy worshipers and those who had bathed and washed their clothes.  The reason behind ritual purity might, therefore, be hygienic after all, even if the ancients did not understand it as such.