Leviticus 15:31
in Leviticus 15You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is in the midst of them.
KJV
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.
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This verse in Leviticus 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This solemn admonition is addressed to Moses and Aaron, see Lev 15:1. Lev 15:31 My tabernacle - Strictly, “my dwelling-place” משׁכן mı̂shkān, as in Lev 8:10; Lev 17:4; Lev 26:11. The word rendered “tabernacle” elsewhere in Leviticus is properly “tent.” See the Exo 26:1 note.
This site's exposition
that they die not in their uncleanness
Here is the one reason the chapter gives, and it arrives after thirty verses of procedure. The danger named is the tabernacle standing in the middle of the camp, so these rules guard the place where God dwells among them. Why these particular discharges defile is left unsaid, and the commentators read the silence differently: Adam Clarke takes the rules as a guard against contagion, and Keil and Delitzsch take a discharge as the death at work in a body made to carry life. The word unclean falls twenty-seven times in the chapter and clean three times.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The grand reason of all these laws was, to separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness. Hereby they were taught their privilege and honour, that they were purified unto God, a peculiar people; for that was a defilement to them, which was not so to others.
Let us all see how indispensably necessary real holiness is to our future happiness, and get our hearts purified by faith, that we may see God. Perhaps it is in allusion to these laws which forbade the unclean to approach the sanctuary that when it is asked, Who shall stand in God's holy place? it is answered, He that hath clean hands and a pure heart ( Ps. xxxiv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness,....
We need not be at all curious in explaining these antiquated laws, it is enough if we observe the general intention; but we have need to be very cautious lest sin take occasion by the commandment to become more exceedingly sinful; and exceedingly sinful it is when lust is kindled by sparks of fire from God's altar.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness--The divine wisdom was manifested in inspiring the Israelites with a profound reverence for holy things; and nothing was more suited to this purpose than to debar from the tabernacle all who were polluted by any kind of uncleanness, ceremonial as well as natural, mental as well as physical.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness - By this separation the cause became less frequent, and the contagion, if it did exist, was prevented from spreading. So pest-houses and fever-wards are constructed for the purpose of separating the infected from the sound; and thus contagion is lessened, and its diffusion prevented. That they die not - That life may be prolonged by these prudential cares; and that he who is morally and legally unclean, may not presume to enter into the tabernacle of God till purified, lest he provoke Divine justice to consume him, while attempting to worship with a polluted mind and impure hands. 1. How unpromising and how forbidding, at the first view, is this chapter! and yet how full of wise, humane, and moral regulations, manifesting at once the wisdom and kindness of the great Legislator! Every word of God is pure in itself, and of great importance to us. He who cannot derive instruction from the chapter before him, and be led by a proper consideration of its contents to adore the wisdom and goodness of God, must have either a very stupid or a very vitiated mind. 2. In all these ordinances we may plainly see that God has purity of heart continually in view - that the soul may be holy, he cuts off the occasions of sin; and that men may be obliged to keep within due bounds, and possess their vessels in sanctification and honor, he hedges up their way with briars and thorns, and renders transgression painful, shameful, and expensive. 3. Preventing grace is not less necessary than that which saves and which preserves. […]
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִזַּרְתֶּ֥ם | vehizartem | and you will keep separate | H5144 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מִטֻּמְאָתָ֑ם | mitumatam | from uncleanness their | H2932 → | 36 times |
| וְלֹ֤א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָמֻ֙תוּ֙ | yamutu | they will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בְּטֻמְאָתָ֔ם | betumatam | in uncleanness their | H2932 → | 36 times |
| בְּטַמְּאָ֥ם | betameam | because make unclean they | H2930 → | 162 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁכָּנִ֖י | mishkani | dwelling place my | H4908 → | 139 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ | betokham | [is] among midst of them | H8432 → | 418 times |
וְהִזַּרְתֶּ֥םand you will keep separate
vehizartemH5144 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מִטֻּמְאָתָ֑םfrom uncleanness their
mitumatamH2932 →36 times
וְלֹ֤אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָמֻ֙תוּ֙they will die
yamutuH4191 →839 times
בְּטֻמְאָתָ֔םin uncleanness their
betumatamH2932 →36 times
בְּטַמְּאָ֥םbecause make unclean they
betameamH2930 →162 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִשְׁכָּנִ֖יdwelling place my
mishkaniH4908 →139 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּתוֹכָֽם׃[is] among midst of them
betokhamH8432 →418 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 5:11Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:20
His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 7:9–11
Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
- 2 Chronicles 36:14
Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in…
- Ezekiel 8:5–6
“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I…
- Ezekiel 7:20
Through
Numbers 5:3You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 23:14
For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from…
- Deuteronomy 23:14
Through
Numbers 19:13Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has…
it leads to
- Leviticus 22:3
Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut…
- Leviticus 22:3
Through
Ezekiel 23:38They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:13
Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly…
- Ezekiel 20:13
Through
Numbers 19:20But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not…
it leads to
- Numbers 19:13
Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has…
- Numbers 19:13
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.