Leviticus 15:24

Lev 15:24 And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

Ver. 24. And if any man lie with her.] Unawares, or secretly. For to do it presumptuously, and upon public notice, it was death. {Lev 20:18 Eze 22:10} And God often punisheth such unclean copulations now-a-days, with monstrous, deformed, or diseased births.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 15:24. Seven days — If he did this ignorantly; but if it were done with his own knowledge, and that of the woman, they were both, after being accused and convicted, to be punished with death, Lev 20:18; for as there was a turpitude in the action, so it would be very prejudicial to the children should any be then begotten, as they would probably be weak or leprous. Hence an excellent author is of opinion that this law was given for this very reason, to prevent the Jews from contracting and propagating some grievous disorder. Moses, or rather God, the author of the Mosaic law, by this prohibition, as in many other instances, consulted the health and safety of his people. To this we may add, that it would have redounded to the dishonour of God, and of the true religion, if the professors thereof should give such public evidence of their intemperance.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:24 Sexual intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period will later be forbidden and given a harsh penalty (18:19). This verse probably describes a case in which the woman’s menstrual flow went unnoticed when the sexual activity began or in which the woman’s period began during intercourse. The regulations required the man who came into contact with her blood to share the woman’s seven-day quarantine.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

If any of her uncleanness did only touch him in the bed: for else the man that companied with such a woman, should die, Lev. 20:18.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 24. The common sense of all mankind has led them to avoid the gross impropriety referred to in this verse; and it has been a general opinion, that off-spring obtained in this way has been infected with leprous, scrofulous, and other deeply radicated diseases, from which they and their posterity have been scarcely ever freed. In Le 20:18, persons guilty of this are condemned to death; here only to a seven days' separation; because, in the former case, Moses speaks of the act when both the man and woman were acquainted with the situation: in the latter, he speaks of a case where the circumstance was not known till afterwards; at least, so it appears these two places should be understood, so as to be reconciled.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) And if any man lie with her.—For committing this gross act presumptuously, both parties to it were visited with death. (See Lev_18:19; Lev_20:18.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. It is generally supposed that the case treated in this verse is different from that contemplated in Lev_18:19, Lev_20:18. If, as some think, the three passages refer to the same act, they cannot all be from the same source.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation,.... Not an ordinary but an extraordinary one, not within that time, but out of it, and which continued three days at least; so the Targum of Jonathan, and sometimes many years; as the poor woman Christ cured, which she had had twelve years; see Gill on Mat 9:20,

or if it run beyond the time of her separation; beyond the seven days of her separation, and so out of the usual way and time of it; whereby it appears to be somewhat extraordinary and unusual:

all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: all the while it was upon her, be it ever so many days or years, she was kept apart from her husband, and in all respects in the same condition and circumstances, as in the seven days of her separation because of her monthly courses:

she shall be unclean; as long as it is upon her, and neither be admitted to her husband's bed, nor to the house of God, which made her condition a very deplorable one.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This must refer to an unexpected occurrence. Intercourse during the acknowledged period was a heavy crime, and was to be punished by “cutting off” Lev 18:19; Lev 20:18; Eze 18:6.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Days, supposing the case was not brought before the judge, and the man did it through ignorance: otherwise it was death, chap. xx. 18.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He shall be unclean seven days, if he did this unwitingly; but if the man and woman did this knowingly, this was a gross sin, Eze 18:6; and they being accused and convicted were punished with death, Lev 20:18; for as there was a turpitude in the action, so it was very prejudicial to the children then begotten, who were commonly weak, or leprous, or otherwise disordered; which was also an injury to the commonwealth of Israel, and redounded to the dishonour of God, and of the true religion, that the professors thereof gave such public evidence of their intemperance.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. Flowers — Menstrual impurity ignorantly contracted. See Lev_15:19, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seven days - If he did this ignorantly; but if the man and woman did this knowingly, being accused and convicted, they were punished with death, chap. xx, 18, for as there was a turpitude in the action, so it was very prejudicial to the children then begotten, who were commonly weak, or leprous; which was also an injury to the commonwealth of Israel, and redounded to the dishonour of God and of the true religion, that the professors thereof gave such public evidence of their intemperance.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

If a man lay with her and her uncleanness came upon him, he became unclean for seven days, and the bed upon which he lay became unclean as well. The meaning cannot be merely if he lie upon the same bed with her, but if he have conjugal intercourse, as is evident from Lev 20:18 and Num 5:13 (cf. Gen 26:10; Gen 34:2; Gen 35:22; Sa1 2:22). It cannot be adduced as an objection to this explanation, which is the only admissible one, that according to Lev 18:19 and Lev 20:18 intercourse with a woman during her menses was an accursed crime, to be punished by extermination. For the law in Lev 20:18 refers partly to conjugal intercourse during the hemorrhage of a woman after child-birth, as the similarity of the words in Lev 20:18 and Lev 12:7 (דּמיה מקור) clearly proves, and to the case of a man attempting cohabitation with a woman during her menstruation. The verse before us, on the contrary, refers simply to the possibility of menstruation commencing during the act of conjugal intercourse, when the man would be involuntarily defiled through the unexpected uncleanness of the woman.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

her impure flow

"her unclean flow" or "the blood from her womb"

will be unclean

People and objects that other people must not touch are spoken of as if they were physically unclean. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

had relations with

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ותהי נדתה עליו [AND IF ANY MAN LIE WITH HER AT ALL] THEN SHALL HER UNCLEANLINESS OF SEPARATION BE UPON HIM — One might think that he follows in her wake — that if he had intercourse with her e. g. on the fifth day of her separation he shall become unclean for three days only (for the fifth, sixth and seventh) like herself (i. e. because these are the remaining days during which she is unclean)! Scripture, however, states: "he shall be unclean seven days”. Therefore these words cannot refer to the duration of her uncleanness. What then is the force of ותהי נדתה עליו? They mean: her state of uncleanness as a נדה shall be upon him. How is it in the case of her? She, being an אב הטומאה, makes man unclean, and also earthen vessels by means of ‎‎היסט! So, too, he becomes an אב הטומאה (not a ולד הטומאה), and makes man unclean, and also earthen vessels by means‎ of היסט! (Niddah 33a)

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.