Commentary - Leviticus 15:25-30

Bird's-eye view

This section of Leviticus 15 concludes a chapter dedicated entirely to the laws of ritual purity concerning bodily discharges. While modern readers might find these regulations strange or even off-putting, they were a central part of God's "Holiness Code," a set of instructions designed to teach Israel what it meant to be a people set apart for a holy God. The laws were not primarily about hygiene, though some hygienic benefits were certainly present. Rather, they were a complex series of object lessons, or what we might call acted-out parables. They taught Israel that life in a fallen world is messy and that our natural state is one of "uncleanness," which separates us from the holy presence of God. Any involuntary loss of life-giving fluid, whether seed or blood, rendered a person ceremonially unclean. This particular passage deals with a chronic, abnormal flow of blood in a woman, a condition that placed her in a perpetual state of ritual uncleanness, effectively cutting her off from the worshiping community. The text outlines her condition, the consequences of her uncleanness, and the precise, sacrificial remedy required for her restoration. In this, we see a vivid picture of the condition of the sinner and the gracious provision of God for cleansing and atonement, a picture that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The structure is straightforward: the definition of the chronic condition (v. 25), the scope of the resulting contamination (v. 26-27), and the path to restoration after healing (v. 28-30). This progression from defilement to cleansing is the basic pattern of the gospel. The woman's condition is a living metaphor for the unceasing fountain of sin in our hearts. Her isolation is a picture of our alienation from God. And her return to the community through blood sacrifice points directly to the only way any of us can be made right with God: through the atoning blood of the one perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus 1-16 provides the detailed instructions for how sinful man can approach a holy God, focusing on the sacrificial system and the priesthood. Chapters 11-15 then shift to the laws of clean and unclean, which define the state of ritual purity necessary for an Israelite to participate in the covenant community and approach the tabernacle. These chapters cover unclean foods, uncleanness after childbirth, leprosy, and, in chapter 15, uncleanness from bodily discharges. These laws are not arbitrary. They are designed to teach a fundamental theological point: God is life, and anything associated with death, decay, or the loss of life is incompatible with His presence. A flow of blood represents a loss of life, as "the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11). Therefore, these conditions, while not necessarily sinful in themselves, rendered a person ceremonially unclean, temporarily barring them from the sanctuary. This entire system was a constant, tangible reminder to the Israelites of their need for holiness and for a mediator who could provide the atonement necessary to enter God's presence. This passage is the capstone of that section, dealing with a particularly severe and isolating form of uncleanness.

Key Issues

Life Leaking Away

The central principle behind the laws in Leviticus 15 is that God is the fountain of life. Therefore, any involuntary discharge from the body, whether it be semen from a man or blood from a woman, was treated as a "leak" of this life essence. In a world marred by the curse of sin and death, these bodily functions were reminders of that curse. They were not inherently sinful; a man and wife engaging in their marital duty were not sinning, nor was a woman sinning by having her period. But these things were part of a world that was groaning under the fall, a world where things were not as they ought to be. Consequently, these experiences rendered a person ceremonially unclean, meaning they were temporarily unfit to come into the immediate presence of the holy God at the tabernacle.

This particular law addresses a chronic condition, a constant leaking away of life. This made the woman's situation particularly poignant. She was not just unclean for a week out of the month; she was unclean all the time. Her condition was a constant, visible picture of a deeper spiritual reality. Sin is not an occasional problem for us; it is a chronic condition, an unceasing fountain of corruption that flows from our hearts and renders us perpetually unfit for the presence of God. These laws were a heavy burden, yes, but they were a burden that was meant to teach. They were a schoolmaster, training Israel to long for a true and final cleansing that no amount of ritual washing or animal sacrifice could ever ultimately provide.

Verse by Verse Commentary

25 ‘Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, all the days of her unclean discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean.

The law begins by defining the specific condition. This is not a normal menstrual cycle. This is a chronic hemorrhage, a flow of blood that continues for "many days" outside of her normal period. The result is that her state of ritual uncleanness is not temporary and predictable, but constant and open-ended. For as long as the discharge continues, she is in the same state as a woman during her period. The final declaration is stark and absolute: she is unclean. This was not a moral judgment on her character, but a ritual status. Nevertheless, the spiritual parallel is unavoidable. This is a picture of a life dominated by the curse, a life where the effects of the fall are not a passing inconvenience but a defining reality.

26-27 Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness from her menstrual impurity. Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

Here we see the principle of contagion. Her uncleanness was not confined to her own body; it was transferable. Anything she lay on, anything she sat on, became unclean. And furthermore, anyone who touched those contaminated objects also became unclean. This had profound social consequences. She would have been largely isolated, unable to participate in the normal social and religious life of her community. Imagine the loneliness. Imagine the stigma. This is a powerful illustration of the nature of sin. Sin doesn't just defile the sinner; it spreads. It contaminates relationships, families, and communities. Our sin affects others. The law made this spiritual reality tangible. The person who came into contact with her uncleanness had to wash and was considered unclean until evening, a minor form of the purification process, showing that even secondary contact with defilement required cleansing.

28 Now if she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean.

Grace appears in the word if. The condition might not be permanent. If she is healed, if the flow of blood stops, the process of restoration can begin. But notice, the cleansing is not immediate. Just as the flow of blood had to stop, a period of waiting was required. She must count seven full days after her healing. This waiting period served to confirm that the healing was genuine and complete. In biblical thought, the number seven often represents completeness or perfection. She had to go through a full week, a complete cycle of time, in this state of separation before she could be declared clean. This underscores the thoroughness that God requires in dealing with uncleanness. It cannot be handled hastily or superficially.

29-30 Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them in to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before Yahweh because of her unclean discharge.’

The climax of her restoration happens on the eighth day. The eighth day, in Scripture, is the day of new beginnings. It is the day after the Sabbath, the first day of a new week, a picture of resurrection and new creation. On this day, she is to bring an offering. The offering is modest, two turtledoves or pigeons, which was the prescribed sacrifice for the poor. This tells us that access to God's grace is not dependent on wealth. The priest then performs two sacrifices. First, a sin offering. This is crucial. It acknowledges that while her condition was not a sin, it was part of the fallen, sinful world. It was a manifestation of the curse, and the curse must be dealt with by blood. Second, a burnt offering. The burnt offering, or ascension offering, was one of total consecration. The entire animal went up in smoke to God. Having been cleansed by the sin offering, she is now able to rededicate her whole life to God. The priest makes atonement for her, and she is fully restored to fellowship with God and His people. The entire process paints a beautiful picture of the gospel: healing, a period of sanctification, and then full restoration and renewed consecration through a blood sacrifice offered by a mediator.

Application

It is impossible to read this passage without thinking of the woman in the Gospels who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve long years (Mark 5:25-34). For twelve years, she lived under this law. She was perpetually unclean, isolated, and broke from spending all her money on doctors who could not help. She was the walking embodiment of the spiritual state of every one of us apart from Christ. Our sin is a chronic hemorrhage of spiritual life, isolating us from a holy God and leaving us helpless.

But what did she do? She heard about Jesus. She believed that if she could just touch the hem of His garment, she would be made well. In an act of audacious faith, this unclean woman pressed through the crowd to touch the holy Son of God. According to the law of Leviticus, her touch should have made Jesus unclean. But with Jesus, the flow of power is reversed. His holiness is more contagious than our uncleanness. Instead of her making Him unclean, He made her clean. The flow of blood stopped instantly. He is the reality to which these Levitical laws were pointing. He is our priest, our sacrifice, and our cleansing all in one.

This passage, then, drives us to Christ. We are all this woman. We all have a fountain of sin within us that we cannot stop. Rituals will not fix it. Good intentions will not fix it. Only a touch from the living Christ can. And how do we touch Him? By faith. We reach out the hand of faith, and He meets us. He does not require us to wait seven days. He does not require two pigeons. He became the sin offering and the burnt offering for us, once for all. Through faith in His finished work, we are healed, we are cleansed, and on the great eighth day of His resurrection, we are brought into a new creation, fully restored to the Father.