Leviticus 15:31

Summary

The verse instructs that the people of Israel be kept separate from their ritual uncleanness, warning that death results if they defile the dwelling place of God located in their midst. It closes a section of laws on bodily discharges by stating the purpose behind the preceding regulations.

Key words

• hizzartem ("you will keep separate", H5144A) — hiphil causative, sequential perfect, second person masculine plural: the subject (implicitly the priests/leadership addressed) causes Israel to be separated, not a passive state.
• tum'atam ("their uncleanness", H2932) — feminine singular noun in construct with the suffix "their," appearing twice (lines 7 and 13) referring to the condition from which/in which they might die.
• yamutu ("they will die", H4191) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural, expressing a future or potential consequence rather than a completed act.
• tamme'am ("their making unclean/in their defiling", H2930A) — piel infinitive construct with pronominal suffix "them/their," an intensive verb form indicating the active causing of defilement, introduced by the preposition be ("because/in").
• mishkani ("my dwelling place", H4908) — masculine singular construct noun with first-person suffix "my," naming the object defiled.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative ve- ("and") attached to hizzartem, continuing a sequence of legal instructions with a causative verb: the addressees are to cause the bene Yisra'el ("people of Israel", H1121G/H3478) to be separated mi-tum'atam ("from their uncleanness"). The construction places the responsibility for separation on the addressee rather than depicting Israel as spontaneously separating itself.

The second clause, ve-lo yamutu be-tum'atam ("and they will not die in their uncleanness"), uses the same noun tum'ah ("uncleanness", H2932) but with the preposition be- ("in") rather than min ("from"), marking the sphere within which death would occur rather than the source of separation. The final clause explains the mechanism of death: be-tamme'am et-mishkani ("in/because of their defiling my dwelling place"). The piel infinitive tamme'am intensifies the verbal idea of making unclean, distinguishing the act of defiling (piel) from the state of being unclean (the noun tum'ah). The clause ends with asher be-tokham ("which is in their midst"), a relative clause locating the mishkan ("dwelling place", H4908) spatially among the people, using tavekh ("midst", H8432) in construct with the plural suffix "them."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mishkani ("my dwelling place") as tēn skēnēn mou ("my tent"), a specific architectural term, while the Hebrew mishkan is a more general term for "dwelling place." The Vulgate uses tabernaculum meum ("my tabernacle"), aligning closely with the LXX's specific rendering. The Vulgate also renders hizzartem as docebitis... ut caveant ("you will teach... that they beware"), introducing a verb of teaching not present in the Hebrew causative hizzartem ("you will keep separate").