Leviticus 15:32

Summary

Leviticus 15:32 closes a section of ritual law by naming its scope: the torah ("instruction/law") that applies to the man who has a discharge and to the one from whom seed goes out, causing impurity. The verse functions as a summary label rather than a new prescription.

Key words

• torat ("[the] law of", H8451) — feminine singular construct noun; establishes a genitive-like link to the following participle, meaning "the law/instruction belonging to X."
• ha-Zav ("the one discharging", H2100) — qal participle with definite article, used substantively: not "he discharged" but "the one who [habitually/currently] discharges," naming a legal category of person.
• tetze ("it will go out", H3318) — qal imperfect, third person feminine singular; its feminine form agrees with the feminine noun shikhvat ("laying," H7902), not with the man, showing that the subject of the verb is the emission itself.
• shikhvat-zera ("a laying of seed", H7902 + H2233) — construct chain, literally "lying-down of seed"; a compound expression for seminal emission built from two nouns in construct relation.
• le-tame'ah ("to be unclean", H2930) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition le-, expressing purpose or result: "so as to become unclean," attached to the suffixed preposition bah ("by it/her," H9034).

What the text says

The sentence opens with the demonstrative zot ("this," H2063) pointing back to the preceding regulations, followed by the construct noun torat, which grammatically demands a following noun — here ha-zav, "the one discharging." This construct pattern ("law of the discharger") frames the verse as a heading or colophon summarizing a legal unit rather than issuing new instruction.

The second clause is introduced by the relative particle asher ("who/that," H0834A) and pivots on the verb tetze, feminine in form because its grammatical subject is shikhvat-zera, the "emission of seed," not the man himself. The construct chain shikhvat-zera binds two nouns tightly, functioning as a single technical expression for bodily discharge. The clause ends with the infinitive le-tame'ah plus the pronominal suffix bah ("in/by it"), forming a purpose or resultative phrase: the emission is that "by which" uncleanness occurs. The suffix bah is feminine, again pointing back to shikhvat, maintaining grammatical agreement throughout the sentence.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the second clause as "qui polluitur coitu" ("who is polluted by coitus"), introducing the specific term coitus, which is not present in the Hebrew wording of shikhvat-zera ("emission/laying of seed"). The LXX uses κοίτη σπέρματος ("bed/emission of seed"), staying closer to the Hebrew construct chain, and adds the conditional ἐάν τινι ("if to anyone"), a connective not explicit in the Hebrew relative clause. Modern translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) render shikhvat-zera as "emission of semen," aligning more closely with the Hebrew noun pair than the Vulgate's more specific term.