Live-Wire Bible Study - Day 38 - Leviticus 15–18 · Hebrews 6 · Psalm 31 - FeedTheGoodHorse
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Day 38: Leviticus 15–18 · Hebrews 6 · Psalm 31 · Commentary · Commentary² · Audio
The Bible text is included for reading continuity; it is accurate in substance, aligned with major modern translations, and may be read alongside any Bible you prefer.1
Special Note about the following Bible text: The following translation uses the Hebrew terms tamé (טָמֵא) and tahor (טָהוֹר) instead of the traditional “unclean” and “clean.” These terms describe ritual status in relation to sanctuary access, not moral fault, shame, or physical dirtiness. A fuller explanation will follow in a dedicated article.
Leviticus 15
Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron:
Speak to the sons of Israel:
When a man has a discharge from his body, the discharge makes him tamé. This is the instruction concerning his tamé-status. Every bed on which he lies will be tamé, and everything on which he sits will be tamé.
Whoever touches his bed is to wash his garments, bathe in water, and be tamé until evening. Whoever touches anything under him is to wash his garments, bathe in water, and be tamé until evening. If he spits on someone who is tahor, that person is to wash his garments, bathe in water, and be tamé until evening. An earthen vessel that he touches is to be broken; a wooden vessel is to be rinsed in water.
When the one with the discharge is restored to tahor-status, he is to count seven days, wash his garments, bathe his body in fresh water, and he will be tahor. On the eighth day he is to bring two birds, and the priest is to offer them and make atonement for him before Jehovah.
If a man has an emission of semen, he is to bathe in water and be tamé until evening. Any garment or skin on which semen is found is to be washed and be tamé until evening. If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission, both are to bathe in water and be tamé until evening.
If a woman has a discharge of blood, she is in her tamé-status seven days. Whoever touches her will be tamé until evening. Everything on which she lies during her tamé-status will be tamé, and everything on which she sits will be tamé.
Whoever touches her bed is to wash his garments, bathe in water, and be tamé until evening. Whoever touches anything on which she sits is to wash his garments, bathe in water, and be tamé until evening. If a man lies with her and her tamé-status is on him, he will be tamé seven days, and every bed on which he lies will be tamé.
If a woman has a discharge of blood beyond the time of her tamé-status, she remains in her tamé-status for all the days of the discharge. Every bed on which she lies will be tamé, and everything on which she sits will be tamé. Whoever touches them will be tamé and is to wash his garments, bathe in water, and be tamé until evening.
When she is restored to tahor-status, she is to count seven days, and afterward she will be tahor. On the eighth day she is to bring two birds to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering and make atonement for her before Jehovah.
Thus you are to keep the sons of Israel separate from their tamé-status, so that they do not die by defiling my dwelling that is among them.
This is the instruction for the one who has a discharge, for the one who has an emission of semen and becomes tamé by it, for her who is in her tamé-status, and for a man who lies with a woman who is tamé.
Leviticus 16
Jehovah spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Jehovah and died. Jehovah said to Moses:
Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the atonement cover that is on the ark, so that he does not die, for I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
This is how Aaron is to come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He is to put on the holy linen tunic, with linen undergarments on his body. He is to tie the linen sash and wrap himself with the linen turban. These are holy garments. He is to bathe his body in water and then put them on.
From the congregation of the sons of Israel he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
Aaron is to present the bull of the sin offering that is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house. He is to take the two goats and set them before Jehovah at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for Jehovah and one lot for removal.
Aaron is to present the goat on which the lot for Jehovah fell and offer it as a sin offering. The goat on which the lot for removal fell is to be presented alive before Jehovah, to make atonement over it and to send it away into the wilderness for removal.
Aaron is to present the bull of the sin offering that is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house. He is to slaughter the bull of the sin offering that is for himself. He is to take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before Jehovah and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and bring them inside the veil. He is to put the incense on the fire before Jehovah so that the cloud of incense covers the atonement cover that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.
He is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the atonement cover eastward. In front of the atonement cover he is to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
Then he is to slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it on the atonement cover and in front of the atonement cover.
He is to make atonement for the holy place because of the tamé-status of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which dwells among them in the midst of their tamé-status.
No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself, for his house, and for all the assembly of Israel.
He is to go out to the altar that is before Jehovah and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around. He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times and make it tahor and set it apart from the tamé-status of the sons of Israel.
When he has finished making atonement for the holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live goat.
Aaron is to lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions, all their sins, and put them on the head of the goat. He is to send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into a remote area, and he is to let the goat go in the wilderness.
Aaron is to come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the holy place and leave them there. He is to bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments. Then he is to come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.
He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. The one who sends away the goat for removal is to wash his garments and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, are to be taken outside the camp. Their hides, their flesh, and their waste are to be burned with fire. The one who burns them is to wash his garments and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
It is to be a permanent statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you are to humble yourselves and do no work, whether native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day atonement is made for you to make you tahor. From all your sins before Jehovah you will be tahor.
It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you are to humble yourselves. It is a permanent statute.
The priest who is anointed and consecrated to serve in place of his father is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments. He is to make atonement for the most holy place, for the tent of meeting, and for the altar, and for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement for the sons of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.
And he did as Jehovah commanded Moses.
Leviticus 17
Jehovah spoke to Moses:
Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them: This is what Jehovah has commanded.
If any man of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or outside the camp, and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to Jehovah before the dwelling of Jehovah, blood will be counted to that man. He has shed blood. That man will be cut off from among his people. This is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field and bring them to Jehovah at the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them as peace offerings to Jehovah.
The priest is to splash the blood against the altar of Jehovah at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to Jehovah. They are no longer to sacrifice their sacrifices to goat-demons after whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.
You are to say to them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to Jehovah will be cut off from his people.
If any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives. It is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel: No person among you is to eat blood, and no stranger who sojourns among you is to eat blood.
Any man of the sons of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them who hunts and catches a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten is to pour out its blood and cover it with dust. For the life of every creature is its blood; its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel: You are not to eat the blood of any creature. The life of every creature is its blood. Anyone who eats it will be cut off.
Every person who eats what dies naturally or what is torn by beasts, whether native or stranger, is to wash his garments and bathe in water and be tamé until evening; then he will be tahor. If he does not wash them or bathe his body, he will bear his iniquity.
Leviticus 18
Jehovah spoke to Moses:
Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: I am Jehovah your God.
You are not to do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You are not to do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You are not to walk in their statutes. You are to carry out my judgments, keep my statutes, and walk in them. I am Jehovah your God. You are to keep my statutes and my judgments; if a man does them, he will live by them. I am Jehovah.
None of you is to draw near to any close relative to uncover nakedness. I am Jehovah.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your father or your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your sister, whether the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born outside.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You are not to approach his wife; she is your aunt.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.
You are not to uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You are not to take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are close relatives. It is depravity.
You are not to take a woman as a rival to her sister to uncover her nakedness while her sister is alive.
You are not to approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual tamé-status.
You are not to lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and make yourself tamé with her.
You are not to give any of your offspring to pass through to Molech. You are not to profane the name of your God. I am Jehovah.
You are not to lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
You are not to lie with any animal and make yourself tamé with it. A woman is not to stand before an animal to lie with it; it is perversion.
Do not make yourselves tamé by any of these things. By all these the nations that I am driving out before you have made themselves tamé. The land became tamé, and I brought its iniquity upon it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
You are to keep my statutes and my judgments and not do any of these abominations, whether native or the stranger who sojourns among you. The men of the land who were before you did all these abominations, and the land became tamé. Do not let the land vomit you out when you make it tamé, as it vomited out the nation before you.
Anyone who does any of these abominations will be cut off from among his people.
You are to keep my charge and not practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you. You are not to make yourselves tamé by them. I am Jehovah your God.
Hebrews 6
Therefore let us leave the basic teaching about the Anointed One and move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and trust toward God, instruction about washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and judgment into the age. This we will do, if God permits.
It is impossible, in the case of those once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the good message of God and the powers of the coming age, and then fell away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and expose him to public shame. Land that drinks the rain that falls on it and produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is burning.
Though we speak in this way, beloved ones, we are convinced of better things in your case—things that accompany rescue. God is not unjust to forget your work and the love you showed for his name by serving the holy ones and continuing to do so. We desire each of you to show the same eagerness for the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you do not become sluggish but imitators of those who through trust and patience inherit the promises.
When God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And so, having waited patiently, he obtained the promise. Humans swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and ends all dispute. In the same way, because God wanted to show more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he confirmed it with an oath. Through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
We have this as an anchor of the inner self, firm and secure, entering into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest into the age according to the order of Melchizedek.
Psalm 31
In you, Lord, I trust;
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness, deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
hurry to save me.
Be for me a rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
For you are my rock and my stronghold;
for the sake of your name, lead me and guide me.
Bring me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.
I hate those who cling to empty illusions,
but I trust in the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in your mercy,
because you have seen my trouble;
you have known the distress of my soul.
You have not handed me over to the enemy;
you have set my feet in a wide place.
Show me favor, Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away with grief,
my soul and my body as well.
For my life is spent in sorrow
and my years in sighing;
my strength fails because of my wrongdoing,
and my bones waste away.
Because of all my enemies, I have become a reproach,
especially to my neighbors
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
I am forgotten like one dead and out of mind;
I have become like a broken vessel.
For I hear the slander of many—
terror on every side—
as they conspire together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your mercy.
Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I have called on you;
let the wicked be put to shame
and be silenced in the grave.
Let lying lips be silenced,
which speak arrogantly against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
How great is your goodness,
which you store up for those who fear you
and show to those who take refuge in you
in the sight of people.
You hide them under the shelter of your presence
from the schemes of people;
you conceal them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord,
for he has shown me his mercy in a fortified city.
But I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before your eyes”;
yet you heard the voice of my pleas
when I cried out to you.
Love the Lord, all his faithful ones;
the Lord preserves the faithful
and fully repays the one who acts proudly.
Be strong, and let your heart be firm,
all you who trust in the Lord.
Commentary - Day 38
Leviticus 15–18 · Hebrews 6 · Psalm 31
Leviticus 15 begins with the body. A discharge renders a person tamé. Beds, seats, vessels become tamé through contact. Washing, waiting until evening, counting days—these mark limits around what spreads. The text does not treat bodily processes as shameful. It treats them as conditions that affect access. Tahor returns through water, time, and separation. The dwelling of Jehovah stands “in the midst” of these realities. The concern is not embarrassment but proximity. What touches spreads. What spreads reaches toward the dwelling.
The repeated phrase “tamé until evening” places a boundary on defilement. It is real and transmissible, yet not permanent. When restoration comes, it is counted. Seven days. An eighth day. Birds brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting. The movement is outward and then back again.
Leviticus 16 narrows approach after the death of Aaron’s sons. Entry behind the veil is not casual. Linen garments replace ordinary dress. Bathing precedes entry. Incense covers the atonement cover “so that he does not die.” Blood touches the atonement cover and the space before it. The holy place itself is said to require atonement because it dwells among the sons of Israel “in the midst of their tamé-status.” The sanctuary is not distant from the people’s condition. It stands within it.
Two goats are set before Jehovah. One is offered. The other is sent away “for removal,” bearing iniquities into a remote area. Hands press on its head as confession is spoken. The goat is led beyond the camp. The camp remains; the iniquities are carried away. The sequence extends outward—holy place, tent, altar, priests, people. Even the one who leads the goat away must wash before returning. Contact spreads. Washing restores. Entry is ordered.
Once each year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the assembly humbles itself. “From all your sins before Jehovah you will be tahor.” The day addresses accumulated defilement at the center. The text describes action—sprinkling, burning, confessing, sending away—rather than inward feeling.
Leviticus 17 gathers slaughter and blood back to the entrance of the tent. To kill without bringing the animal to the dwelling is to shed blood outside the structure given. “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” It is given on the altar to make atonement. Life belongs at the altar. Even hunted animals have their blood poured out and covered with dust. The prohibition reaches native and stranger alike. Blood is not for consumption. It is for atonement.
Sacrifice in the open field is described as turning toward goat-demons. The command recenters worship at the dwelling. Life is not to be detached from the place Jehovah has chosen.
Leviticus 18 turns to sexual unions. “I am Jehovah your God” frames the chapter. Egypt and Canaan are named as patterns not to follow. “You are not to uncover nakedness” traces lines of kinship and proximity. The prohibitions mark boundaries within family and community. Adultery, Molech, male-male intercourse, intercourse with animals—each is said to make oneself tamé. The land itself becomes tamé and “vomits” out its inhabitants. The soil reacts to what is done upon it. Residence depends on alignment.
Across these chapters, tamé spreads through contact—body, blood, land. Tahor follows washing, counting, confession, and removal. The dwelling stands in the midst. The land responds. Boundaries mark where life belongs.
Hebrews 6 speaks of moving beyond foundational instruction—repentance, trust, washings, resurrection, judgment. It warns of falling away after having “tasted” the heavenly gift and the powers of the coming age. The image offered is land. Rain falls often. If it produces vegetation, it receives blessing. If it bears thorns, it is near to curse. The soil reveals what it has become under what it receives.
The tone shifts: “We are convinced of better things in your case.” Service and endurance are remembered. The promise to Abraham is recalled. God swears by himself. Through what cannot change, those who have fled for refuge hold fast to hope. Hope is described as an anchor of the inner life, entering “behind the curtain,” where Jesus has gone as a forerunner, a high priest into the age.
Psalm 31 speaks from exposure. Nets hidden. Slander on every side. A broken vessel. “Into your hand I commit my spirit.” Refuge appears as rock, fortress, shelter. “You have set my feet in a wide place.” Distress is not denied. Eyes waste away. Bones weaken. Yet the confession remains: “You are my God.” “My times are in your hand.”
Leviticus speaks of a dwelling that stands “in the midst of their tamé-status.” Hebrews speaks of hope entering behind the curtain. Psalm 31 speaks of refuge and a wide place. Land, tent, veil, net, hand—each names what surrounds and holds. The movement between exposure and refuge remains before the reader.
Leviticus 15 treats tamé as something that spreads through ordinary bodily life: beds, seats, vessels, time, water, and counted days set limits and restore tahor. Leviticus 16 tightens approach after death: linen, bathing, incense, blood behind the veil, and one goat sent away “for removal,” carrying weight out of the camp. Leviticus 17 recenters blood and slaughter at the tent: life belongs to God, not open-field powers. Leviticus 18 maps prohibited unions and says the land itself can become tamé and “vomit” a people out.
Hebrews 6 warns that soil shows what it has become, then holds out hope as an anchor that reaches behind the curtain where the high priest has gone. Psalm 31 speaks from nets, slander, and frailty into refuge: rock, shelter, wide place, “my times are in your hand.”
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