Ṭumʾâ names uncleanness or impurity in the selected bodily, sanctuary and prophetic settings. Leviticus 15:3 describes a status connected with a man's bodily discharge, and verse 25 describes prolonged bleeding in a woman.
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Full entry for טֻמְאָה (H2932) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ṭumʾâ names uncleanness or impurity in the selected bodily, sanctuary and prophetic settings. Leviticus 15:3 describes a status connected with a man's bodily discharge, and verse 25 describes prolonged bleeding in a woman.
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include uncleanness (4), - (2), . . . (2), from the uncleanness (2), unclean (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 5:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (18), Ezekiel (8), Ezra (2), Judges (2).
Ṭumʾâ names uncleanness or impurity in the selected bodily, sanctuary and prophetic settings. Leviticus 15:3 describes a status connected with a man's bodily discharge, and verse 25 describes prolonged bleeding in a woman. The chapter prescribes purification and protects the tabernacle from defilement. Those statements should be explained as the passage's ritual conditions rather than converted into an accusation that an affected person deliberately committed a moral wrong.
Leviticus 16:16 speaks of sanctuary atonement concerning Israel's impurities, rebellious acts and sins, while Ezekiel 36:25 promises cleansing from impurities and idols. In those wider settings, moral and worship concerns are explicitly named. The noun cannot by itself decide that every bodily status and every prophetic accusation are identical. Teaching should identify the cause and prescribed response in each passage, protecting bodily dignity while taking the text's stated sanctuary and covenant concerns seriously.
Bodily conditions in Leviticus, sanctuary atonement and Ezekiel's cleansing promise require related but distinct explanations. The passages supply the cause, setting and response; the bare uncleanness label does not establish personal guilt in every case.
This uncleanness is from his discharge, whether his body allows the discharge to flow or blocks it. So his discharge will bring about uncleanness.
The discharge establishes the specified uncleanness whether flowing or blocked. The rule addresses a bodily condition without narrating an intentional wrongdoing by the person affected.
When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days at a time other than her menstrual period, or if it continues beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, just as she is during the days of her menstruation.
Extended bleeding is described with a prescribed unclean status and later purification. The passage should not be used to shame the woman's character from the bodily condition alone.
So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them in the midst of their impurities.
Atonement for the sanctuary concerns impurities, rebellious acts and sins of Israel. The named concerns require attention to the full sentence rather than equating every item with one bodily cause.
I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
God promises cleansing from impurities and idols after gathering His people. The following new-heart and Spirit promises locate the cleansing within a larger restoration address.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. religious impurity
religious impurity BDB: uncleanness Usage: filthiness, unclean(-ness).
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
טֻמְאָה is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Leviticus 15 supplies concrete bodily conditions, time periods and purification procedures. Its concern culminates in preventing defilement of the tabernacle among Israel. A teacher should neither erase that concern nor turn its rules into an unspoken judgment against a person experiencing discharge or bleeding. The particular passage must state what makes the status arise and how it is addressed.
Ezekiel's promise names impurities alongside idols and proceeds to a new heart, God's Spirit and restored belonging. Hebrews 9:13-14 compares outward ritual cleansing with Christ's purification of conscience for service to God. These larger arguments give theological direction without making every Hebrew impurity occurrence a synonym for intentional wickedness. Christian application should follow the explicit comparison rather than imposing ancient bodily exclusions on distressed readers or promising that physical illness will disappear when conscience is cleansed.
Lev.15.25
The noun identifies impurity or uncleanness, while its cause and consequence vary across bodily rules and prophetic accusations. An English gloss does not establish intentional moral fault without the passage's further description of conduct or worship.
Hebrews 9:11-14 explicitly compares ceremonial cleansing with Christ's blood purifying conscience so that people may serve the living God. The comparison preserves a distinction between outward ritual status and conscience. It does not diagnose every bodily condition as moral guilt or promise physical cure from the Hebrew noun.