Temple Scroll Column 51 (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) pg. 209
“You shall FOREWARN the children of Yisra’el about ALL THE IMPURITIES. They shall not render themselves UNCLEAN by those of which I tell you ON THIS MOUNTAIN AND THEY SHALL NOT BE UNCLEAN. For, I, YAHWEH, abide among the children of Yisra’el. You shall sanctify them and they shall be set-apart. They shall NOT RENDER THEMSELVES ABOMINABLE by ANYTHING THAT I HAVE SEPARATED FOR THEM AS UNCLEAN and they shall be set-apart.”
The Temple Scroll which has already been proven to be Torah warns the Israelites against all impurities. And this is what I’m going to do in this message; and that is to forewarn all my brothers and sisters in the body of YESHUA to do as YAHWEH has commanded without turning to the right nor the left. We must continue to be sold out disciples of YESHUA and be ready for His return. We will be discussing the purity laws such as flux, nocturnal emissions, sexual relations, menstrual cycles, childbirth, touching a corpse, and miscarriages.
The same way YAHWEH warned us to obey His purity laws is the same way He warns about how many will feel about His laws! Let us not found to be among this group!
Words of Moses 1Q22 (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 574
“ELOHIM spoke to Moses in the fortieth year after the children of Yisra’el had come out of the land of Egypt, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, saying: ‘Gather together all the congregation and go up to Mount Nebo and stand there, you and Eleazar son of Aaron. Interpret to the heads of family of the Levites and to all the Priests, and proclaim to the children of Yisra’el THE WORDS OF THE LAW which I proclaimed to you on Mount Sinai. Proclaim carefully into their ears ALL THAT I REQUIRE OF THEM. And call heaven and earth to witness against them; FOR THEY WILL NOT LOVE WHAT I COMMANDED THEM TO DO, NEITHER THEY NOR THEIR CHILDREN, DURING ALL THE DAYS THEY SHALL LIVE UPON THE EARTH. For I say that they will ABANDON ME, and will choose the abominations of the nations, their horrors and their idols. They will serve false mighty ones which shall be for them a snare and a pitfall. They will transgress against the set-apart days, and against the Shabbat AND THE COVENANT, AND AGAINST THE COMMANDMENTS WHICH I COMMAND YOU TO KEEP THIS DAY.”
Repentance is at hand as we all have strayed away from YAHWEH’s ways, but now we have the complete Torah and can walk in obedience to Him. We should grieve over our disobedience but be thankful we can walk in the truth. We all should strive to be like the righteous Ezra regarding his obedience, humbleness, and purity.
2 Esdras/4th Ezra 6:32
“Because your voice has surely been heard before the Most High; for the Mighty One has seen your uprightness and has observed THE PURITY which you have maintained from your youth.”
YESHUA has already given us a strict warning that none of the Torah is done away with, and He told us plainly that He did not speak His own words because He spoke the words of His Father (John 12:49-50), so keep that in mind while listening or reading this message.
Matthew 5:17 (Hebrewgospels.com)
“Moreover YESHUA MASHIACH said to His talmidim (disciples), “Do not think that I came to throw down the Torah and the Prophets, on the contrary, I CAME TO CONFIRM. I say unto you in truth, that NOT ONE WORD WILL BE DIMINISHED FROM THE TORAH—that it would not be performed until the end of the world.”
Not one word from the Torah will be diminished and all of it shall be performed until the end of the world. We know this to be true because we rightfully and boldly proclaim this verse to the lawless Christianity.
Luke 16:17 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away THAN FOR ONE STROKE OF A LETTER IN THE TORAH TO BECOME VOID.”
Malachi 3:6 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“But because I, YAHWEH, DO NOT CHANGE, you sons of Jacob will not be destroyed.”
Psalms 89:35 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“I will not profane My covenant or CHANGE WHAT MY LIPS HAVE SPOKEN.”
And the Son YESHUA is just like His Father:
Hebrews 13:8 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“YESHUA the Messiah is the SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER.”
So, let us not be among this group that YAHWEH speaks of saying:
Isaiah 24:5 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
5 The land lies defiled under its inhabitants;
because they have TRANSGRESSED THE TEACHINGS,
CHANGED THE LAW AND BROKEN THE EVERLASTING COVENANT. Therefore a curse is devouring the land, and its inhabitants are punished for their guilt. It is why those living there waste away, and the people left are FEW.”
Thanksgiving Hymns (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 278
“They who bore the yoke of my testimony have been led astray by TEACHERS OF LIES, and have REBELLED AGAINST THE SERVICE OF RIGHTOEOUSNESS. Whereas Thou, O my ELOHIM did command them to mend their ways by walking in the way of set-apartness, where NO MAN goes who is UNCIRCUMCISED, OR UNCLEAN OR VIOLENT…”
Does YAHWEH want us to obey the Purity Laws?
Leviticus 10:8-10 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“YAHWEH said to Aaron, “Don’t drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, so that you will DISTINGUISH between the set-apart and the common, and BETWEEN THE UNCLEAN AND THE CLEAN; so that you will teach the people of Yisra’el ALL THE LAWS YAHWEH has told them through Moses.”
Ezekiel 22:26 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Her priests have done violence to My Torah, profaned My set-apart things MADE NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SET-APART AND COMMON, NOT DISTINGUISHED BETWEEN THE UNCLEAN AND CLEAN, hidden their eyes from My Shabbats, and PROFANED ME AMONG THEMSELVES.”
The faithful Zadokite priests from the line Aaron obeyed YAHWEH in this matter, so they will be rewarded for their obedience and reappear to teach these laws during the 1,000-year reign of YESHUA, the same way they taught it when they were in Qumran.
Ezekiel 44:23 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“THEY (descendants of Zadok), are to teach My people the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SET-APART AND COMMON AND ENABLE THEM TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. They are to be judges in controversies, and they are to render decisions in keeping with My rulings.”
Damascus Document Column 5, page 133 (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls)
“Moreover, they PROFANE THE TEMPLE, because they DO NOT observe the DISTINCTION (BETWEEN CLEAN AND UNCLEAN) IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW, but lie with a woman who sees her BLOODY DISCHARGE.”
This law is given to us in: Leviticus 15:23-24, Lev 18:19, and Lev 20:18.
Damascus Document Column 6, page 134 (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls)
“They shall take care to act according to the EXACT INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW during the age of wickedness. They shall separate from the sons of the Pit, and shall keep away from the unclean riches of wickedness acquired by vow or anathema or from the Temple treasure; they shall not rob the poor of His people, to make of widows their prey and of the fatherless their victim. They SHALL DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CLEAN AND UNCLEAN, AND SHALL PROCLAIM THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SET-APART AND PROFANE. They shall keep the Shabbat day according to its EXACT INTERPRETATION, and the feasts and the Day of Fasting according to the finding of the members of the New Covenant in the land of Damascus.”
In the book “The Biblical Calendar Then and Now” by Bill and Karen Bishop on page 26 they quote Hershel Shanks which reads:
“Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reader from the Biblical Archaeology Review – by Hershel Shanks pg.80-81
“Jews disgusted with what they believed to be the pollution of their ancestral religion and revolted by the usurpation of the High Priesthood by non-Zadokites, rallied behind a man they called Moreh Tzedek, the Techer of Righteousness. No doubt the Teacher of Righteousness was OF THE ZADOKITE LINE, A LEGITAMATE CLAIMANT TO THE TITLE OF HIGH PRIEST. He was opposed, however by the Wicked Priest who ruled illegitimately in Jerusalem. The faithful retreated to the desert to live a life of RITUAL PURITY, OBSERVING THE ANCIENT LAW, FOLLOWING THE OLD CALENDAR that marked the set-apart times, and awaiting the day when the Teacher of Righteousness would be accepted by all Jews as High Priest and would return once again to Jerusalem.”
In these last days, we need to be like the Zadok Priests and flee from the corruption of Judaism and live a life of ritual purity, observing the ancient law which includes the Temple Scroll and Jubilees, and follow the Old Calendar which is the 364 Day, Solar Calendar of creation as we await the returning of YESHUA!.
Purity laws
Leviticus 15 (Entire chapter)
“YAHWEH said to Moshe and Aharon, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, the discharge is unclean. 3 The discharge is unclean no matter whether it continues flowing or has stopped; it is still his uncleanness. 4 Every bed which the person with the discharge lies on is unclean, and everything he sits on is unclean. 5 Whoever touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 6 Whoever sits on anything the person with the discharge sat on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 7 Anyone who touches the body of the person with the discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 8 If the person with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, the latter is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 9 Any saddle that the person with the discharge rides on will be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening; he who carries those things is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 11 If the person with the discharge fails to rinse his hands in water before touching someone, that person is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 12 If the person with the discharge touches a clay pot, it must be broken; if he touches a wooden utensil, it must be rinsed in water.
13 “‘When a person with a discharge has become free of it, he is to count seven days for his purification. Then he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water; after that, he will be clean. 14 On the eighth day, he is to take for himself two doves or two young pigeons, come before YAHWEH to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest . 15 The priest is to offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the priest will make atonement for him on account of his discharge before YAHWEH.
(RY: vii, LY: vi) 16 “‘If a man has a seminal emission, he is to bathe his entire body in water; he will be unclean until evening. 17 Any clothing or leather on which there is any semen is to be washed with water; it will be unclean until evening. 18 If a man goes to bed with a woman and has sexual relations, both are to bathe themselves in water; they will be unclean until evening.
19 “‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she will be in her state of niddah (menstrual cycle) for seven days. Whoever touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Everything she lies on or sits on in her state of niddah will be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 22 Whoever touches anything she sits on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 23 Whether he is on the bed or on something she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening. 24 If a man goes to bed with her, and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on will be unclean.
25 “‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not during her period, or if her discharge lasts beyond the normal end of her period, then throughout the time she is having an unclean discharge she will be as when she is in niddah — she is unclean. 26 Every bed she lies on at any time while she is having her discharge will be for her like the bed she uses during her time of niddah; and everything she sits on will be unclean with uncleanness like that of her time of niddah. 27 Whoever touches those things will be unclean; he is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening.
28 “‘If she has become free of her discharge, she is to count seven days; after that, she will be clean. (LY: vii) 29 On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 30 The priest is to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the priest will make atonement for her before YAHWEH on account of her unclean discharge.
(Maftir) 31 “‘In this way you will separate the people of Isra’el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them.
32 “‘Such is the law for the person who has a discharge; for the man who has a seminal emission that makes him unclean; 33 for the woman in niddah during her menstrual period; for the person, man or woman, with a discharge; and for the man who has sexual relations with a woman who is unclean”
What is the discharge from the man’s body in verse 2? The Septuagint and the etymology give us the answer.
Leviticus 15:2 (Septuagint)
“And YAHWEH spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, speak to the children of Yisra’el and you shall say to them, Whatever man has an ISSUE OUT HIS BODY, his ISSUE IS UNCLEAN. And this is the law of his uncleanness; whoever has ZOVO (footnote says GONORRHOEA OUT OF HIS BODY), this is his uncleanness in him by reason OF THE ISSUE by which, his body is AFFECTED THROUGH THE ISSUE: all the days of the issue of his body, by which his body is affected through the issue, there is his UNCLEANNESS.”
Leviticus 15:2-3 (NIRV)
“Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Suppose LIQUID WASTE is flowing out of a man’s body. That LIQUID is not “clean”. It does not matter whether it continues to flow out of his body or is blocked.”
www.nhs.uk says this about gonorrhea:
“Typical symptoms of gonorrhea include a thick green or yellow DISCHARGE from the vagina or penis, pain when peeing and, in women, bleeding between periods.”
The etymology of the word “issue or discharge in verse 2 is “Zub” H2100 which is defined by Brown-Drivers-Briggs as “to flow, gush, issue, discharge
1a)1 to flow, gush
1a2) to die, pine away (figuratively)
1a3) to flow (of issue from woman) have an issue, FLUX
Flowing (participle)
Strongs defines it as: to flow freely (as water) that is, (specifically) to have a SEXUAL FLUX; figuratively to waste away; also to overflow:-flow, gush out, have a RUNNING ISSUE, pine away, run.
Nocturnal emission and sexual relations
We will see that the emission of semen renders one unclean but does not get him quarantined aka removed from the camp in Leviticus, Numbers or the Temple Scroll. Whether it’s a nocturnal emission or semen released through sexual relations, the number of days he is unclean is the same as we will see.
What is a nocturnal emission?
www.webmd.com
“Usually, a wet dream happens while you’re having a dream about sex, BUT NOT ALWAYS. You may not even remember the dream. Doctors call wet dreams “nocturnal emissions.” Nocturnal means “at night.” Emission is another way to say release. They’re also sometimes called “sleep orgasms.”
Leviticus 15:16 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“If a man has a SEMINAL EMMISION, he is to bathe his entire body in water; he will be unclean until evening. “17 Any clothing or leather on which there is any semen is to be washed with water; it will be unclean until evening. 18 If a man goes to bed with a woman and has sexual relations, both are to bathe themselves in water; they will be unclean until evening.”
Temple Scroll (Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 206
“No man who has had a NOCTURNAL EMISSION shall enter the sanctuary at all until THREE DAYS HAVE ELAPSED. He shall wash his garments and bathe on the FIRST DAY AND ON THE THIRD DAY he shall wash his garments and bathe, and after sunset he shall enter the sanctuary. They shall not enter my sanctuary in their IMPURE UNCLEANNESS and render it unclean.”
How did the community deal with semen?
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls 4QTohorot (Purities) A (4Q274) page 236
“…When they sprinkle on him for the first-time. He shall bathe and wash his clothes before he eats. If it occurs for him on the seventh day on the Shabbat Day, he shall not sprinkle on the Shabbat, for He says: Keep the Shabbat (Deut 5, 12). But he shall NOT TOUCH ANYTHING PURE until he has repeated it. All that TOUCHES SEMEN be it a man or any vessel shall be immersed. And the bearer of it shall immerse. And the garment on which it (the semen) is and the vessel which carries it shall be immersed in water. If there is a man in the camp who is unable to do this (lacks a spare garment), he shall bathe and put on any garment which has not been touched by it (the semen) as long as it does not touch his bread (food). He who touches his bed or his seat, IF HIS GARMENT HAS NOT TOUCHED IT (THE SEMEN), he shall bathe in water. But if his garment has touched it (the bed or the seat), he shall wash it (the garment). A man shall wash his garment with water for eating all consecrated food…”
How do the Samaritans deal with semen and worship? As we know they followed the Torah stricter than Judaism:
A Rabbi named Simeon ben Gamaliel commented on the Samaritans saying “They were as Israelites in all things, and KEPT THE LAW AND THE PRECEPTS OF IT, AND EVEN MORE EXACTLY THAN THE ISRAELITES THEMSELVES DID…”
Benyamim Tsedaka the editor and translator of the Samaritan Torah says on page 254:
“Laws of impurity at PRESENT TIMES”---The laws of impurity in the Torah are designated for BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. In the case of a man, when he becomes impure from intercourse or having a WET DREAM, he washes his flesh and with water and stays unclean until the evening. If he became unclean Friday evening, he SITS IN THE BACK OF THE SYNAGOGUE AND KEEPS HIS VOICE FROM PRAYING LOUDLY. He will NOT take part in the reading of the Torah portion, after the prayer of Shabbat morning. There is no shame in this because it happens to everybody.”
Notice how the Samaritans do at least acknowledge the uncleanness of a man with a nocturnal emission, and they will LIMIT his participation in the synagogue? The Samaritans without the Temple Scroll were close in how they applied this law. Let’s turn to the Damascus Document who were very strict in their observance of the Torah and see what it says.
Damascus Document (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) Column 11, page 142
“NO MAN entering the house of worship SHALL COME UNCLEAN AND IN NEED OF WASHING.”
The Damascus Document by Steven D. Fraade comments on page 104
“Impure (after) having washed. This refers to someone in an intermediary state of IMPURITY, having washed but NOT YET FULLY PURIFIED UNTIL THE EVENING during which time access to the inner parts of the temple is restricted.”
So, the man in the Samaritan community is restricted in his participation in the synagogue or house of worship, but according to the Zadok Priest, he should not be present at all, until he is fully clean.
Sexual relations
As I explained in the message “The Temple Scroll is Torah”, is that Leviticus says a man and woman who have sexual relations are unclean until evening, but Exodus and the Temple Scroll say, “3 days”. Again, they are unclean and prevented from entering YAHWEH’s presence, but not removed from the camp, just as one with a nocturnal emission. 3 days is the number of days for uncleanness with semen.
Exodus 19:14-15 (Samaritan)
“And Moshe went down from the Mountain to the people, and consecrated the people. And they washed their garments. And he said to the people, be ready for the THREE DAYS, DO NOT APPROACH A WOMAN.”
Exodus 19:15 (Septuagint)
“And he said to the people, be ready: FOR THREE DAYS DO NOT COME NEAR TO A WOMAN.”
They were about to enter the presence of YAHWEH and were told not to have sexual relations with a woman because we know that the act renders one unclean.
Temple Scroll (Charlesworth translation) page 347 verses 11-12
“A man who lies with his wife having an ejaculation of semen, he shall NOT enter the entire city of the Sanctuary in which I shall allow My Name to dwell for THREE DAYS.”
The Septuagint agrees with Exodus and the Temple Scroll!
1 Samuel 21:4-5 (Septuagint)
“And the priest answered David and said, there are no common loaves under my hand, for I have none but set-apart loaves: if the young men have been kept AT LEAST FROM WOMEN, then they shall eat them. And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes, we have been KEPT FROM WOMEN FOR THREE DAYS…”
Concerning a woman on her menstrual cycle
Leviticus 15:19-20 (Septuagint)
“And the woman whoever has an ISSUE OF BLOOD, when her issue is in her body shall be in her SEPARATION SEVEN DAYS; everyone that touches her shall be UNCLEAN until evening. And everything on which she lies IN HER SEPARATION shall be unclean; and whatever she sits upon shall be unclean.”
Leviticus 15:19-20 (Aramaic)
“And if a woman has a DISCHARGE OF BLOOD, and her discharge is in her body, she shall be PUT APART FOR SEVEN DAYS IN HER MENSTRUATION…”
Leviticus 15:25-26 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
25 “‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not during her period, or if her discharge lasts beyond the normal end of her period, then throughout the time she is having an unclean discharge she will be as when she is in niddah (menstrual cycle) — she is unclean. 26 Every bed she lies on at any time while she is having her discharge will be for her LIKE THE BED SHE USES DURING THE TIME OF HER NIDDAH (MENUSTRATION); and everything she sits on will be unclean with uncleanness like that of her time of niddah.”
Notice how in the Complete Jewish Scriptures show that a woman is sleeping in a separate bed during the time of her niddah/period? This distancing/separation is something that is literal!
The Septuagint says a woman shall be in her “separation” for seven days and the Aramaic says “put apart” for seven days. This matches the root words we find in this article.
In an article by: Female Purity (Niddah) | Jewish Women's Archive (jwa.org) states this:
“Chapter 15 of Leviticus serves as the basis for the Jewish menstrual laws. The Hebrew term used for menstruation in Leviticus 15:19, 20, 24, and 33 is niddatah, which has as its root ndh, a word meaning “SEPARATION,” usually as a result of IMPURITY. It is connected to the root ndd, meaning “TO MAKE DISTANT.” This primary meaning of the root was extended in the biblical corpus to include concepts of sin and impurity. The Aramaic Bible translations (Onkelos [second century c.e.], Pseudo-Jonathan, and Neofiti) translate these verses with the root rhq, “in her separation/distance,” some adding “of her impurity.” Both roots reflect the PHYSICAL SEPARATION of women during menstruation (or abnormal uterine bleeding or the seven or fourteen days immediately postpartum) from PHYSICAL CONTACT or from certain activities in which they would normally engage at other times. In other parts of the Bible, the term niddah was transferred to include abominable acts, objects (Ezekiel 7:19–20), or status, especially sexual sins (Leviticus 20:21) and idolatry. The use of the term niddah to describe the impurity of the land due to sin is found in Lamentations 1:8 and Ezra 9:11 and as an antonym of holiness in 2 Chronicles 29:5. These usages of the term may have influenced subsequent reactions to the state of menstruation. The term niddah was transformed into a metaphorical expression for sin and impurity in general. These meanings added to the original sense of distancing or separation, creating a new semantic range that influenced the legal and emotional understanding of niddah over the course of generations.”
Numbers 5:1-4 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
5 (iii) YAHWEH said to Moshe, 2 “Order the people of Isra’el to EXPEL FROM THE CAMP everyone with LEPROSY, everyone with a DISCHARGE and whoever is unclean because of TOUCHING A CORPSE. 3 Both male and female you MUST EXPEL; PUT THEM OUTSIDE THE CAMP; so that they won’t DEFILE their camp, where I live among you.” 4 The people of Isra’el did this and put them outside the camp — the people of Isra’el did what YAHWEH had said to Moshe.”
So, who are those that are quarantined and put outside the camp in Numbers 5? If we go back to Leviticus 15, we see that the man with gonorrhea/flux/discharge and the woman on her menstrual cycle were the two that were “contagious” because if they touched anyone, they would become unclean. This matches the literal words of separation and distancing that we see in Leviticus 15 regarding a menstruating woman.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament:
“Removal on Unclean Persons out of the Camp.- As Jehovah, the Holy One, dwelt in the midst of the camp of His people, those who were affected with the uncleanness of leprosy (Leviticus 13), of a diseased flux, or of menstruation (Leviticus 15:2, Numbers 15:19), and those who had become unclean through touching a corpse (Numbers 19:11. Cf. Leviticus 21:1; Leviticus 22:4), whether male or female, were to be REMOVED OUT OF THE CAMP, that they might not defile it by their uncleanness. The command of ELOHIM, to remove these persons out of the camp, was carried out at once by the nation; and even in Canaan it was so far observed, that lepers at any rate were placed in SPECIAL PEST-HOUSES OUTSIDE THE CITIES (see at Leviticus 13:45-46).”
The Temple Scroll gives us the complete list of all who are unclean and put outside the camp.
Temple Scroll (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 208
“In EVERY CITY you shall SET ASIDE AREAS for those stricken with LEPROSY, with plague, and with SCAB (Leviticus 13:2), who SHALL NOT ENTER YOUR CITIES AND PROFANE THEM, and ALSO FOR those who suffer from FLUX; AND FOR MENSTRUATING WOMEN, AND WOMEN AFTER CHILD-BIRTH, so that they may NOT CAUSE DEFILEMENT IN THEIR MIDST by their IMPURE UNCLEANNESS. The leper suffering from chronic LEPROSY OR SCAB, who has been pronounced unclean by the priest…”
Another text in the Dead Sea Scrolls agrees with the language we read from YAHWEH in the Temple Scroll!
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls 4QTohorot (Purities) A, 4Q274 page 235
“A woman with a seven-day issue of blood shall not touch a man with a flux, nor any vessel touched by a man who has a flux, nor anything he has lain or sat on. But if she has touched them, she shall wash her garments and bath, and afterwards she may eat. Above all, SHE SHALL NOT MINGLE WITH THE PURE DURING HER SEVEN DAYS so that she MAY NOT POLLUTE THE CAMPS OF THE SET-APART OF ISRAEL. Neither shall she touch any woman with a long-term issue of blood. And the person, either male or female, who counts the seven days: cf. Lev 15, 13) shall not touch the menstruant during her uncleanness. Only when she has PURIFIED HERSELF FROM HER UNCLEANNESS MAY SHE BE TOUCHED, for the BLOOD of the MENSTRUANT is reckoned AS A FLUX FOR ANYONE WHO TOUCHES IT.”
These instructions are pretty clear and they understood it was a literal separation. Why is the woman who gave birth to a child quarantined like the menstruating woman? Because her first 7 or 14 days depending on if it’s a male or a female, she is unclean as she is in her menstrual cycle.
Leviticus 12:1-5 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
2 YAHWEH said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, she will be UNCLEAN FOR SEVEN DAYS WITH THE SAME UNCLEANNESS AS IN NIDDAH, when she is having her MENSTRUAL PERIOD. 3 On the eighth day, the baby’s foreskin is to be circumcised. 4 She is to wait an additional thirty-three days to be purified from her blood; she is not to touch any set-apart thing or come into the sanctuary until the time of her purification is over. 5 But if she gives birth to a girl, she will be UNCLEAN FOR TWO WEEKS, AS IN HER NIDDAH (MENSTRUAL PERIOD); and she is to wait another sixty-six days to be purified from her blood.”
Notice that the child-bearing woman, the menstruating woman, and the man with gonorrhea are in the same category as a leper? Even the five books of the Torah in our 66 books agrees with the Temple Scroll that lepers were quarantined.
Leviticus 13:1-4 (Samaritan)
“And YAHWEH spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, when a man has on the skin of his flesh a swelling or a scab or a bright spot, and it becomes a MARK OF LEPROSY on the skin of his flesh, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. And the priest shall look at the mark on the skin of the flesh. And if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his flesh, IT IS AN INFECTION OF LEPROSY, and the priest will see and he shall pronounce him UNCLEAN. And if the bright spot is white on the skin of his flesh, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest SHALL ISOLATE HIM HAVING THE INFECTION FOR SEVEN DAYS. And the priest will see on the seventh day. And if in his eyes the infection has not changed, the infection not spreading on the skin, then the priest SHALL ISOLATE HIM FOR SEVEN MORE DAYS.”
Numbers 12:9-16 (Samaritan)
“And the anger of YAHWEH burned against them and He departed. And the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, and behold, Miriam was LEPROUS AS SNOW. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was LEPROUS. And Aaron said to Moses, my master, I beg you, do not account this iniquity to us in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have transgressed. Let her not to be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb. And Moses cried out to YAHWEH, saying, EL, please heal her. And YAHWEH said to Moses, and had her father but spit in her face, obviously, would she not bear her shame for SEVEN DAYS. Let her BE SHUT UP FOR SEVEN DAYS OUTSIDE THE CAMP, AND AFTERWARD SHE MAY BE RECEIVED AGAIN. And Miriam was SHUT UP OUTSIDE THE CAMP FOR SEVEN DAYS. And the people did not move on until Miriam did return.”
Again let’s turn to the Samaritans who are strict Torah observers and at least see how they apply the law of a woman during her menstrual cycle today. Benyamim Tsedaka the editor and translator of the Samaritan Torah says on page 254:
“When a woman becomes unclean by her MONTHLY PERIOD, she MOVES FROM HER REGULAR BEDROOM TO A SPECIAL BEDROOM IN THE HOUSE, and STAYS THERE FOR SEVEN DAYS. The room is furnished and has all facilities to give her the full comfort for seven days. She is UNTOUCHABLE by anyone in the family or the community, and the whole family is devoted to her in order to provide all her needs. All her requests will be placed beside her bed or the place where she is sitting, and she will take from there: be it food, or clothes, or anything. She will take the chair that she sits on outside to be cleaned overnight by the dew. During the seven days she may go to her place of study or work, and return back to her room. She may walk in the house, but without touching anything that is able to become impure. Every day she washes herself; however, all her duties as the mother of the house are done by the other members of the family. If she has young children she makes an arrangement with one of her women neighbors to take care of the children until her husband returns back from work. A nursing baby remains with her. When her neighbor is impure, she returns the favor by helping in this same way. This exchange contributes much to kind relationships between Samaritan families. At the end of the seven days, she immerses in the home bath of living water. She immerses her whole self under a filled bath with the tap still flowing.”
We see that the Samaritans do quarantine the women and that everyone pitches in to help her. The woman will make arrangements with her neighbors to care for the children when she is on her period if the husband is not home, which matches the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Damascus Document Manuscripts from Cave 4, 4Q266, fr. 6 (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 150
“And a woman who conceives and bears a male child shall be unclean for seven days LIKE HER MENSTRUAL DAYS. On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. She shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. But if she bears a female child, she shall be unclean for fort-night as in her MENSTRUATION. For sixty-six days she shall continue in her blood of purifying (Lev 12, 2-5) And she shall not eat sacred food and shall NOT ENTER THE SANCTUARY, for it is a CAPITAL CRIME…LET HER GIVE THE CHILD TO A WET-NURSE WHO IS IN THE STATE OF PURITY…”
Thanksgiving Hymns (The Dead Sea Scrolls) Hymn 15 page 283
“I am in sinful guilt, and from the breast of my mother in injustice, and IN THE BOSOM OF MY NURSE in great impurity.”
A “Wet-Nurse” is defined by Merriam-Webster as: a woman who cares for and breastfeeds YOUNG NOT HER OWN.
Thanksgiving Hymns (The Dead Sea Scrolls) Hymn 15 page 282
“You hast made me a father to the sons of grace, and as a foster-father to men of marvel; they have opened their mouths like little babes…like a CHILD playing in the LAP OF ITS NURSE.”
Genesis 24:59 (Samaritan)
“And they sent away their sister Rebecca AND HER NURSE with Abraham’s slave and his men.”
“In EVERY CITY you shall SET ASIDE AREAS for those stricken with LEPROSY, with plague, and with SCAB (Leviticus 13:2), who SHALL NOT ENTER YOUR CITIES AND PROFANE THEM, and ALSO FOR those who suffer from FLUX; AND FOR MENSTRUATING WOMEN, AND WOMEN AFTER CHILD-BIRTH”
Again, the woman who gives birth is unclean just like her menstrual cycle; therefore, a woman on her menstrual cycle should have another care for the children as the Damascus Document and Samaritans say.
Torah observant believers can achieve this by working with fellow Torah observant believers, of course living in a community like the Samaritans would help. Or hire “help” like a wet-nurse known as an in-home nanny today or a babysitter to watch over the children during these 7 days! I know that everyone can’t afford to do this, I’m making suggestions to help as we return back to the ancient path. The best answer is to always take it in prayer and let YAHWEH guide you concerning this and let Him make a way for you.
Dead Body
Temple Scroll, Complete Dead Sea Scrolls page 208-209
“If a man dies in your cities, the house in which the dead man has died shall be unclean for seven days. Whatever is in the house and whoever enters the house shall be unclean for seven days. Any food on which water has been poured shall be unclean, anything moistened shall be unclean. Earthenware vessels shall be unclean and whatever they contain shall be unclean for every clean man. The open vessels shall be unclean for every Israelite with whatever is moistened in them. On the day when the body is removed from there, THEY SHALL CLEANSE THE HOUSE of all pollution of oil, wine, and water moisture. They shall rub ITS (the house’s) FLOOR, WALLS AND DOORS AND SHALL WASH WITH WATER THE BOLTS, DOORPOSTS, THRESHOLDS AND LINTELS. On the day when the body is removed from there, they shall purify the house and all its utensils, hand-mills and mortars, all utensils of wood, iron and bronze and all utensils capable of purification. Clothes, sacks and skins shall be washed. As for the people, whoever has been in the house or has entered the house shall bathe in water and shall wash his clothes on the FIRST DAY. On the THIRD DAY they shall sprinkle purifying water on them and shall bathe. They shall wash their garments and all the utensils in the house. On the SEVENTH DAY they shall sprinkle them a second time. They shall bathe, wash their clothes and utensils and shall be clean by the evening of the impurity CONTRACTED FROM THE DEAD so as to be fit to touch their pure things. As for a man who has not been rendered unclean on account of…they have been unclean. No longer…until they sprinkled them the second time on the seventh day and shall be clean by the evening at sunset. Whoever touches the bone of a dead person in the fields, or one slain by the sword, or a dead body or the blood of a dead person, or a tomb, he shall purify himself according to the rule of this statute. But if he does not purify himself according to the rule of this statute of this law, he is unclean, his uncleanness being still IN HIM. Whoever touches him must wash his clothes, bathe and he shall be clean by evening.”
Miscarriage
Temple Scroll (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 209
“If a woman is with child and IT DIES IN HER WOMB, as long as it is dead in her, SHE SHALL BE UNCLEAN LIKE A TOMB. Any house that she enters shall be unclean with all its utensils for SEVEN DAYS. Whoever touches it shall be unclean till the evening. If anyone ENTERS THE HOUSE WITH HER, HE SHALL BE UNCLEAN FOR SEVEN DAYS. He shall wash his clothes and bathe in water on the first day. On the third day he shall sprinkle and wash his clothes and bathe. On the seventh day he shall sprinkle a second time and wash his clothes and bathe. At sunset he shall be clean. As for all the utensils, clothes, skins and all the materials made of goat’s hair, you shall deal with them according to the statute of this law. All earthenware vessels shall be broken for they are unclean and can no more be purified ever.”
Let us all strive to SHEMA which means to hear and obey!
Exodus 20:16f (Samaritan)
“You go near and hear all that YAHWEH our ELOHIM may say. And tell us ALL that YAHWEH our ELOHIM says to you, and WE WILL HEAR AND DO IT.”
Exodus 24:7 (Samaritan)
“And he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, all that YAHWEH has spoken we will HEAR AND WE WILL DO.”
Exodus 24:7 (Septuagint)
“And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the ears of the people and they said, all things that YAHWEH has spoken we WILL DO AND LISTEN TO OBEY.”
Romans 2:13 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
13” For it is not merely the HEARERS of Torah whom ELOHIM considers righteous; rather, it is the DOERS OF WHAT TORAH SAYS who will be made righteous in ELOHIM’s sight.”
James 1:22 (Hebrewgospels.com)
“But you must be of those WHO DO THE WORD AND NOT OF THOSE WHO HEAR ONLY—by which they deceive you.”
Luke 11:28 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“But he said, “Far more blessed are those who HEAR THE WORD OF ELOHIM AND OBEY IT!”
Hearing the word of YAHWEH and obeying it by putting it into action in our lives will return us back to the ancient path and we will find eternal rest!
Jeremiah 6:16 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
Here is what YAHWEH says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask about the ancient paths,
‘Which one is the good way?’
Take it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not take it.’
Will you be one who takes the ancient path? Or will you be the one who says, “We will not take it?” The choice is yours!
Isaiah 64:4 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
5) You favored those who were glad to do justice,
those who remembered you in your ways.
When you were angry, we kept sinning;
but IF WE KEEP YOUR ANCIENT WAYS, WE WILL BE SAVED.
As always may YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!!!
