Isolation was required for anyone with a bodily discharge because such discharges rendered a person ceremonially unclean and symbolized impurity, whether due to disease or natural function. This separation protected the community from defilement and taught the seriousness of purity in approaching God.
Leviticus 15:2 says:
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.'”
The uncleanness extended to everything the person touched or sat on, and anyone who contacted them became unclean until evening (Leviticus 15:4–11). Isolation and repeated washing emphasized the need to separate impurity from the holy.
These laws were not about sinfulness per se, but about teaching the people to discern between clean and unclean. They revealed that nothing impure could remain in the presence of God or within the camp.
This principle pointed ahead to the need for spiritual purity under the New Covenant. 2 Corinthians 6:17 says:
“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
The law of isolation for bodily discharge taught Israel to guard holiness and to approach God only after purification.
