Bible Dictionary
Issue, Running
A running issue was a continuing bodily discharge that made a person ceremonially unclean under the law of Moses. Cleansing required a period of waiting and prescribed purification offerings.
Definition
A running issue was a continuing bodily discharge. Under the law of Moses, such a condition affected ceremonial cleanness and required prescribed treatment before restoration.
Biblical Usage
Leviticus distinguishes the continuing flow from the period after it has ceased. Cessation alone did not make the person ceremonially clean; the person had to wait seven days and complete the prescribed purifications and sacrifice.
Historical Background
The regulations belong to Israel’s ceremonial law and addressed bodily conditions in relation to ritual cleanness.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(Leviticus 15:2,3; 22:4; Numbers 5:2; 2 Samuel 3:29) In (Leviticus 15:3) a distinction is introduced, which merely means that the cessation of the actual flux does not constitute ceremonial cleanness, but that the patient must abide the legal time, seven days, ver 13, and perform the prescribed purifications and sacrifice. ver. 14.