Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 15:9

"And what saddle soever he that hath the issue rideth upon shall be unclean." — Leviticus 15:9 (ASV)

And whatever saddle. —Better, and any carriage. The word translated here as “saddle” only occurs twice more: namely, 1 Kings 5:6 (Hebrew text) or Leviticus 4:26 (English Bible), where it is rendered “chariot” in the Authorized Version, and in Song of Solomon 3:10, where it is translated “covering” but where it clearly denotes the seat inside the palanquin.

With the feminine ending, this word occurs at least forty-four times and is invariably translated in the Authorized Version as “chariot.” What kind of vehicle the masculine form of this expression denotes in the three passages in which it occurs must be decided from the context.

In 1 Kings, the horses used in connection with it show that it was a carriage drawn by animals. In Song of Solomon, it is a vehicle, or the essential part of it, carried by men, and this is the kind of vehicle meant in the present passage. It is the well-known palanquin, so widely used in the East.

Shall be unclean. —The conveyance used is to be unclean and therefore is not to be used by anyone else. It is apparent that the current text does not state how long the vehicle is to be defiled, though in every other instance the time is fixed . Therefore, there can be little doubt that the reading in the Septuagint, which has until evening, here, is the original one, and that these words have dropped out of the Hebrew text.