## Malbim Ayelet HaShachar Klal 319

###### Malbim Ayelet HaShachar 319:1
[Malbim Ayelet HaShachar 319:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Malbim%20Ayelet%20HaShachar/r/319:1)

ובכל זה כשאומר "**יטמא**" בפעל הוא לרוב ראשון לטומאה, לא אב הטומאה. אם לא כשבאר טומאתו בפירוש כמו "יכבס בגדיו, יטמא שבעת ימים", או הודעה אחרת (מצורע ס' קפ)

**Ayelet Hashachar, translated by Betzalel Avraham Feinstein, 2021:**
And nevertheless, when it says **יטמא** (shall be unclean) as a verb, it is usually referring to first-grade uncleanness, not the *father of uncleanness*, unless it clarifies his uncleanness explicitly, like יכבס בגדיו, יטמא שבעת ימים (shall wash his clothes…he shall remain unclean seven days)⁶¹² or through some other proclamation.

אב הטומאה*, which means “the father of uncleanness” is the highest level of uncleanness besides the uncleanness of a corpse.*ראשון לטומאה*, which translates into “first-grade uncleanness”, is the uncleanness which comes from touching “the father of uncleanness”.*

footnotes:
⁶¹² Leviticus 15:22-24.