Bilangan 19:7-12

19:7 Then the priest must wash ¹  his clothes and bathe himself ²  in water, and afterward he may come ³  into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 19:8 The one who burns it ⁴  must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept ⁵  for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification ⁶  – it is a purification for sin. ⁷  19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Purification from Uncleanness

19:11 “‘Whoever touches ⁸  the corpse ⁹  of any person ¹⁰  will be ceremonially unclean ¹¹  seven days. 19:12 He must purify himself ¹²  with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean.

Bilangan 19:21

19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles ¹³  the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. ¹⁴ 

[19:7]  ¹ tn The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.

[19:7]  ² tn Heb “his flesh.”

[19:7]  ³ tn This is the imperfect of permission.

[19:8]  ⁴ sn Here the text makes clear that he had at least one assistant.

[19:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “it will be.”

[19:9]  ⁶ tn The expression לְמֵי נִדָּה (lÿme niddah) is “for waters of impurity.” The genitive must designate the purpose of the waters – they are for cases of impurity, and so serve for cleansing or purifying, thus “water of purification.” The word “impurity” can also mean “abhorrent” because it refers to so many kinds of impurities. It is also called a purification offering; Milgrom notes that this is fitting because the sacrificial ritual involved transfers impurity from the purified to the purifier (pp. 62-72).

[19:9]  ⁷ sn The ashes were to be stored somewhere outside the camp to be used in a water portion for cleansing someone who was defiled. This is a ritual that was enacted in the wilderness; it is something of a restoring rite for people alienated from community.

[19:11]  ⁸ tn The form is the participle with the article functioning as a substantive: “the one who touches.”

[19:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the dead.”

[19:11]  ¹⁰ tn The expression is full: לְכָל־נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם (lÿkhol-nefesh ’adam) – of any life of a man, i.e., of any person.

[19:11]  ¹¹ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows only the participle used as the subject, but since the case is hypothetical and therefore future, this picks up the future time. The adjective “ceremonially” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[19:12]  ¹² tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.

[19:21]  ¹³ tn The form has the conjunction with it: וּמַזֵּה (umazzeh). The conjunction subordinates the following as the special law. It could literally be translated “and this shall be…that the one who sprinkles.”

[19:21]  ¹⁴ sn This gives the indication of the weight of the matter, for “until the evening” is the shortest period of ritual uncleanness in the Law. The problem of contamination had to be taken seriously, but this was a relatively simple matter to deal with – if one were willing to obey the Law.