Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 19:11 - 19:22

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 19:11 - 19:22


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The Use of the Water

v. 11. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
It made no difference what the age of the dead person was or what relationship existed, the one that touched the dead body was defiled.

v. 12. He shall purify himself with it,
the water of purification, on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Neglect in complying with the rules simply lengthened the time needed for purification.

v. 13. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead,
of any soul, no matter of what age and sex, and purifleth not himself, deflleth the Tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; a refusal to comply with the rules resulted in death to the offender; because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. Unless atonement was made, such a person forfeited his life.

v. 14. This is the law when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent and all that is in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

v. 15. And every open vessel which hath no covering bound upon it,
tied firmly to it by means of a string or cord, to keep out the odor of decay, is unclean.

v. 16. And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields,
even for the purpose of burial, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. It was for this reason that the Jewish elders were so strict about marking the graves, especially shortly before a large festival, lest some one inadvertently touch such a grave and be defiled. Cf Mat_23:27.

v. 17. And for an unclean person,
one defiled in the manner just described, they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto, added to and mixed with the ashes, in a vessel;

v. 18. and a clean person shall take hyssop,
on account of the cleansing powers ascribed to it, and dip it in the water, as thus prepared, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, a skeleton, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave;

v. 19. and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he,
the defiled person, shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

v. 20. And the man that shall be unclean and shall not purify himself,
deliberately and willfully neglect the act of purification, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, as the Lord here repeats for the sake of emphasis, because he hath defiled the Sanctuary of the Lord; the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

v. 21. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even,
both having come in contact with the uncleanness of death in the rite of purification.

v. 22. And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it,
the water of purification, shall be unclean until even. These rites of external purification were symbols of the inner, spiritual cleansing which should be found in all true believers. "The ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ. . purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God!" Heb_9:13-14. The water of purification is also a type of the water of Baptism, for by having our souls sprinkled from an evil conscience, we have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, Heb_10:19-22.