Numbers 19:16
in Numbers 19Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And whosoever in the open field toucheth one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
KJV
And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 19
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
To afford the necessary supply of the cleansing mixture, the Jewish writers say that a red heifer was sacrificed every year, and that the ashes, mingled with the sprinkling ingredients, were distributed through all the cities and towns of Israel.
This site's exposition
every open vessel, which hath no covering
on Numbers 19:15-16
An open vessel with no covering bound on it is unclean, and Gill records the older Jewish reading, in the Targum of Jonathan, in Rashi and in Maimonides, that this holds of earthen vessels, which soak up what touches them and are broken rather than scoured at Leviticus 11:33. Verse 16 gives the reach of the law in open country, a man slain with a sword, a dead body, a bone, or a grave. Marking graves followed from this, so that no one picked up defilement unawares, and Luke 11:44 turns the practice into a charge when Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields,....
Then, and then only, we may with comfort apply Christ's merit to our souls, when we have forsaken sin, and cease all fellowship with the unfruitful works of death and darkness. The repetition of the sprinkling teaches us often to renew the actings of repentance and faith, wash as Naaman, seven times; we need to do that often which is so necessary to be well done.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
“Our Rabbis have said that this includes the upper board and the side board [of a coffin, when found in the open field]. And the plain meaning [of the verse] is: in the open field where there are no tents, a corpse conveys uncleanness [only] by contact.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The meaning thereof is not that he should first put the ashes [of the Red Heifer] into the vessel and then put the water upon the ashes, for our Rabbis have taught. Sotah 16b.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכֹ֨ל | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִגַּ֜ע | yiga' | he will touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֣י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| בַּֽחֲלַל־ | bachalal- | <in> [one] slain of | H2491 → | 94 times |
| חֶ֙רֶב֙ | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| א֣וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| בְמֵ֔ת | vemet | <in> a dead [body] | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אֽוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| בְעֶ֥צֶם | veetzem | <in> a bone of | H6106 → | 126 times |
| אָדָ֖ם | ʾadam | a human | H120 → | 551 times |
| א֣וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| בְקָ֑בֶר | vekaver | <in> a grave | H6913 → | |
| יִטְמָ֖א | yitma' | he will be unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| שִׁבְעַ֥ת | shivat | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| יָמִֽים׃ | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וְכֹ֨לand every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־[one] who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִגַּ֜עhe will touch
yiga'H5060 →150 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַשָּׂדֶ֗הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
בַּֽחֲלַל־<in> [one] slain of
bachalal-H2491 →94 times
חֶ֙רֶב֙a sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
א֣וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
בְמֵ֔ת<in> a dead [body]
vemetH4191 →839 times
אֽוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
בְעֶ֥צֶם<in> a bone of
veetzemH6106 →126 times
אָדָ֖םa human
ʾadamH120 →551 times
א֣וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
בְקָ֑בֶר<in> a grave
vekaverH6913 →
יִטְמָ֖אhe will be unclean
yitma'H2930 →162 times
שִׁבְעַ֥תseven
shivatH7651 →394 times
יָמִֽים׃days
yamimH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 19:11Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
it leads to
- Numbers 5:2
“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 31:19
All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both…
- Leviticus 21:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
- Numbers 9:6
But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day
- Numbers 9:10
“Tell the Israelites: ‘When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD.
- Numbers 5:2
Through
Matthew 23:27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
it leads to
- Acts 23:3
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 11:44
Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”
- Acts 23:3
Through
Luke 11:44Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”
it leads to
- Matthew 23:27–28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- Matthew 23:27–28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.