Numbers 19:22
in Numbers 19Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
KJV
And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
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This verse in Numbers 19
Commentary
5 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
it shall be a perpetual statute unto them
on Numbers 19:21-22
The statute is made perpetual with the reversal written into it, since the man who sprinkles the water washes his clothes afterward and the man who touches it is unclean until evening. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold that the purifying power sits in the divine appointment rather than in the mixture. Verse 22 states the traffic of defilement in one direction, that whatever the unclean man touches becomes unclean. Haggai 2:11-13 puts that very question to the priests and gets the same answer, that holy flesh does not make other things holy by contact while a man defiled by a dead body makes what he touches unclean.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The unclean person - Not he who is so only by touching the water of separation, ver. 21, but he who is so by the greater sort of uncleanness, which lasted seven days, and which was not removed without the use of this water of purification.
And that this ceremonial purification was a type and figure of the cleansing of the consciences of believers from the pollutions of sin appears by the apostle's discourse, Heb. ix. 13, 14 , where he compares the efficacy of the blood of Christ with the sanctifying virtue that was in "the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean." The Ashes of Purification.
And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean,....
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכֹ֛ל | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִגַּע־ | yiga'- | he will touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| בּ֥וֹ | bo | <in> <the> it | ||
| הַטָּמֵ֖א | hatame' | the unclean [person] | H2931 → | 88 times |
| יִטְמָ֑א | yitma' | it will be unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| וְהַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ | vehanefesh | and the person | H5315 → | 754 times |
| הַנֹּגַ֖עַת | hanogaat | who touches [it] | H5060 → | 150 times |
| תִּטְמָ֥א | titma' | it will be unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הָעָֽרֶב׃ פ | haarev | the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
וְכֹ֛לand all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִגַּע־he will touch
yiga'-H5060 →150 times
בּ֥וֹ<in> <the> it
bo
הַטָּמֵ֖אthe unclean [person]
hatame'H2931 →88 times
יִטְמָ֑אit will be unclean
yitma'H2930 →162 times
וְהַנֶּ֥פֶשׁand the person
vehanefeshH5315 →754 times
הַנֹּגַ֖עַתwho touches [it]
hanogaatH5060 →150 times
תִּטְמָ֥אit will be unclean
titma'H2930 →162 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הָעָֽרֶב׃ פthe evening
haarevH6153 →134 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
Leviticus 15:5Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
it leads to
- Leviticus 11:25
and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.
- Leviticus 16:26
The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.
- Leviticus 17:15
And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he…
- Leviticus 11:25
Through
Haggai 2:13So Haggai asked, “If one who is defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?” “Yes, it becomes defiled,” the priests answered.
it leads to
- Numbers 9:6–10
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
- Leviticus 22:4–6
If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man…
- Numbers 19:11–22
Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
- Numbers 5:2–3
“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.
- Numbers 9:6–10
Through
Leviticus 7:19Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned up. As for any other meat, anyone who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
it leads to
- Romans 14:20
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
- Romans 14:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Numbers
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.