New English Translation
Numbers 19:12
12He must purify himself 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.
Numbers 19:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He shall purify himself with it 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.
- New International Version (NIV)They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
Context of Numbers 19:12
10The 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. 11“‘Whoever touches the corpse of any person will be ceremonially unclean seven days. He must purify himself 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. 13Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him. 14“‘This is the law: When a man dies in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
Read all of Numbers 19Numbers 19:12 word by word
ה֣וּא יִתְחַטָּא־ב֞וֹ בַּיּ֧וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֛י וּבַיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י יִטְהָ֑ר וְאִם־לֹ֨א יִתְחַטָּ֜א בַּיּ֧וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֛י וּבַיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י לֹ֥א יִטְהָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 19:12
- Numbers 19:17“‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin and pour fresh running water over them in a vessel.
- Psalms 51:7Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
- Ezekiel 36:25I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.
- Acts 15:9and he made no distinction between them and us, cleansing their hearts by faith.
- Revelation 7:14So I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!
- Numbers 31:19“Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
- Exodus 19:11and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
- Leviticus 7:17but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire on the third day.
- Hosea 6:2He will restore us in a very short time; he will heal us in a little while, so that we may live in his presence.
- 1 Corinthians 15:3For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
Commentaries on Numbers 19:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12He shall purify himself with it - בו יתחטא yithchatta bo, literally, he shall sin himself with it. This Hebrew form of speech is common enough among us in other matters. Thus to fleece, to bark, and to skin, do not signify to add a fleece, another bark, or a skin, but to take one away; therefore, to sin himself, in the Hebrew idiom, is not to add sin, but to take it away, to purify. The verb חטא chata signifies to miss the mark, to sin, to purify from…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11-22Verses 11-22 One practical effect of attaching defilement to a dead body, and to all that touched it, etc., would be to insure early burial, and to correct a practice not uncommon in the East, of leaving the deal to be devoured by the wild beasts.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-22Verses 11-22 Why did the law make a corpse a defiling thing? Because death is the wages of sin, which entered into the world by it, and reigns by the power of it. The law could not conquer death, nor abolish it, as the gospel does, by bringing life and immortality to light, and so introducing a better hope. As the ashes of the heifer signified the merit of Christ, so the running water signified the power and grace of the blessed Spirit, who is compared to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-19If someone touched a human dead body, that person became ceremonially unclean for seven days (compare Leviticus 21:1–3). This meant a person was not allowed to take part in worship until they were made clean. To become clean again, the person had to use the water of purification. This water was sprinkled on the third day and again on the seventh day.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 11-2211-22. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean--This law is noticed here to show the uses to which the water of separation [Nu 19:9] was applied. The case of a death is one; and as in every family which sustained a bereavement the members of the household became defiled, so in an immense population, where instances of mortality and other cases of uncleanness would be daily occurring, the water of separation must have been in constant…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 19:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries