Numbers 19:21

Numbers 19:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
• New King James Version (NKJV)It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.
• New Living Translation (NLT)This is a permanent law for the people. Those who sprinkle the water of purification must afterward wash their clothes, and anyone who then touches the water used for purification will remain defiled until evening.

Context of Numbers 19:21

19The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. This is a lasting ordinance for them. “The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

Numbers 19:21 word by word

וְהָיְתָ֥ה לָּהֶ֖ם לְחֻקַּ֣ת עוֹלָ֑ם וּמַזֵּ֤ה מֵֽי־הַנִּדָּה֙ יְכַבֵּ֣ס בְּגָדָ֔יו וְהַנֹּגֵ֙עַ֙ בְּמֵ֣י הַנִּדָּ֔ה יִטְמָ֖א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it shall be a perpetualעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769
• statuteחֻקָּהchûqqâh · statuteH2708
• unto them, that he that sprinklethנָזָהnâzâh · to sprinkleH5137
• the waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• of separationנִדָּהniddâh · impurityH5079
• shall washכָּבַסkâbas · to washH3526
• his clothesבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
• and he that touchethנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060
• shall be uncleanטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• until evenעֶ֫רֶב‛ereb · eveningH6153

Cross-references for Numbers 19:21

• Leviticus 11:25Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.
• Leviticus 16:26“The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.
• Hebrews 7:19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
• Hebrews 9:10They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
• Hebrews 10:4It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Commentaries on Numbers 19:21

• 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. 17-22To cleanse with the heifer's ashes, they made a special purifying mixture. They combined ashes from the burnt purification offering with fresh water (compare 5:17).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 19:21

• Defilement
• Purification
• Water

In the dictionaries

• Water of separation
• Clean
• Covering
• Defile
• Exodus
• Unclean
• Agrapha
• Chronicles, Books of
• Corpse
• Genealogy

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