New Living Translation
Numbers 19:12
12They must purify themselves on the third and seventh days with the water of purification; then they will be purified. But if they do not do this on the third and seventh days, they will continue to be unclean even after the seventh day.
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 man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel and any foreigners who live among them. 11“All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves on the third and seventh days with the water of purification; then they will be purified. But if they do not do this on the third and seventh days, they will continue to be unclean even after the seventh day. 13All those who touch a dead body and do not purify themselves in the proper way defile the Lord’s Tabernacle, and they will be cut off from the community of Israel. Since the water of purification was not sprinkled on them, their defilement continues. 14“This is the ritual law that applies when someone dies inside a tent: All those who enter that tent and those who were inside when the death occurred will be ceremonially unclean for 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“To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.
- Psalms 51:7Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Ezekiel 36:25“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.
- Acts 15:9He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.
- Revelation 7:14And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.
- Numbers 31:19And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days.
- Exodus 19:11Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.
- Leviticus 7:17Any meat left over until the third day must be completely burned up.
- Hosea 6:2In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence.
- 1 Corinthians 15:3I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
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
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