6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly 12 beside him and he defiles 13 his consecrated head, 14 then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.
19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies 22 in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles 26 the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. 27
1 tn The imperfect tense functions here as a final imperfect, expressing the purpose of putting such folks outside the camp. The two preceding imperfects (repeated for emphasis) are taken here as instruction or legislation.
2 tn Heb “and a man lies with her with the emission of semen.” This makes it clear that there was adultery involved, so that the going astray is going astray morally. The indication in the text is that if she had never behaved suspiciously the sin might not have been detected.
3 tc The sign of the accusative אֹתָהּ (’otah) is probably to be repointed to the preposition with the suffix, אִתָּהּ (’ittah).
4 tn Heb “and it is concealed from the eyes of her husband.”
5 tn The noun clause beginning with the simple conjunction is here a circumstantial clause, explaining that there was no witness to the sin.
3 tn The pronoun is emphatic – “but you, if you have gone astray.”
4 tn This is an example of the rhetorical device known as aposiopesis, or “sudden silence.” The sentence is broken off due to the intensity or emphasis of the moment. The reader is left to conclude what the sentence would have said.
4 tn The vav (ו) conjunction at the beginning of the clause specifies the cases of corpses that are to be avoided, no matter how painful it might be.
5 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffixed subjective genitive – “in the dying of them” – to form the adverbial clause of time.
6 tn The word “separation” here is metonymy of adjunct – what is on his head is long hair that goes with the vow.
7 tn The genitive could perhaps be interpreted as possession, i.e., “the vow of his God,” but it seems more likely that an objective genitive would be more to the point.
5 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.
6 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.
7 sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.
6 tn The same idea is to be found now in the use of the word נָזַר (nazar), which refers to a recommitment after the vow was interrupted.
7 tn The necessity of bringing the reparation offering was due to the reinstatement into the vow that had been interrupted.
8 tn Heb “will fall”; KJV “shall be lost”; ASV, NASB, NRSV “shall be void.”
9 tc The similar expression in v. 9 includes the word “head” (i.e., “his consecrated head”). The LXX includes this word in v. 12 as well.
7 tn The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.
8 tn Heb “his flesh.”
9 tn This is the imperfect of permission.
8 tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”
9 tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.
10 tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.
11 sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.
10 tn The form has the conjunction with it: וּמַזֵּה (umazzeh). The conjunction subordinates the following as the special law. It could literally be translated “and this shall be…that the one who sprinkles.”
11 sn This gives the indication of the weight of the matter, for “until the evening” is the shortest period of ritual uncleanness in the Law. The problem of contamination had to be taken seriously, but this was a relatively simple matter to deal with – if one were willing to obey the Law.