Numbers 19:11-16

Purification from Uncleanness

19:11 “‘Whoever touches ¹  the corpse ²  of any person ³  will be ceremonially unclean ⁴  seven days. 19:12 He must purify himself ⁵  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. 19:13 Anyone 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, ⁶  because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies ⁷  in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days. 19:15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. 19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, ⁸  or the body of someone who died of natural causes, ⁹  or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days. ¹⁰ 

Leviticus 19:28

19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person ¹¹  or incise a tattoo on yourself. ¹²  I am the Lord.

Jeremiah 16:5-6

16:5 “Moreover I, the Lord, tell you: ¹³  ‘Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor, ¹⁴  my love, and my compassion. I, the Lord, so affirm it! ¹⁵  16:6 Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them. ¹⁶ 

Ezekiel 24:16-18

24:16 “Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, ¹⁷  but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears. 24:17 Groan in silence for the dead, ¹⁸  but do not perform mourning rites. ¹⁹  Bind on your turban ²⁰  and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip ²¹  and do not eat food brought by others.” ²² 

24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the morning ²³  I acted just as I was commanded.

Matthew 8:21-22

8:21 Another ²⁴  of the ²⁵  disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ²⁶ 

Luke 9:59-60

9:59 Jesus ²⁷  said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, ²⁸  “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 9:60 But Jesus ²⁹  said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, ³⁰  but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ³¹ 

Luke 9:2

9:2 and he sent ³²  them out to proclaim ³³  the kingdom of God ³⁴  and to heal the sick. ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ³⁶  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[19:11]  ¹ tn The form is the participle with the article functioning as a substantive: “the one who touches.”

[19:11]  ² tn Heb “the dead.”

[19:11]  ³ tn The expression is full: לְכָל־נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם (lÿkhol-nefesh ’adam) – of any life of a man, i.e., of any person.

[19:11]  ⁴ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows only the participle used as the subject, but since the case is hypothetical and therefore future, this picks up the future time. The adjective “ceremonially” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[19:12]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.

[19:13]  ⁹ sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.

[19:14]  ¹³ tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”

[19:16]  ¹⁷ 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.

[19:16]  ¹⁸ 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.

[19:16]  ¹⁹ sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.

[19:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “And slash for the soul you shall not give.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 21:1, 5; 22:5). See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 306, 320-21.

[19:28]  ²² tn Heb “and a writing of incision you shall not give in you.”

[16:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “For thus says the Lord…”

[16:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my peace.” The Hebrew word שְׁלוֹמִי (shÿlomi) can be translated “peace, prosperity” or “well-being” (referring to wholeness or health of body and soul).

[16:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[16:6]  ²⁹ sn These were apparently pagan customs associated with mourning (Isa 15:2; Jer 47:5) which were forbidden in Israel (Lev 19:8; 21:5) but apparently practiced anyway (Jer 41:5).

[24:16]  ³³ tn Heb “a strike.”

[24:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “Groan silently. As to the dead….” Cf. M. Greenberg’s suggestion that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from ָדּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508.

[24:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.

[24:17]  ³⁹ sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).

[24:17]  ⁴⁰ sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.

[24:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).

[24:18]  ⁴¹ tn This may refer to the following morning. For a discussion of various interpretive options in understanding the chronology reflected in verse 18, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:790.

[8:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:21]  ⁴⁶ tc ‡ Most mss (C L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy mae bo) read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) here, but the earliest witnesses, א and B (along with 33 and a few others), lack it. The addition may have been a motivated reading to clarify whose disciples were in view. NA²⁷ includes the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:22]  ⁴⁹ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to follow Jesus.

[9:59]  ⁵³ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:59]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “said.”

[9:60]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:60]  ⁵⁸ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to preach the gospel (proclaim the kingdom of God).

[9:60]  ⁵⁹ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[9:2]  ⁶¹ sn “To send out” is often a term of divine commission in Luke: 1:19; 4:18, 43; 7:27; 9:48; 10:1, 16; 11:49; 13:34; 24:49.

[9:2]  ⁶² tn Or “to preach.”

[9:2]  ⁶³ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[9:2]  ⁶⁴ sn As Jesus’ own ministry (Luke 4:16-44) involved both word (to proclaim) and deed (to heal) so also would that of the disciples.

[1:16]  ⁶⁵ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.