Numbers 19:17-18

19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take ¹  some of the ashes of the heifer ²  burnt for purification from sin and pour ³  fresh running ⁴  water over them in a vessel. 19:18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave.

Psalms 51:7

51:7 Sprinkle me ⁵  with water ⁶  and I will be pure; ⁷ 

wash me ⁸  and I will be whiter than snow. ⁹ 

Ezekiel 36:25

36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water ¹⁰  and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.

Acts 15:9

15:9 and he made no distinction ¹¹  between them and us, cleansing ¹²  their hearts by faith.

Revelation 7:14

7:14 So ¹³  I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” ¹⁴  Then ¹⁵  he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They ¹⁶  have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

[19:17]  ¹ tn The verb is the perfect tense, third masculine plural, with a vav (ו) consecutive. The verb may be worded as a passive, “ashes must be taken,” but that may be too awkward for this sentence. It may be best to render it with a generic “you” to fit the instruction of the text.

[19:17]  ² tn The word “heifer” is not in the Hebrew text, but it is implied.

[19:17]  ³ tn Here too the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; rather than make this passive, it is here left as a direct instruction to follow the preceding one. For the use of the verb נָתַן (natan) in the sense of “pour,” see S. C. Reif, “A Note on a Neglected Connotation of ntn,” VT 20 (1970): 114-16.

[19:17]  ⁴ tn The expression is literally “living water.” Living water is the fresh, flowing spring water that is clear, life-giving, and not the collected pools of stagnant or dirty water.

[51:7]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “cleanse me with hyssop.” “Hyssop” was a small plant (see 1 Kgs 4:33) used to apply water (or blood) in purification rites (see Exod 12:22; Lev 14:4-6, 49-52; Num 19:6-18. The psalmist uses the language and imagery of such rites to describe spiritual cleansing through forgiveness.

[51:7]  ⁷ tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.

[51:7]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:7]  ⁹ sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).

[36:25]  ¹⁰ sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.

[15:9]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 231 s.v. διακρίνω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “to conclude that there is a difference, make a distinction, differentiate.”

[15:9]  ¹² tn Or “purifying.”

[7:14]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.

[7:14]  ¹⁴ tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.

[7:14]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:14]  ¹⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.