Numbers 19:15

19:11-22 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 rivers of living water; and it is by his work that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us for our cleansing. Those who promise themselves benefit by the righteousness of Christ, while they submit not to the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit, do but deceive themselves; we cannot be purified by the ashes, otherwise than in the running water. What use could there be in these appointments, if they do not refer to the doctrines concerning the sacrifice of Christ? But comparing them with the New Testament, the knowledge to be got from them is evident. The true state of fallen man is shown in these institutions. Here we learn the defiling nature of sin, and are warned to avoid evil communications.

And every open vessel,.... An earthen one, as the Targum of Jonathan; and so Jarchi interprets it; and Maimonides (r) observes, that this is only to be understood of an earthen vessel: which hath no covering bound upon it; a linen or a woollen cloth wrapped and tied about it: is unclean; the air of the house getting into it by its being uncovered. (r) In Misn. Cholin, c. 1. sect. 6.

Verse 15. - Which hath no covering bound upon it. So the Septuagint ( ὅσα οὐχὶ δεσμὸν καταδέδεται ἐπ αὐτῷ ), and this is the sense. In the Hebrew פָּתִיל , a string, stands in apposition to צָּמִיד , a covering. If the vessel was open, its contents were polluted by the odour of death. Numbers 19:15

14. when a man dieth in a tent, &c.—The instances adduced appear very minute and trivial; but important ends, both of a religious and of a sanitary nature, were promoted by carrying the idea of pollution from contact with dead bodies to so great an extent. While it would effectually prevent that Egyptianized race of Israelites imitating the superstitious custom of the Egyptians, who kept in their houses the mummied remains of their ancestors, it ensured a speedy interment to all, thus not only keeping burial places at a distance, but removing from the habitations of the living the corpses of persons who died from infectious disorders, and from the open field the unburied remains of strangers and foreigners who fell in battle.

Special instructions concerning the defilement. If a man died in a tent, every one who entered it, or who was there at the time, became unclean for seven days. So also did every "open vessel upon which there was not a covering, a string," i.e., that had not a covering fastened by a string, to prevent the smell of the corpse from penetrating it. פּתיל, a string, is in apposition to צמיד, a band, or binding (see Ges. 113; Ewald, 287, e.). This also applied to any one in the open field, who touched a man who had either been slain by the sword or had died a natural death, or even a bone (skeleton), or a grave.

[Reformed Biblical] nues in his guilt and filth, not now to be washed away by this water, but to be punished by cutting off. Numbers 19:14 Numbers 19:15 ## Every open vessel, because it receives the air of the tent, by which it is ceremonially polluted. Compare Lev_11:32 ,33 . Numbers 19:16 ## With a sword, or by any other violent way. Numbers 19:17 ## Running water, i.e, waters flowing from a spring or river which are the purest. These manifestly signify God’s Spirit, which is oft compared to water, Joh_7:38 ,39 , and by which alone true purification is obtained. ## In a vessel, where they were to be mixed, and then the water was to be strained out and kept for this use. Numbers 19:18 ## A clean person, to wit, a priest; for to such the work of cleansing was appropriated. See Le 13 $. ## Upon all the vessels; even those which were in part purified by the fire. See Num_31:23. Numbers 19:19 Numbers 19:20 ## Shall not purify himself, i.e, shall contemptuously refuse to submit to this way of purification. Numbers 19:21 ## Shall wash his clothes, because he is unclean, as it here follows.

[Reformed Biblical] ites, whether of a whole tribe meeting together by their representatives, or a lesser congregation, such as there were to be many in Canaan; and the words rendered all the congregation may be, and are by some here, rendered every congregation. And by virtue of this law, as some suppose, the Israelites newly after their return from the captivity offered twelve bullocks, one for each tribe, Ezr_8:35. Numbers 15:23 Numbers 15:24 ## In Le 4 the bullock is for a sin-offering, here it is for a burnt- offering, either because they are different laws, as hath been said; or because here is added a new penalty, to breed the greater caution and diligence in the Israelites, who had given many instances, and now a fresh and eminent instance, of their heedlessness in observing the commands of God; and so, besides that bullock for a sin-offering, which he leaves to be gathered out of Lev_4:11, he now requires another bullock for a burnt-offering. Numbers 15:25 Numbers 15:26 Numbers 15:27 Numbers 15:28 Numbers 15:29 Numbers 15:30 ## Ought; understand such things as ought not to be done and things relating to the worship of God; ## presumptously, Heb. with a high or lifted hand i. e. knowingly willfully, boldly, resolvedly, deliberately, designedly. So this phrase is elsewhere used. See Exo_14:8 Lev_26:21 Num_33:3 Job_15:26 Psa_19:13. ## Reproacheth the Lord, i.e. he sets God at defiance, and exposeth him to contempt, as if he were unworthy of any regard, and unable to punish transgressors.

Exodus 12:49 , Leviticus 24:22 , Numbers 9:14 ; Numbers 15:15-16 ; Numbers 15:29 ). Indeed, in P the term is already on the way to assume the later technical sense of ‘proselyte,’ the foreigner who, being circumcised and observing the law generally, is in full religious communion with Israel. come near ] to take part in the sacred rite. So often in P, as Exodus 40:32 , Leviticus 9:5 ; Leviticus 9:7-8 (EVV. ‘ draw near’), Exodus 21:17 f. (‘approach’), Numbers 16:40 . one that is born in ] lit. a native of ; the word, when standing alone, is rendered homeborn ( v. 49). It denotes the native Israelite, as distinct, especially, from the gêr , or foreigner settled in Israel; cf. v. 19, Leviticus 16:29 ; Leviticus 17:15 ; Leviticus 18:26 ; Leviticus 19:34 ; Leviticus 23:42 ; Leviticus 24:16 ; Leviticus 24:22 , Numbers 9:14 ; Numbers 15:13 ; Numbers 15:29-30 .