Numbers 19 14

Numbers 19:14 kjv

This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

Numbers 19:14 nkjv

'This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days;

Numbers 19:14 niv

"This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days,

Numbers 19:14 esv

"This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

Numbers 19:14 nlt

"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.

Numbers 19 verses

Numbers 19 14 Meaning

Numbers 19:14 describes the specific regulation regarding ritual impurity incurred by death when it occurs within a dwelling, referred to as a "tent." The verse mandates that anyone entering that tent, as well as all objects contained within it, become ritually unclean for a period of seven days. This ordinance is part of the detailed laws concerning purification from contact with the dead, a central theme of Numbers chapter 19, which focuses on the ashes of the red heifer used to prepare the water of purification.

Numbers 19 14 Context

Numbers 19 deals almost exclusively with the elaborate ritual concerning the "waters of purification," derived from the ashes of a red heifer. This ceremony was crucial for maintaining the ritual purity of the Israelite camp, especially as related to contact with the dead. Death, for the Israelites, was the ultimate source of ritual impurity, seen as the antithesis of life, which flows from God. Living in God's presence (represented by the Tabernacle in the midst of the camp) required extreme purity. This chapter specifies the detailed procedures for purification from death defilement, from the sacrifice of the unblemished red heifer outside the camp (Num 19:2-3) to the various applications of its ashes mixed with water. Verse 14 is a core component of this law, explaining how the impurity of death inside a dwelling contaminates not just direct touchers (mentioned elsewhere) but also the living space itself and everything within it. This widespread defilement underscored the seriousness of death's impact on a holy community and highlighted the absolute necessity of God's prescribed means of cleansing to enable continued fellowship with Him. The historical context reflects nomadic life where tents were primary dwellings and communal proximity demanded stringent hygiene and ritual protocols to preserve the sacred space and order of the camp.

Word Analysis

• This is the law: Hebrew: Torah Zot (תּוֹרָה זֹאת). Torah signifies divine instruction, commandment, or law, emphasizing its source in God's will and its absolute authority. It sets this declaration as an unbreakable and foundational decree.
• when a man dieth: Hebrew: ki yamut adam (כִּי יָמוּת אָדָם). Yamut (from mut) means "to die." Adam refers to humanity, "a man" or "person." This phrase establishes the specific event triggering the law—human death, universal in its application, affecting all. Death, in a ritual sense, is considered the ultimate impurity in Israelite thought, as it signifies the absence of life, the domain of the life-giving God.
• in a tent: Hebrew: b'ohel (בְּאֹהֶל). Ohel refers to a tent or any temporary dwelling. In the Israelite context, this refers to their common housing during their wilderness wanderings. By extension, this law applied to permanent houses once they settled in the land. This specification indicates that the immediate environment where death occurs becomes defiled. The closed space facilitates the "spread" of the impurity.
• all that come into the tent: Hebrew: kol ha-ba' el ha-ohel (כָּל הַבָּא אֶל הָאֹהֶל). Kol means "all" or "every." Ha-ba' (from bo') means "those who come." This broad inclusion signifies that anyone entering the dwelling after the death has occurred automatically contracts the impurity, even without direct physical contact with the corpse itself. It highlights the potent, pervasive nature of defilement from death.
• and all that is in the tent: Hebrew: u'kol asher b'ohel (וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל). Asher means "that which is." This extends the defilement not only to people but also to all non-living objects within the tent. This signifies that the space itself and everything within it carries the taint of death, requiring extensive cleansing. This broad scope demonstrates God's demand for thorough purity within the camp.
• shall be unclean: Hebrew: yit'ma (יִטְמָא). From the root t.m.a. (טמא), meaning "to be unclean, defiled, polluted." This state of ritual impurity is not moral sin, but rather a temporary condition that separates one from the holy space and rituals of the community until purification. It rendered a person or object unsuitable for contact with sacred things.
• seven days: Hebrew: shiv'at yamim (שִׁבְעַת יָמִים). This specific duration of one week for the defilement period implies a necessary passage of time for cleansing, as well as multiple stages of the purification ritual itself, including sprinkling on the third and seventh days (Num 19:12). The number seven often signifies completion, wholeness, or divine perfection in biblical numerology, suggesting a complete cycle of separation and restoration.

Numbers 19 14 Bonus section

The precise requirements regarding defilement by death reveal God's meticulous concern for ritual purity, reflecting His absolute holiness and the pervasive reality of sin and death. This "spreading impurity" (like a contagion) served as a constant reminder that life in fellowship with a holy God required continual atonement and purification. The water of purification, containing the ashes of the red heifer—a singular and non-repeatable sacrifice—prefigures the unique, unrepeatable, and supremely effective sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whose cleansing power is spiritual and eternal, transcending the temporary ceremonial defilement. While the physical contamination from a corpse was outward, the symbolic message pointed to a deeper truth about humanity's innate defilement by sin, rendering us unable to approach God without divine intervention. The seven-day period indicates a thorough process of waiting and specific actions (like washing and sprinkling), highlighting that purity isn't automatic but requires intentional participation in God's prescribed means of cleansing.

Numbers 19 14 Commentary

Numbers 19:14 is a profound statement on the pervasive and serious nature of ritual impurity stemming from death within the Israelite understanding of God's holiness. Death, being the ultimate antagonist to life and the result of sin, carries with it an intrinsic defilement that necessitates careful separation and comprehensive purification. This verse clarifies that merely entering a dwelling where a death occurred is sufficient to incur this serious impurity, affecting not just individuals but all articles within the space. This was not a punitive measure but a divine boundary for maintaining a holy environment for God's presence in the Tabernacle. It illustrates that spiritual contagion spreads and contaminates widely, symbolizing humanity's inherited state of defilement by spiritual death and sin, which separates us from a holy God. The intricate red heifer ritual and its "water of separation" (or "sin offering water") prescribed here, therefore, served as a crucial object lesson, powerfully foreshadowing the necessity of a divine, once-for-all cleansing for human beings to truly dwell in God's presence without defilement—a cleansing fully accomplished by the blood of Christ, the perfect and eternal sacrifice, who truly makes clean the consciences of those who draw near to God.