Numbers 19 · Verse 11

Numbers 19:11

He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
Numbers 19:11, King James Version

Numbers 19:11 in other translations

BSBWhoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
WEB“He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
ASVHe that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days:
YLT‘He who is coming against the dead body of any man--is unclean seven days;
DARBYHe that toucheth a dead person, any dead body of a man, shall be unclean seven days.
BBEAnyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days:
WebsterHe that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

What does Numbers 19:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 19:11-22
11-22. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean--This law is noticed here to show the uses to which the water of separation [Nu 19:9] was applied. The case of a death is one; and as in every family which sustained a bereavement the members of the household became defiled, so in an immense population, where instances of mortality and other cases of uncleanness would be daily occurring, the water of separation must have been in constant requisition. To afford the necessary supply of the cleansing mixture, the Jewish writers say that a red heifer was sacrificed every year, and that the ashes, mingled with the sprinkling ingredients, were distributed through all the cities and towns of Israel.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days - How low does this lay man! He who touched a dead beast was only unclean for one day, Lev 11:24, Lev 11:27, Lev 11:39; but he who touches a dead man is unclean for seven days. This was certainly designed to mark the peculiar impurity of man, and to show his sinfulness - seven times worse than the vilest animal! O thou son of the morning, how art thou fallen!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 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.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Numbers 19:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הַנֹּגֵ֥עַha.no.Ge.a'the [one who] touchesH5060
בְּמֵ֖תbe.Met<in> a dead [body]H4191
לְכָל\־le.kholof everyH3605
נֶ֣פֶשׁNe.feshcorpse ofH5315
אָדָ֑ם'a.Dama personH120
וְטָמֵ֖אve.ta.Me'and he will be uncleanH2930
שִׁבְעַ֥תshiv.'AtsevenH7651
יָמִֽים\׃ya.MimdaysH3117

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 19:11

  • Numbers 5:2

    Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:

  • Numbers 31:19

    And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

  • Leviticus 21:1

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:

  • Numbers 9:6

    And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

  • Numbers 19:16

    And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

  • Numbers 9:10

    Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord.

  • Leviticus 21:11

    Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;

  • Romans 5:12

    Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

  • Haggai 2:13

    Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

  • Lamentations 4:14

    They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

  • Hebrews 9:14

    How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

  • Ephesians 2:1

    And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
toucheth the dead.He who touched a dead beast was only unclean for one day, (Le 11:12, 27, 39;) but he who touches a dead man is unclean for seven days. This was certainly designed to show the peculiar impurity and sinfulness of man, and the hatefulness of sin, seven times worse than the vilest animal!
16; 5:2; 9:6,10; 31:19; Le 11:31; 21:1,11; La 4:14; Hag 2:13
Ro 5:12; 2Co 6:17; Eph 2:1; Heb 9:14
man. Heb. soul of man.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 19:10

    And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

  • Numbers 19:11

    He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

  • Numbers 19:12

    He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

Read all of Numbers 19

Numbers 19:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El que tocare muerto de cualquiera persona humana, siete días será inmundo:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Celui qui aura touché un mort, un cadavre d’homme quelconque, sera impur sept jours.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wer einen Toten anrührt, irgend eine Leiche eines Menschen, der wird sieben Tage unrein sein.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Qui tetigerit cadaver hominis, et propter hoc septem diebus fuerit immundus,