Numbers 19 · Verse 12

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.
Numbers 19:12, King James Version

Numbers 19:12 in other translations

BSBHe must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.
WEBHe shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
ASVthe same shall purify himself therewith 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.
YLThe doth cleanse himself for it on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean; and if he cleanse not himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not clean.
DARBYHe 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.
BBEOn the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
WebsterHe shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he shall not purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

What does Numbers 19:12 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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 19:11-22 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 He shall purify himself with it - יתחטא בו yithchatta bo, literally, he shall sin himself with it. This Hebrew form of speech is common enough among us in other matters. Thus to fleece, to bark, and to skin, do not signify to add a fleece, another bark, or a skin, but to take one away; therefore, to sin himself, in the Hebrew idiom, is not to add sin, but to take it away, to purify. The verb חטא chata signifies to miss the mark, to sin, to purify from sin, and to make a sin-offering. See the note on Gen 13:13. The Hebrews generally sacrificed males, no matter of what color; but here a heifer, and a heifer of a red color, is ordered. The reason of these circumstances is not very well known. "The rabbins, with all their boldness," says Calmet, "who stick at nothing when it is necessary to explain what they do not understand, declare that the cause of this law is entirely unknown; and that Solomon, with all his wisdom, could not find it out." Several fathers, as well modern as ancient, profess to understand the whole clearly. 1. The red heifer with them signifies the flesh of our Lord, formed out of an earthly substance. 2. Being without spot, etc., the infinite holiness of Christ. 3. The sex of the animal, the infirmity of our flesh, with which he clothed himself. 4. The red color, his passion. 5. Being unyoked, his being righteous in all his conduct, and never under the yoke of sin. 6. Eleazar's sacrificing the heifer instead of Aaron, Gen 13:3, signifies the change of the priesthood from the family of Aaron, in order that a new and more perfect priesthood might take place. 7. The red heifer being taken without the camp (Gen 13:3) to be slain, points out the crucifixion of our Lord without the city. 8. The complete consuming of the heifer by fire, the complete offering of the whole body and soul of Christ as a sacrifice to God for the sin of man: for as the heifer was without blemish, the whole might be offered to God; and as Christ was immaculate, his whole body and soul were made a sacrifice for sin. 9. As the fire of this sacrifice ascended up to God, so it points out the resurrection and ascension of our blessed Lord. 10. And as the ashes of this victim communicated a legal purity to those who were defiled, so true repentance, signified by those ashes, is necessary for the expiation of the offenses committed after baptism. A great part of this is true in itself; but how little evidence is there that all these things were intended in the ordinance of the red heifer? See on Num 8:7 (note).

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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 19:11-22 →

Numbers 19:12 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.

ה֣וּאhu'heH1931
יִתְחַטָּא\־yit.cha.ta'-he will purify himselfH2398
ב֞וֹvowith <the> it
בַּיּ֧וֹםbai.Yomon the dayH3117
הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֛יha.she.li.Shi<the> thirdH7992
וּבַיּ֥וֹםu.vai.Yomand on the dayH3117
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖יha.she.vi.'I<the> seventhH7637
יִטְהָ֑רyit.Harhe will be pureH2891
וְאִם\־ve.'im-and ifH518
לֹ֨אlo'notH3808
יִתְחַטָּ֜אyit.cha.Ta'he will purify himselfH2398
בַּיּ֧וֹםbai.Yomon the dayH3117
הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֛יha.she.li.Shi<the> thirdH7992
וּבַיּ֥וֹםu.vai.Yomand on the dayH3117
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖יha.she.vi.'I<the> seventhH7637
לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
יִטְהָֽר\׃yit.Harhe will be pureH2891

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

Cross references for Numbers 19:12

  • 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.

  • Psalms 51:7

    Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

  • Hosea 6:2

    After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

    For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

  • Acts 15:9

    And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

  • Leviticus 7:17

    But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.

  • Revelation 7:14

    And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

  • Exodus 19:15

    And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.

  • Numbers 19:17-19

    And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

  • Exodus 19:11

    And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

  • Ezekiel 36:25

    Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
He shall purify."Yithchatta," literally, "he shall sin himself," i.e., not add sin, but take it away, purify. So we say to fleece, and to skin, which do not signify to add a fleece, or a skin, but to take one away.
17,18; Ps 51:7; Eze 36:25; Ac 15:9; Re 7:14
third day.
31:19; Ex 19:11,15; Le 7:17; Ho 6:2; 1Co 15:3,4

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

Context

  • 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.

  • Numbers 19:13

    Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

Read all of Numbers 19

Numbers 19:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Este se purificará al tercer día con aquesta agua, y al séptimo día será limpio; y si al tercer día no se purificare, no será limpio al séptimo día.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il se purifiera avec cette eau le troisième jour, et le septième jour il sera pur; mais s’il ne se purifie pas le troisième jour, alors il ne sera pas pur le septième jour.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Selbiger soll sich am dritten Tage damit entsündigen, und am siebten Tage wird er rein sein; und wenn er sich nicht entsündigt am dritten Tage, so wird er am siebten Tage nicht rein sein.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		aspergetur ex hac aqua die tertio et septimo, et sic mundabitur. Si die tertio aspersus non fuerit, septimo non poterit emundari.