Numbers 19:7-8

19:7 Then the priest must wash ¹  his clothes and bathe himself ²  in water, and afterward he may come ³  into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 19:8 The one who burns it ⁴  must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

Numbers 19:21

19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles ⁵  the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. ⁶ 

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¹ tn The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.

² tn Heb “his flesh.”

³ tn This is the imperfect of permission.

⁴ sn Here the text makes clear that he had at least one assistant.

⁵ tn The form has the conjunction with it: וּמַזֵּה (umazzeh). The conjunction subordinates the following as the special law. It could literally be translated “and this shall be…that the one who sprinkles.”

⁶ sn This gives the indication of the weight of the matter, for “until the evening” is the shortest period of ritual uncleanness in the Law. The problem of contamination had to be taken seriously, but this was a relatively simple matter to deal with – if one were willing to obey the Law.