Numbers 6:6

6:6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact ¹  a dead body. ² 

Numbers 35:19-20

35:19 The avenger ³  of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him.

35:20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally ⁴  so that he dies,

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¹ tn The Hebrew verb is simply “enter, go,” no doubt with the sense of go near.

² tn The Hebrew has נֶפֶשׁ מֵת (nefesh met), literally a “dead person.” But since the word נֶפֶשׁ can also be used for animals, the restriction would be for any kind of corpse. Death was very much a part of the fallen world, and so for one so committed to the Lord, avoiding all such contamination would be a witness to the greatest separation, even in a family.

³ tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) is the one who protects the family by seeking vengeance for a crime. This is the same verb used for levirate marriages and other related customs.

⁴ tn The Hebrew text is more vivid: “by lying in wait.”