6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly 1 beside him and he defiles 2 his consecrated head, 3 then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.
19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies 4 in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
31:19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
1 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.
2 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.
3 sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.
4 tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”
5 tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.