Numbers 9:6-7

9:6 It happened that some men ¹  who were ceremonially defiled ²  by the dead body of a man ³  could not keep ⁴  the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. 9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

Numbers 9:10

9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ⁵  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ⁶  observe the Passover to the Lord.

Numbers 14:29

14:29 Your dead bodies ⁷  will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me.

Numbers 31:19

Purification After Battle

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.

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¹ tn In the Hebrew text the noun has no definite article, and so it signifies “some” or “certain” men.

² tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.

³ tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.

⁴ tn This clause begins with the vav (ו) conjunction and negative before the perfect tense. Here is the main verb of the sentence: They were not able to observe the Passover. The first part of the verse provides the explanation for their problem.

⁵ tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”

⁶ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of an imperfect tense. In the apodosis of this conditional sentence, the permission nuance fits well.

⁷ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).