Discovery BoxNumbers 6:9 
Context6:9 “‘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.
Numbers 19:14
Context19:14 “‘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.
Numbers 31:19
Context31:19 “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.
Numbers 35:15
Context35:15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
Numbers 35:32
Context35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. 5
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.
