Discovery BoxNumbers 8:7 
Context8:7 And do this 1 to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification 2 on them; then have them shave 3 all their body 4 and wash 5 their clothes, and so purify themselves. 6
Numbers 9:6-7
Context9:6 It happened that some men 7 who were ceremonially defiled 8 by the dead body of a man 9 could not keep 10 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
Context9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any 11 of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may 12 observe the Passover to the Lord.
1 tn Or, more literally, “and thus you shall do.” The verb is the imperfect tense of instruction or legislation. Here it introduces the procedures to be followed.
2 tn The genitive in this expression indicates the purpose of the water – it is for their purification. The expression is literally “the waters of sin.” The word “purification” is the same as for the “sin/purification offering” – חַטָּאת (khatta’at). This water seems to have been taken from the main laver and is contrasted with the complete washing of the priests in Lev 8:6.
3 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) of sequence. This verb, and those to follow, has the force of a jussive since it comes after the imperative. Here the instruction is for them to remove the hair from their bodies (“flesh”). There is no indication that this was repeated (as the Egyptian priests did every few days). It seems to have been for this special occasion only. A similar requirement was for the leper (Lev 14:7-9).
4 tn Heb “flesh.”
5 tn Or “let/have them wash”; the priests were given new clothes (Lev 8:13), but the Levites simply washed their own.
6 tn The verb is a reflexive (or possibly passive) in this verse, indicating the summary of the process. The ritual steps that have been prescribed will lead to this conclusion. The verb could be treated as a final imperfect (being a perfect with vav [ו] consecutive), and so translated “that they may….” The major difference here is that the ritual made the Levites “clean,” whereas the ritual for the priests made them “holy” or “sanctified” (Lev 8:12).
7 tn In the Hebrew text the noun has no definite article, and so it signifies “some” or “certain” men.
8 tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.
9 tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.
10 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.
11 tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”
12 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.
