Discovery BoxNumbers 9:6-7 
Context9:6 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
Context9:10 “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 19:7
Context19:7 Then the priest must wash 7 his clothes and bathe himself 8 in water, and afterward he may come 9 into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
Numbers 19:10
Context19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.
Numbers 19:14
Context19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies 10 in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
Numbers 19:17
Context19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take 11 some of the ashes of the heifer 12 burnt for purification from sin and pour 13 fresh running 14 water over them in a vessel.
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 The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.
8 tn Heb “his flesh.”
9 tn This is the imperfect of permission.
10 tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”
11 tn The verb is the perfect tense, third masculine plural, with a vav (ו) consecutive. The verb may be worded as a passive, “ashes must be taken,” but that may be too awkward for this sentence. It may be best to render it with a generic “you” to fit the instruction of the text.
12 tn The word “heifer” is not in the Hebrew text, but it is implied.
13 tn Here too the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; rather than make this passive, it is here left as a direct instruction to follow the preceding one. For the use of the verb נָתַן (natan) in the sense of “pour,” see S. C. Reif, “A Note on a Neglected Connotation of ntn,” VT 20 (1970): 114-16.
14 tn The expression is literally “living water.” Living water is the fresh, flowing spring water that is clear, life-giving, and not the collected pools of stagnant or dirty water.
