Numbers 19:16

16 Anyone {in the open field} who touches {one who has been slain}, or a corpse, or a bone of a person, or a burial site, he will be unclean for seven days.

Numbers 19:16 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 19:16

And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the
open fields
That is killed by another, that dies a violent death, either by the sword or other means; one that touched such an one was unclean, or that touched the sword with which he was slain, as the Targum of Jonathan adds: "or a dead body": that dies a natural death, or suddenly, or in any way:

or a bone off a man;
dug out of a grave, and lying by itself:

or a grave;
the Targum adds, either the covering or side of a grave:

shall be unclean seven days;
all which has respect to the defiling nature of sin, which is the cause of death and the grave.

Numbers 19:16 In-Context

14 " 'This [is] the law of a person who dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and all who [are] in the tent will be unclean seven days.

15 Every container that is opened that does not have a lid cord on it [is] unclean.

16 Anyone {in the open field} who touches {one who has been slain}, or a corpse, or a bone of a person, or a burial site, he will be unclean for seven days.

17 For the unclean [person] they will take from the powder of the {burnt purification offering}, and they will put running water into a container.

18 A clean person will take hyssop and dip [it] into the water and sprinkle [it] on the tent and on all the objects and persons who were there, and on one who touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead, or the burial site.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "upon the face of a field"
• [b]. Literally "the dead of sword"