Numbers 19:15

15 And every open jar or pot without a cover becomes unclean.

Numbers 19:15 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 19:15

And every open vessel
An earthen one, as the Targum of Jonathan; and so Jarchi interprets it; and Maimonides ^F18 observes, that this is only to be understood of an earthen vessel:

which hath no covering bound upon it;
a linen or a woollen cloth wrapped and tied about it:

[is] unclean;
the air of the house getting into it by its being uncovered.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 In Misn. Cholin, c. 1. sect. 6.

Numbers 19:15 In-Context

13 If those who touch a dead person's body stay unclean and go to the Lord's Holy Tent, it becomes unclean; they must be cut off from Israel. If the cleansing water is not sprinkled on them, they are unclean and will stay unclean.

14 "This is the teaching about someone who dies in a tent: Anyone in the tent or anyone who enters it will be unclean for seven days.

15 And every open jar or pot without a cover becomes unclean.

16 If anyone is outside and touches someone who was killed by a sword or who died a natural death, or if anyone touches a human bone or a grave, that person will be unclean for seven days.

17 "So you must use the ashes from the burnt offering to make that person clean again. Pour fresh water over the ashes into a jar.