Numbers 19:20

20 "But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; because the water for impurity has not been thrown upon him, he is unclean.

Numbers 19:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 19:20

But the man that shall be unclean
By touching any dead body, bone, or grave:

and shall not purify himself;
with the water of purification:

that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation:
(See Gill on Numbers 19:13).

because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord:
by going into it in his uncleanness:

the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him, he is
unclean;
and will remain so, for nothing else could purify him, see ( Numbers 19:13 ) .

Numbers 19:20 In-Context

18 then a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the furnishings, and upon the persons who were there, and upon him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave;
19 and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.
20 "But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; because the water for impurity has not been thrown upon him, he is unclean.
21 And it shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
22 And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and any one who touches it shall be unclean until evening."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.