Numbers 19:12

12 He is to purify himself with the water^[a] on the third day and the seventh day; then he will be clean.^[b] But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.

Numbers 19:12 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 19:12

He shall purify himself with it
That is, with the ashes of the water of purification made of them: and this was to be done first

on the third day;
from the time of his touching the dead body. Aben Ezra intimates, that there is a secret or mystery in this and the following number seven; it may respect the third day of Christ's resurrection, who, as he shed his blood for the expiation and purification of sinners, so he rose again the third day for the justification of them:

and on the seventh day he shall be clean;
which may denote the perfect state, or sabbath of rest, which remains for the people of God, when all Christ's purified and justified ones shall be clear of all sin, and be the spirits of just men made perfect:

but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he
shall not be clean;
whoever is not cleansed from his sins by the blood of Christ, shed for the remission of them, and is not justified from them by him that rose from the dead the third day, will never be cleansed in the world to come, or in the eternal sabbath; but it will then be said, "let him that is filthy be filthy still", ( Revelation 22:11 ) .

Numbers 19:12 In-Context

10 Then the one who gathers up the cow's ashes must wash his clothes, and he will remain unclean until evening. This is a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner who resides among them.

11 "The person who touches any human corpse will be unclean for seven days.

12 He is to purify himself with the water on the third day and the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.

13 Anyone who touches a body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person will be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean because the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.

14 "This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who enters the tent and everyone who is [already] in the tent will be unclean for seven days,

Footnotes

• [a]. Or ashes; lit with it
• [b]. Nm 31:19