Numbers 19:15

15 And every open vessel which has no lid fastened upon it shall be 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 Whoever touches the dead body of anyone that is dead and does not remove the sin has defiled the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall be upon him.

14 This is the law when anyone dies in a tent; all that come into the tent and all that are in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

15 And every open vessel which has no lid fastened upon it shall be unclean.

16 And whoever touches one that is slain with a sword in the open fields or a dead body or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

17 And for the unclean person they shall take of the dust of the heifer that was burnt as sin and put living water over it in a vessel;