Numbers 19:15

15 And anything in it that is open and has no lid will 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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Numbers 19:15 In-Context

13 Anyone who touches a dead person's body and does not make himself pure and clean makes my holy tent 'unclean.' He must be cut off from Israel. The special water has not been sprinkled on him. So he is 'unclean.' And he remains 'unclean.'

14 "Here is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent. Anyone who enters the tent will be 'unclean' for seven days. Anyone who is in the tent will also be 'unclean' for seven days.

15 And anything in it that is open and has no lid will be 'unclean.'

16 "Suppose someone is out in the country. And suppose he touches someone who has been killed with a sword. Or he touches someone who has died a natural death. Or he touches a human bone or a grave. Then anyone who touches any of those things will be 'unclean' for seven days.

17 "Here is what I want you to do for someone who is not 'clean.' Put some ashes from the burned young cow into a jar. Pour fresh water on the ashes.