Numbers 19:15

15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is 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 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man who is dead and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD, and that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

14 "`This is the law when a man dieth in a tent: All who come into the tent, and all who are in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.

16 And whosoever toucheth one who is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

17 And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel.