Numbers 19:14

19:14-16 Death’s contagion could be transmitted to an object or to a place where death had occurred (cp. Lev 15:1-12).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

when a man dieth in a tent, &c.--The instances adduced appear very minute and trivial; but important ends, both of a religious and of a sanitary nature, were promoted by carrying the idea of pollution from contact with dead bodies to so great an extent. While it would effectually prevent that Egyptianized race of Israelites imitating the superstitious custom of the Egyptians, who kept in their houses the mummied remains of their ancestors, it ensured a speedy interment to all, thus not only keeping burial places at a distance, but removing from the habitations of the living the corpses of persons who died from infectious disorders, and from the open field the unburied remains of strangers and foreigners who fell in battle.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

14–22. A second use of the ‘water of impurity.’

Mere presence under the same roof as the dead, without actual contact, causes defilement.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is the law when a man dieth in a tent,.... A tent is only mentioned, because the Israelites now dwelt in tents, as Aben Ezra remarks; otherwise the law holds equally good of an house as of a tent:

all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days; the meaning of which is, that all persons that come into a tent or house where a dead body is are equally unclean as those that were in it when it died; and the same is to be supposed of all vessels brought into it, as well as those that are in it, that is, open ones, as appears by what follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Days. Almost all nations seem to have considered themselves defiled by the presence of a corpse. Virgin (Æneid, vi. 149,) writes, Præterea jacet exanimum tibi corpus amici---Heu nescis! totamque incestat funere classem.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

14. In a tent — This is an incidental proof that this law was given in the wilderness. The law for the tent was afterward extended by the rabbins to the entire house, (οικια, Septuagint), and not merely to the apartment in which the death had occurred. Modern Jews sustain the rabbins.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is the law. hrwOTh. By this law the extent of the infection is rigidly defined, as its duration by the last. In a tent. This fixes the date of the law as given in the wilderness, but it leaves in some uncertainty the rule as to settled habitations. The Septuagint, however, has here en oikia , and therefore it would appear that the law was transferred without modification from the tent to the house. In the case of large houses with many inhabitants, some relaxation of the strictness must have been found necessary.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

The idea of "unclean" represents not being acceptable to God or fit for use. (See: Metaphor)

Every open container with no cover becomes unclean

This can be stated in a positive form. AT: "Open containers will remain clean only if they have covers" (See: Double Negatives)

someone who has been killed with a sword

This can be stated in active form. AT: "someone whom someone else has killed with a sword" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

tent

clean

sword

grave

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

כל הבא אל האהל ALL THAT COMETH INTO THE TENT, whilst the dead body is within it, shall be unclean seven days.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

WHEN A MAN DIETH IN A TENT. The meaning thereof is: “When a man dies, and he is now [lying] in a tent” [even though he may have died outside the tent and was later on brought in]; or it may be that Scripture speaks about the usual circumstances [and people usually die inside a building], but the same law applies if he died outside and they brought him into the tent. All that come into the tent and all that is in the tent — this includes the vessels therein and the tent itself, as He said [further on], and he shall sprinkle upon the tent and upon all the vessels and upon the persons that were there. Scripture mentions the tent in order to let us know that the tent itself is rendered unclean for seven days, and [in order to become clean again] requires sprinkling [with the waters of purification]. Furthermore, the Israelites were tent-dwellers in the wilderness and Scripture spoke of the usual [circumstances at that time], because the commandment applied [both] immediately and for later generations; but the same law applies to a house and to everything that “covers” [a corpse], namely that they convey uncleanness to all the vessels and persons that are there, except that a house which is [permanently] attached to the ground cannot itself become impure [unlike a tent which is also defiled].Now Scripture stated [that] a corpse [conveys] impurity by contact. — See Vol. III, p. 129, Note 150, on the interchangeable use of the terms “clean,” and “unclean,” or “pure” and “impure.” and by an ‘ohel,’ but does not mention [that it also conveys impurity to the person who] carries it. Our Rabbis, however, deduced it by a kal vachomer from [the law of] a dead animal, (see Note 32), nonetheless does convey impurity [to one who] carries it — surely a corpse [which conveys impurity for seven days, and also by ohel, conveys impurity to one who carries it]! And just as in the case of a dead animal, touching it conveys impurity until the [same] evening and carrying it [likewise] conveys impurity until the evening, so also in the case of a corpse, where touching conveys impurity for seven days, carrying also conveys impurity for seven days” (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Tumath Hameith, 1:2). and have included it in [the law of] uncleanness of seven days, just like [one who] touches [a corpse]. This is also in accordance with the plain meaning of Scripture, for He mentioned in the case of one who dies [of his own accord] or was killed that he who touches him becomes unclean for seven days,. — See Vol. III, p. 129, Note 150, on the interchangeable use of the terms “clean,” and “unclean,” or “pure” and “impure.” and [requires] sprinkling [with the waters of purification]; and it is already known that [the word] “touching” in the Torah refers to actual personal contact, and to contact through another object, that is, by carrying it [in which case he is “touching” the object carried by means of the intervening object].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.