Kejadian 35:2

35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ¹  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ² 

Keluaran 19:10

19:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them ³  today and tomorrow, and make them wash ⁴  their clothes

Keluaran 19:15

19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.” ⁵ 

Bilangan 19:2-20

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ⁶  the Israelites to bring ⁷  you a red ⁸  heifer ⁹  without blemish, which has no defect ¹⁰  and has never carried a yoke. 19:3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him. ¹¹  19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take ¹²  some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times ¹³  directly in front of the tent of meeting. 19:5 Then the heifer must be burned ¹⁴  in his sight – its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned. ¹⁵  19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, ¹⁶  and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. ¹⁷  19:7 Then the priest must wash ¹⁸  his clothes and bathe himself ¹⁹  in water, and afterward he may come ²⁰  into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 19:8 The one who burns it ²¹  must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept ²²  for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification ²³  – it is a purification for sin. ²⁴  19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Purification from Uncleanness

19:11 “‘Whoever touches ²⁵  the corpse ²⁶  of any person ²⁷  will be ceremonially unclean ²⁸  seven days. 19:12 He must purify himself ²⁹  with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean. 19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, ³⁰  because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies ³¹  in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days. 19:15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. 19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, ³²  or the body of someone who died of natural causes, ³³  or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days. ³⁴ 

19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take ³⁵  some of the ashes of the heifer ³⁶  burnt for purification from sin and pour ³⁷  fresh running ³⁸  water over them in a vessel. 19:18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave. 19:19 And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, ³⁹  and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening. 19:20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

Bilangan 19:2

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ⁴⁰  the Israelites to bring ⁴¹  you a red ⁴²  heifer ⁴³  without blemish, which has no defect ⁴⁴  and has never carried a yoke.

Bilangan 29:5

29:5 with one male goat for a purification offering to make an atonement for you;

Bilangan 29:34

29:34 along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and its drink offering.

Ezra 6:21

6:21 The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them ⁴⁵  in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel.

Ayub 1:5

1:5 When ⁴⁶  the days of their feasting were finished, ⁴⁷  Job would send ⁴⁸  for them and sanctify ⁴⁹  them; he would get up early ⁵⁰  in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to ⁵¹  the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps ⁵²  my children ⁵³  have sinned and cursed ⁵⁴  God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice. ⁵⁵ 

Ibrani 5:1

5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people ⁵⁶  and appointed ⁵⁷  to represent them before God, ⁵⁸  to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Ibrani 5:3

5:3 and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.

[35:2]  ¹ tn Heb “which are in your midst.”

[35:2]  ² sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.

[19:10]  ³ tn This verb is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the force of the imperative preceding it. This sanctification would be accomplished by abstaining from things that would make them defiled or unclean, and then by ritual washings and ablutions.

[19:10]  ⁴ tn The form is a perfect 3cpl with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is instructional as well, but now in the third person it is like a jussive, “let them wash, make them wash.”

[19:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not go near a woman”; NIV “Abstain from sexual relations.”

[19:15]  sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 537) notes that as the people were to approach him they were not to lose themselves in earthly love. Such separations prepared the people for meeting God. Sinai was like a bride, forbidden to anyone else. Abstinence was the spiritual preparation for coming into the presence of the Holy One.

[19:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ⁷ tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.

[19:2]  ⁸ tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[19:2]  ⁹ sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.

[19:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[19:3]  ¹¹ tc The clause is a little ambiguous. It reads “and he shall slaughter it before him.” It sounds as if someone else will kill the heifer in the priest’s presence. Since no one is named as the subject, it may be translated as a passive. Some commentators simply interpret that Eleazar was to kill the animal personally, but that is a little forced for “before him.” The Greek text gives a third person plural sense to the verb; the Vulgate follows that reading.

[19:4]  ¹² tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions here as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction.

[19:4]  ¹³ sn Seven is a number with religious significance; it is often required in sacrificial ritual for atonement or for purification.

[19:5]  ¹⁴ tn Again, the verb has no expressed subject, and so is given a passive translation.

[19:5]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect tense is third masculine singular, and so again the verb is to be made passive.

[19:6]  ¹⁶ sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.

[19:6]  ¹⁷ sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).

[19:7]  ¹⁸ tn The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.

[19:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his flesh.”

[19:7]  ²⁰ tn This is the imperfect of permission.

[19:8]  ²¹ sn Here the text makes clear that he had at least one assistant.

[19:9]  ²² tn Heb “it will be.”

[19:9]  ²³ tn The expression לְמֵי נִדָּה (lÿme niddah) is “for waters of impurity.” The genitive must designate the purpose of the waters – they are for cases of impurity, and so serve for cleansing or purifying, thus “water of purification.” The word “impurity” can also mean “abhorrent” because it refers to so many kinds of impurities. It is also called a purification offering; Milgrom notes that this is fitting because the sacrificial ritual involved transfers impurity from the purified to the purifier (pp. 62-72).

[19:9]  ²⁴ sn The ashes were to be stored somewhere outside the camp to be used in a water portion for cleansing someone who was defiled. This is a ritual that was enacted in the wilderness; it is something of a restoring rite for people alienated from community.

[19:11]  ²⁵ tn The form is the participle with the article functioning as a substantive: “the one who touches.”

[19:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the dead.”

[19:11]  ²⁷ tn The expression is full: לְכָל־נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם (lÿkhol-nefesh ’adam) – of any life of a man, i.e., of any person.

[19:11]  ²⁸ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows only the participle used as the subject, but since the case is hypothetical and therefore future, this picks up the future time. The adjective “ceremonially” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[19:12]  ²⁹ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.

[19:13]  ³⁰ sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.

[19:14]  ³¹ tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”

[19:16]  ³² tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.

[19:16]  ³³ tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.

[19:16]  ³⁴ sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.

[19:17]  ³⁵ tn The verb is the perfect tense, third masculine plural, with a vav (ו) consecutive. The verb may be worded as a passive, “ashes must be taken,” but that may be too awkward for this sentence. It may be best to render it with a generic “you” to fit the instruction of the text.

[19:17]  ³⁶ tn The word “heifer” is not in the Hebrew text, but it is implied.

[19:17]  ³⁷ tn Here too the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; rather than make this passive, it is here left as a direct instruction to follow the preceding one. For the use of the verb נָתַן (natan) in the sense of “pour,” see S. C. Reif, “A Note on a Neglected Connotation of ntn,” VT 20 (1970): 114-16.

[19:17]  ³⁸ tn The expression is literally “living water.” Living water is the fresh, flowing spring water that is clear, life-giving, and not the collected pools of stagnant or dirty water.

[19:19]  ³⁹ tn The construction uses a simple Piel of חָטָא (khata’, “to purify”) with a pronominal suffix – “he shall purify him.” Some commentators take this to mean that after he sprinkles the unclean then he must purify himself. But that would not be the most natural way to read this form.

[19:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ⁴¹ tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.

[19:2]  ⁴² tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[19:2]  ⁴³ sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.

[19:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[6:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “who had separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to them.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator “and it happened” or “and it came to pass,” which need not be translated. The particle כִּי (ki, “when”) with the initial verbal form indicates it is a temporal clause.

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נָקַף (naqaf, “go around”), here it means “to make the round” or “complete the circuit” (BDB 668-69 s.v. II נָקַף Hiph). It indicates that when the feasting had made its circuit of the seven sons, then Job would sanctify them.

[1:5]  ⁴⁸ tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. The same emphasis on repeated or frequent action continues here in this verse. The idea here is that Job would send for them, because the sanctification of them would have consisted of washings and changes of garments as well as the sacrifices (see Gen 35:2; 1 Sam 16:5).

[1:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “purify.”

[1:5]  ⁵⁰ tn The first verb could also be joined with the next to form a verbal hendiadys: “he would rise early and he would sacrifice” would then simply be “he would sacrifice early in the morning” (see M. Delcor, “Quelques cas de survivances du vocabulaire nomade en hébreu biblique,” VT 25 [1975]: 307-22). This section serves to explain in more detail how Job sanctified his children.

[1:5]  sn In the patriarchal society it was normal for the father to act as priest for the family, making the sacrifices as needed. Job here is exceptional in his devotion to the duty. The passage shows the balance between the greatest earthly rejoicing by the family, and the deepest piety and affection of the father.

[1:5]  ⁵¹ tn The text does not have “according to”; the noun “number” is an accusative that defines the extent of his actions (GKC 373-74 §118.e, h).

[1:5]  ⁵² tn The clause stands as an accusative to the verb, here as the direct object introduced with “perhaps” (IBHS 645-46 §38.8d).

[1:5]  ⁵³ tn Heb “sons,” but since the three daughters are specifically mentioned in v. 4, “children” has been used in the translation. In this patriarchal culture, however, it is possible that only the sons are in view.

[1:5]  ⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew verb is בָּרַךְ (barakh), which means “to bless.” Here is a case where the writer or a scribe has substituted the word “curse” with the word “bless” to avoid having the expression “curse God.” For similar euphemisms in the ancient world, see K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, 166. It is therefore difficult to know exactly what Job feared they might have done. The opposite of “bless” would be “curse,” which normally would convey disowning or removing from blessing. Some commentators try to offer a definition of “curse” from the root in the text, and noting that “curse” is too strong, come to something like “renounce.” The idea of blaspheming is probably not meant; rather, in their festivities they may have said things that renounced God or their interest in him. Job feared this momentary turning away from God in their festivities, perhaps as they thought their good life was more important than their religion.

[1:5]  ⁵⁵ tn The imperfect expresses continual action in past time, i.e., a customary imperfect (GKC 315 §107.e).

[5:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”

[5:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”

[5:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”