He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
Parallel translations
- WEB “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
- BSB Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
- NKJV ‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.
- NASB ‘The one who touches the dead body of any person will also be unclean for seven days.
- NLT “All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Anyone who touched a human corpse became unclean for seven days, marking death as a serious source of defilement.
Overview
Contact with death, the great consequence of sin, rendered a person ceremonially unclean for a full week. This law set death apart as deeply defiling, separating it from the holy presence of God. It reflects the biblical truth that death is an intruder and enemy, and it heightens longing for the One who conquers death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Num 5:2Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
- Num 31:19And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
- Lev 21:1And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
- Lev 21:11Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
- Num 9:10Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
- Num 19:16And whosoever toucheth one that 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.
- Rom 5:12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
- Num 9:6And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
- Heb 9:14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
- 2 Cor 6:17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
- Lam 4:14They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
- Eph 2:1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
- Hag 2:13Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
- Lev 11:31These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 19:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.