Numbers 19:12

He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Moses and Aaron regarding anyone who becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a human corpse. The instruction functions as a procedural requirement within the broader red heifer purification system.

The words — The Hebrew יִתְחַטּא־ (yitḥattaʾ) means "he will purify himself," followed by יִטְהָר (yiṭhār), "he will be pure." These paired verbs establish a conditional sequence: ritual action precedes declared cleanliness.

The thread — Numbers 31:19 applies the identical third-and-seventh-day schedule to warriors who have killed or touched the dead. Exodus 19:11 and 19:15 use the third day to mark a fixed period of preparation before God’s descent on Sinai.

Why it lands — The text mandates exact timing, warning that missing the third and seventh days leaves the person permanently unclean and defiling the tabernacle. A reader must recognize that ritual restoration requires strict, timely obedience to established boundaries.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

ה֣וּאhu'he יִתְחַטָּא־yit.cha.ta'-he will purify himselfב֞וֹv/owith <the>/ itבַּיּ֧וֹםba/i.Yomon the/ day הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֛יha./she.li.Shi<the>/ third וּבַיּ֥וֹםu./vai./Yomand/ on the/ day הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖יha./she.vi.'I<the>/ seventh יִטְהָ֑רyit.Harhe will be pure וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ if לֹ֨אlo'not יִתְחַטָּ֜אyit.cha.Ta'he will purify himself בַּיּ֧וֹםba/i.Yomon the/ day הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֛יha./she.li.Shi<the>/ third וּבַיּ֥וֹםu./vai./Yomand/ on the/ day הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖יha./she.vi.'I<the>/ seventh לֹ֥אlo'not יִטְהָֽר׃yit.Harhe will be pure

King James Version

He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

Cross-references

Numbers 31:19 All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.
Exodus 19:11 and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Exodus 19:15 “Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”
Leviticus 7:17 But any meat of the sacrifice remaining until the third day must be burned up.
Numbers 19:17 For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.
Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Ezekiel 36:25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
Hosea 6:2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
Acts 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
1 Corinthians 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,