Numbers 19:22

Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses relays Yahweh’s command to the Israelite community regarding the aftermath of the red heifer ritual. The instruction establishes a permanent statute for the people immediately following the preparation of the purification water.

The words — The Hebrew יִגַּע (yi.ga') translates literally as "he will touch," and יִטְמָא (yit.Ma') means "it will be unclean." These verbs describe the direct physical contact that triggers the state of defilement.

The thread — The text defines impurity as a transferable condition that appears in Leviticus 15:5 regarding beds and Leviticus 7:19 regarding meat. Haggai 2:13 later references this same contact principle to confirm that defilement spreads through physical proximity.

Why it lands — The verse states that contact with an unclean object or person transfers defilement until evening, requiring washing and a waiting period. It demands precise compliance with ritual boundaries to maintain communal holiness.

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

וְכֹ֛לve./Kholand/ all אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-that יִגַּע־yi.ga'-he will touchבּ֥וֹb/o<in> <the>/ itהַטָּמֵ֖אha./ta.Me'the/ unclean [person]יִטְמָ֑אyit.Ma'it will be unclean וְהַנֶּ֥פֶשׁve./ha./Ne.feshand/ the/ person הַנֹּגַ֖עַתha./no.Ga.'atwho/ touches [it]תִּטְמָ֥אtit.Ma'it will be unclean עַד־'ad-until הָעָֽרֶב׃ פha./'A.revthe/ evening

King James Version

And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

Cross-references

Haggai 2:13 So Haggai asked, “If one who is defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?” “Yes, it becomes defiled,” the priests answered.
Leviticus 7:19 Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned up. As for any other meat, anyone who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
Leviticus 15:5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
Leviticus 5:2 Or if a person touches anything unclean—whether the carcass of any unclean wild animal or livestock or crawling creature—even if he is unaware of it, he is unclean and guilty.
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Mark 7:21 For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,