And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.
Upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, х bªmotaam (H4194)] - in their dying-in articulo mortis. If, when weak and languid, in their moribund state, they should fall upon anything of personal or domestic use, the contact of their carcass would render that article unclean. Not that these eight comprehended all the sherets (H8318) that were unclean, or that they were noted for greater impurity than others of their order, but because they frequently crept into tents, houses, vessels, etc., and, from the smallness of their size, would be more annoying than reptiles of greater magnitude.
Whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack. From the furniture and utensils in the tents of the nomadic Arabs, to whose style of living that of the Israelites in the wilderness bore a close resemblance, some help may be obtained in explaining the articles alluded to in this passage: large wooden bowls or platters, baskets or trunks covered with skin, skins used as mats for bedding, goats' skins for bottles to hold water and milk, or churn butter, hair-cloth sacks for carrying goods when they remove to a new encampment-the vessel into which one of these creatures was found became unclean itself, with all its contents. Earthen vessels, on account of their being porous, and liable to retain the taint of poison or venom, were to be broken; and in this class also might be included vessels made of dried cows' dung. If, however, the vessels were of metal, they were required to be carefully scoured. Every article of food prepared with water taken from such a vessel, or liquid for drinking contained in it, would be polluted.