He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
He that toucheth the dead body of any man. This law is noticed here to show the uses to which the water of separation was applied. The case of a death is one; and as in every family which sustained a bereavement the members of the household became defiled, so in an immense population, where instances of mortality and other cases of uncleanness would be daily occurring, the water of separation must have been in constant requisition. To afford the necessary supply of the cleansing mixture, the Jewish writers say that red heifer was sacrificed every year, and that the ashes, mingled with the sprinkling ingredients, were distributed through all the cities and towns of Israel.
Verse 12. Purify himself ... the third day. The necessity of applying the water on the third day is inexplicable on any natural or moral ground; and therefore the regulation has been generally supposed to have had a typical reference to the resurrection, on that day, of Christ, by whom His people are sanctified; while the process of ceremonial purification, being extended over seven days, was intended to show that sanctification is progressive and incomplete until the arrival of the eternal Sabbath. Everyone knowingly and presumptuously neglecting to have himself sprinkled with this water was guilty of an offence which was presumptuously neglecting to have himself sprinkled with this water was guilty of an offence which was punished by excommunication.
Verse 14. When a man dieth in a tent ... The instances adduced appear very minute and trivial; but important ends both of a religious and of a sanitary nature were promoted by carrying the idea of pollution from contact with dead bodies to so great an extent (see the note at Numbers 31:19). While it would effectually prevent that Egyptianized race of Israelites imitating the superstitious custom of the Egyptians, who kept in their houses the mummied remains of their ancestors, it ensured a speedy interment to all; thus not only keeping burial-places at a distance, but removing from the habitations of the living the corpses of persons who died from infectious disorders, and from the open field the unburied remains of strangers and foreigners who fell in battle.
Verse 21. He that sprinkleth ... he that toucheth the water of separation. The opposite effects ascribed to the water of separation-of cleansing one person and defiling another-are very singular, and not capable of very satisfactory explanation. One important lesson, however, was thus taught, that its purifying efficacy was not inherent in itself, but arose from the divine appointment, as in other ordinances of religion, which are effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them or in him that administers them, but solely through the grace of God communicated thereby.