John Calvin Commentary Numbers 19:13

"Whosoever toucheth a dead person, the body of a man that hath died, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him." — Numbers 19:13 (ASV)

Whosoever toucheth the dead body. The severity of the capital punishment shows how very pleasing to God is purity.

If anyone had forgotten to sprinkle himself on the third or the seventh day, he could redeem his negligence by an extension of the time, because he only postponed his purification to another day.

But it was a capital crime to enter the sanctuary in his uncleanness, since in this way holy and profane things would be mixed together; even the altar would have been polluted, as well as the whole service of God.

But indeed, the act of touching a dead body was of little importance, nor was it to be deemed an atrocious crime. Here, however, the external defilement is not regarded in itself, as if God were angry on account of a stain contracted by the performance of a pious duty.²⁵

Rather, the purpose of the ceremony must be considered, for God designed by these elementary teachings to teach the Israelites, like children, that if anyone should pollute sacred things by his impurity, he would by no means be tolerated in this audacity.

In this, then, consisted the religious significance of the transaction: that the worship of God was too precious for the Israelites to be permitted to contaminate it with impunity.

From this we gather that the punishment was proclaimed as being for sacrilege.

In sum, it comes to this: God is not properly worshipped except with a sincere heart and pure hands; and if any pollution is contracted, expiation is needed before free access to holy things is reopened.

But it must be noted concerning contact that it was considered the same thing, whether the corpse lay in a field or a house. While, if anyone died in a tent, people were polluted by merely entering it, and similarly, uncovered vessels thereby became unclean.

²⁵ “Pour ensevelir son pere;” by burying his father — ;” by burying his father — Fr.