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Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
Verse Takeaways
1
Death as a Symbol of Sin
Commentators explain that the law made corpses and graves defiling because death is the direct consequence and "wages of sin." This physical uncleanness was a constant, tangible reminder of the spiritual defilement that sin brings. As Matthew Henry notes, the law highlighted the problem of death but could not conquer it; only the gospel brings life and immortality to light.
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4
18th Century
Presbyterian
One practical effect of attaching defilement to a dead body, and to all that touched it, etc., would be to ensure early burial, and to correct a pr…
19th Century
Baptist
This law was indeed a yoke of bondage which our fathers were not able to bear. It was meant to teach us how easily we can be defiled. Anywhere they…
17th Century
Reformed Baptist
And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields That is kill…
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Why did the law make a corpse a defiling thing? Because death is the wages of sin, which entered the world through sin, and reigns by its power. Th…
