Numbers 19:15

Summary

Numbers 19:15 states a rule concerning open vessels within the context of corpse-impurity: any open container lacking a cord-fastened cover becomes ritually unclean. The verse defines the vessel's status through its physical condition — whether or not it is sealed by a specific binding mechanism.

Key words

• khol ("every", H3605) — construct-state noun opening the clause, establishing a universal category: "every vessel of [a certain kind]."
• keli ("vessel", H3627) — masculine singular noun, the head of the phrase, denoting the object under discussion.
• patuach ("open", H6605A) — Qal passive participle, functioning adjectivally to describe the vessel's state as "opened" or "having been left open."
• tzamid ("cover of", H6781B) — construct-state noun; here it does not stand alone but links to the next word, forming a compound expression for a specific type of covering.
• tame' hu' ("unclean it", H2931 + H1931) — adjective followed by an independent pronoun, a common Hebrew construction where the pronoun reinforces the predicate, producing an emphatic nominal clause: "it is unclean."

What the text says

The verse opens with the construct chain khol keli ("every vessel of..."), immediately modified by the passive participle patuach ("open"), which describes the vessel's physical condition rather than an action being performed on it. The relative clause introduced by asher ("which") specifies the condition under which such a vessel becomes impure: ein-tzamid patil alav — literally "there is no cover of cord upon it." Here tzamid ("cover of") stands in construct with patil ("cord"), producing a technical compound noun for a lid secured by a cord or string, rather than two separate items.

The final clause, tame' hu', uses the pattern adjective + independent pronoun, a structure that in Biblical Hebrew often carries emphatic force, underscoring the resulting status of the vessel rather than merely stating a fact in passing. The grammar thus moves from definition (what kind of vessel) to condition (lacking a specific covering) to consequence (its resulting impure status), all within a single nominal sentence without a finite verb of being — the copula "is" is implied by juxtaposition.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the singular relative asher ("which") with the plural hosa ("as many as"), and shifts the final predicate to plural akatharta estin ("they are unclean"), where the Hebrew maintains singular agreement (tame' hu', "unclean it [is]"). The Vulgate separates the compound tzamid patil into two distinct nouns, operculum ("lid") and ligaturam ("binding"), joined by "nec" ("nor"), producing two conditions where the Hebrew construct chain presents one composite object — a cord-fastened cover.