Verses 19-24
Numbers 31:19-Jeremiah : . The Purification of the Israelite Army after the Slaughter.— The purification of warriors after a battle, practised in antiquity as by savage peoples to-day, was due, not to any desire for physical cleanliness, but to the dread of the mystery involved in spilt blood and in dead bodies: those who had been in contact with such were sources of danger to the community until ritually purified. The rules observed are those prescribed in Numbers 19:11 f.; but in addition it is here enjoined that everything that can stand fire shall be purified by fire and by the water of separation ( Numbers 19:9), whereas for everything likely to suffer from fire ordinary washing shall suffice.
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