Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe his whole body in water. After that, he can return to the camp, but the priest will still be considered unclean until evening.
The priest is required to cleanse himself thoroughly after handling something that made him ceremonially unclean, but he must wait until evening to be fully clean again.
📚 Historical Context
This verse is part of God's instructions for the ritual of the red heifer, which provided purification water for those who had become ceremonially unclean by contact with death. Even the priest who performed this purifying ritual became temporarily unclean himself and needed cleansing. This was part of the elaborate purity laws that governed Israel's worship and daily life in the wilderness.
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