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Re: orion-list Guilty Corpses / Red Heifer
Dear list,
I noticed today that 4Q276=4QTorohot B(b) line 2 has the priest
"pronounce the clothes guilty" in conjunction with the red heifer
purification ceremony (Num. 19), while 4Q277=4QTorohot B(c) line 13 says that
those who officiate in the red heifer ceremony should wash his clothes and be
impure until evening. So I am inclined to believe that guilt attaches to any
unburied corpse (and even the clothes of those who administer the rites of
purification) -- although I would still welcome the list's input on this
issue!
But this raises another question. While the Purification Rules quoted
above have a person wash his clothes and remain impure till evening, this
seems to contradict 1QM 14.2-3, which says "In the _morning_ they shall wash
their clothes and shall wash off themselves the blood of the guilty
corpses..." Then the troops go back to the battlesite and sing a song of
praise. I am assuming that the troops wait until the next morning (after
battle, which is presumed to last until dusk) to wash their clothes in order
to do it by light and not miss any blood. But those who touch a corpse are
considered unclean for 7 days, right? And yet 1QM 14:2-3, despite the
concern for purity, does not seem to consider the troops impure after the
simple ceremony of washing their clothes and bodies (undoubtedly with the
waters with the ashes of the red heifer, administered by a priest). Were the
normal rules regarding impurity of corpses suspended for wartime exigencies?
Are there any legal scholars who can comment on this as well?
Thanks again,
Russell Gmirkin
For private reply, e-mail to RGmyrken@aol.com
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