What should be done when, during the period of his or her separation, a Nazirite becomes unclean by accidentally being near a dead person? This verse starts the paragraph (verses 9-12) with instructions about what the Nazirite and the priest are to do in such a case.

And if any man dies very suddenly beside him: The Hebrew has no reference to a man here, so New Revised Standard Version says “If someone dies very suddenly nearby,” and Good News Translation has “If … you are right beside someone who dies suddenly.” Both the Nazirite and the dead person may be a man or a woman. Very suddenly renders two Hebrew words that express extreme quickness. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders them well in this context by saying “unforeseen,” and so does Traduction œcuménique de la Bible with the words “unexpectedly” and “sudden.”

And he defiles his consecrated head: As discussed at verse 2, women as well as men could become Nazirites, so New Revised Standard Version says “defiling the consecrated head,” and Good News Translation has “your consecrated hair is defiled.” For the Hebrew verb rendered defiles, see 5.3. His consecrated head refers to the Nazirite’s hair, which symbolizes his or her vow of consecration to the LORD. If the Nazirite were to come close to a corpse, the hair would become ritually impure, symbolizing that the vow was broken.

Then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it: On the seventh day after coming close to the corpse, the Nazirite must shave his or her head to become ritually clean. The form of the Hebrew verb for shave does not imply that someone else does the shaving. The day of his cleansing refers to the day when the first step is taken for the Nazirite to become ritually clean, which is the seventh day after the corpse defiles him or her. Good News Translation rearranges the order of these clauses since Revised Standard Version‘s literal rendering is difficult to understand in English. Good News Translation says “you must wait seven days and then shave your head; and so you will become ritually clean,” which other languages may find helpful.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .