Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Numbers 19:11/אבן עזרא על במדבר י״ט:י״א
אלכל נפש אדם. יהודי או עובד כוכבים:
1EVEN ANY MAN’S DEAD BODY. Be it the body of a Jew or a non-Jew.
באדם. ולא בהמה:
2MAN’S…BODY. Not the body of an animal.
גוטמא. יהיה טמא והוא פועל עתיד כי הוי"ו השיבו ועל דעתי שהוא פועל עבר:
3SHALL BE UNCLEAN. The meaning of ve-tame is, shall be unclean. It is a future form, for the vav changes the verb26, a third person perfect. from a perfect to an imperfect. However, I believe that ve-tame is in the past tense.27 being conjunctive. Thus the meaning of ve-tame is: and he was unclean. The import of our verse thus is: and after being unclean for seven days he shall purify himself. See I.E. on verse 7 and the notes thereto.