Numbers 19:21

The man who sprinkles the sacred water becomes -unclean"; and in the next clause it is stated more generally that the man who touches it becomes unclean. The uncleanness in this case is slight; it lasts until the evening and can be removed by simply washing the clothes. Gray cites a Buddhist parallel from Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East, ii. 250. A close connexion existed in the Semitic mind between -uncleanness" and -holiness." -Holiness" or -sacredness" was a contagious quality which debarred its possessor from ordinary intercourse with others until the contagion had been removed. Inanimate objects could also receive the contagion: see on Numbers 16:37.