וְלָקַ֨ח אֵז֜וֹב וְטָבַ֣ל בַּמַּ֘יִם֮ אִ֣ישׁ טָהוֹר֒ וְהִזָּ֤ה עַל־הָאֹ֙הֶל֙ וְעַל־כׇּל־הַכֵּלִ֔ים וְעַל־הַנְּפָשׁ֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָֽיוּ־שָׁ֑ם וְעַל־הַנֹּגֵ֗עַ בַּעֶ֙צֶם֙ א֣וֹ בֶֽחָלָ֔ל א֥וֹ בַמֵּ֖ת א֥וֹ בַקָּֽבֶר׃
Then someone who is pure shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle on the tent and on all the vessels and people who were there, or on the one who touched the bones or the person who was killed or died naturally or the grave.
(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term אִישׁ, by employing a situation-oriented construal as outlined in this introduction, pp. 11–16.)
Prototypically, the situating noun אִישׁ labels an essential party whose involvement defines the situation of interest. At the same time, by regarding its referent in terms of the overall situation, אִישׁ directs our attention to that situation.
Here, the presence of אִישׁ carries out its prototypical function. It efficiently introduces an additional participant into the situation under discussion, one whose involvement substantially alters that situation. (Subsequently, in the next verse, this party is referenced in terms of the specified quality, via the adjective used substantivally, and again in v. 21 but in terms of function, via a participle.)
Because the reference is non-specific (i.e., to a type of person), the noun phrase אִישׁ does not itself constrain the gender of its referent (Stein 2008; Stein 2013).
A priest is not specified for this role, but that qualification might go without saying. (Ibn Ezra says: apparently not.) At any rate, gender is not at issue in the text itself. There is no reliable indication to exclude women from view.
Other biblical usages of singular אִישׁ to introduce an additional party as constitutive of the depicted situation (often rendered with terms like “another…” or “someone else”) include: Gen 31:50; 41:38; 45:1; Exod 2:12; 12:44; 34:3; Lev 7:8; 16:21; 19:20; 20:10 (2nd instance); Num 5:13, 19; 19:9; Deut 19:16; Josh 10:14; Judg 16:19; 1 Sam 2:25 (2nd instance); 10:22; 12:4; 2 Sam 17:18; 18:26 (2nd instance); 21:4; 1 Kgs 20:20 (2nd instance); 2 Kgs 12:5 (2nd instance); Isa 3:5 (2nd instance); Ezek 1:11 (2nd instance); 18:8 (2nd instance); Ps 49:17; Prov 20:5; Est 1:8. Nearly all of these cases employ the bare noun.
As for rendering into English, the NJPS “A person” does not express the situating function of אִישׁ. The revised rendering does so more clearly.