Numbers 9:1-14

The Passover

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying,
2 "Let the {Israelites} observe the Passover at its appointed time.
3 On the fourteenth day of this month {at twilight} you will perform it at its appointed time according to all its decrees; and according to all its stipulations you will observe it."
4 So Moses spoke to the {Israelites} to observe the Passover.
5 And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month {at twilight} in the desert of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, thus the {Israelites} did.
6 And it happened, men who were unclean {by a dead person} were not able to perform the Passover on that day. And they came {before} Moses and Aaron on that day.
7 And those men said to him, "[Although] we [are] unclean {by a dead person}, why are we hindered from presenting the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time in the midst of the {Israelites}?"
8 Moses said to them, "Stay. I will hear what Yahweh commands to you."
9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
10 "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'Each man that is unclean {by a dead person} or [is] on a far journey, you or your {descendants}, he will observe the Passover of Yahweh.
11 On the second month on the fourteenth day {at twilight} they will observe it; they will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter plants.
12 They will leave none of it until morning, and they will not break a bone in it; they will observe it according to every decree of the Passover.
13 But the man who [is] clean and not on a journey, and he fails to observe the Passover, that person will be cut off from the people because he did not present the offering of Yahweh on its appointed time. That man will bear his guilt.
14 If an alien dwells with you he will observe the Passover of Yahweh according [to] the decree of the Passover and according [to] its stipulation; thus you will have one decree for you, for the alien and for the native of the land.'"

Numbers 9:1-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 9

In this chapter the command for keeping the passover is repeated, and it was accordingly kept, Nu 9:1-5; but some persons being defiled and disqualified for observing it, Moses inquires of the Lord, on their solicitation, what should be done in such a case, Nu 9:6-8; when it was ordered to be kept by such, and those on journeys, on the fourteenth day of the second month, but not by others, who were to observe it according to its first appointment, Nu 9:9-14; and an account is given of the appearance of the cloud by day, and fire by night, upon the tabernacle, which directed the children of Israel when to journey, and when to pitch their tents, Nu 9:15-23.

Footnotes 13

  • [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [b]. Literally "between the two evenings"
  • [c]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [d]. Literally "between the two evenings"
  • [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [f]. Literally "by a life of a person"
  • [g]. Literally "in the presence of"
  • [h]. Literally "by a life of a person"
  • [i]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [j]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [k]. Literally "by a life of a person"
  • [l]. Literally "generations"
  • [m]. Literally "between the two evenings"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.