Numbers 9:3-13

3 "On the fourteenth * day of this month, at twilight, you shall observe it at its appointed time; you shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances."

4 So Moses told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover.

5 ¹They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth * day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; ²according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.

6 But there were some men who were ³unclean because of the dead person, so that they could not observe Passover on that day; so ⁴they came before Moses and Aaron on that day.

7 Those men said to him, "Though we are unclean because of the dead person, why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the LORD at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?"

8 Moses therefore said to them, "⁵Wait, and I will listen to what the LORD will command concerning you."

9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

10 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the LORD.

11 'In the second month on the ⁶fourteenth * day at twilight, they shall observe it; they ⁷shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12 'They ⁸shall leave none of it until morning, ⁹nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute of the Passover they shall observe it.

13 '¹⁰But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet neglects to observe the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the LORD at its appointed time. That man ¹¹will bear his sin.

Numbers 9:3-13 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.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 5:10
• 2. Exodus 12:1-13
• 3. Numbers 5:2; Numbers 19:11-22
• 4. Exodus 18:15; Numbers 27:2
• 5. Exodus 18:15; Psalms 85:8
• 6. 2 Chronicles 30:2, 15
• 7. Exodus 12:8
• 8. Exodus 12:10
• 9. Exodus 12:46; John 19:36
• 10. Genesis 17:14; Exodus 12:15, 47
• 11. Numbers 5:31

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "between the two evenings," and so throughout the ch
• [b] Lit "spoke to"
• [c] Lit "soul of man"
• [d] Lit "soul of man"
• [e] Lit "Stand"
• [f] Lit "soul"
• [g] Or "ceases"
• [h] Lit "soul"