Deuteronomy 23:10

10 If a man becomes unclean during the night, he must go outside the camp and not come back.

Deuteronomy 23:10 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 23:10

If there be among you any man that is not clean
Any unclean person in the army, that was even ceremonially unclean in any of the instances the law makes so, one of which put for the rest is mentioned:

by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night;
through pollution by a nocturnal flux, as the Septuagint version, or a gonorrhoea, an involuntary one, occasioned by impure thoughts and imaginations in dreams; the same case as in ( Leviticus 15:16 )

then shall he go abroad out of the camp;
out of the army, lest others should be defiled by such; they not having houses to retire to, and chambers to keep themselves in separate from others, as when at home:

he shall not come within the camp;
that is, not till he has done what is prescribed him in the next verse. Jarchi says, he might not come into the camp of the Levites, and much less into the camp of God.

Deuteronomy 23:10 In-Context

8 The great-grandchildren of these two peoples may come into the meeting to worship the Lord.
9 When you are camped in time of war, keep away from unclean things.
10 If a man becomes unclean during the night, he must go outside the camp and not come back.
11 But when evening comes, he must wash himself, and at sunset he may come back into the camp.
12 Choose a place outside the camp where people may go to relieve themselves.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.