Numbers 5:3

3 This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them.”

Numbers 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:3

Both male and female shall ye put out
Whether leprous, or profluvious, or defiled by touching a dead carcass: by this law, Miriam, when leprous, was put out of the camp, ( Numbers 12:14 Numbers 12:15 ) ;

without the camp shall ye put them;
which is repeated that it might be taken notice of, and punctually observed:

that they defile not their camps;
of which there were four, the camps of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan:

in the midst whereof I dwell;
for the tabernacle, which was the dwelling place of the Lord, was in the midst of the camps of Israel; they were pitched on the four quarters of it; and this is a reason why impure persons were not suffered to be in the camp of Israel, because of the presence of God in the tabernacle so near them, to whom all, impurity is loathsome, and not to be permitted in his sight; and though this was ceremonial, it was typical of the uncleanness of sin, which is abominable to him, and renders persons unfit for communion with him, and with his people.

Numbers 5:3 In-Context

1 The LORD gave these instructions to Moses:
2 “Command the people of Israel to remove from the camp anyone who has a skin disease or a discharge, or who has become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person.
3 This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them.”
4 So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses and removed such people from the camp.
5 Then the LORD said to Moses,
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