Numbers 9:11

11 In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Numbers 9:11 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 9:11

The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall
keep it
The mouth Ijar, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of our April and part of May; so that there was a month allowed for those that were defiled to cleanse themselves; and for those on a journey to return home and prepare for the passover, which was not to be totally omitted, nor deferred any longer; and it was to be kept on the same day of the month, and at the same time of the day the first passover was observed; still the more to keep in mind the saving of their firstborn; and their deliverance out of Egypt at that time: an instance of keeping such a passover we have in ( 2 Chronicles 30:1 2 Chronicles 30:2 )

[and] eat it with unleavened bread and bitter [herbs];
in the same manner as the first passover was eaten, ( Exodus 12:8 ) ; only no mention is made of keeping the feast of unleavened bread seven days, which some think those were not obliged unto at this time, only to keep the feast of the passover.

Numbers 9:11 In-Context

9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
10 Speak to the Israelites, saying: Anyone of you or your descendants who is unclean through touching a corpse, or is away on a journey, shall still keep the passover to the Lord.
11 In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it.
13 But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet refrains from keeping the passover, shall be cut off from the people for not presenting the Lord's offering at its appointed time; such a one shall bear the consequences for the sin.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Heb [between the two evenings]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.