New International Version
Numbers 5:3
3Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”
Numbers 5:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."
- New King James Version (NKJV)You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them.”
Context of Numbers 5:3
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” 4The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses. 5The Lord said to Moses,
Read all of Numbers 5Numbers 5:3 word by word
מִזָּכָ֤ר עַד־נְקֵבָה֙ תְּשַׁלֵּ֔חוּ אֶל־מִח֥וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה תְּשַׁלְּח֑וּם וְלֹ֤א יְטַמְּאוּ֙ אֶת־מַ֣חֲנֵיהֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י שֹׁכֵ֥ן בְּתוֹכָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Both maleזָכָרzâkâr · maleH2145
- and femaleנְקֵבָהneqêbâh · femaleH5347
- shall ye put outשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- withoutחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
- the campמַחֲנֶהmachăneh · campH4264
- them; that they defileטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
- in the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
- whereofאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
- I dwellשָׁכַןshâkan · to dwellH7931
Cross-references for Numbers 5:3
- 1 Kings 7:3It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row.
- 1 Corinthians 5:13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
- Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
- 2 John 1:10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.
- Revelation 21:27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
- Numbers 19:22Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
- Haggai 2:13Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?” “Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”
- Leviticus 26:11I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you.
- Deuteronomy 23:14For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
- Psalms 68:18When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious— that you, Lord God, might dwell there.
- Isaiah 12:6Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
- Revelation 21:3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
Commentaries on Numbers 5:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-4Verses 1-4 The general purpose of the directions given in this and the next chapter is to attest and to vindicate, by modes in harmony with the spirit of the theocratical law, the sanctity of the people of God. Thus, the congregation of Israel was made to typify the Church of God, within which, in its perfection, nothing that offends can be allowed to remain (compare Matthew 8:22; Revelation 21:27). The general purpose of the directions given in this and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-4Modern Western people may find it difficult to understand the Old Testament laws of purity. Today, things like skin diseases, bodily discharges, or contact with a dead body are viewed mainly as health concerns. But in the Old Testament, the main concern was protecting God’s holiness from ceremonial uncleanness (see Leviticus 11–15). The community had to keep the camp holy. Nothing unclean could touch what belonged to the Lord (Numbers 5:2–3). They had to…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-42. Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper--The exclusion of leprous persons from the camp in the wilderness, as from cities and villages afterwards, was a sanitary measure taken according to prescribed rules (Le 13:1-14:57). This exclusion of lepers from society has been acted upon ever since; and it affords almost the only instance in which any kind of attention is paid in the East to the prevention of contagion. The…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 5:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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