Matthew Henry on Numbers 5:1-10
Here is, I. A command for the purifying of the camp, by turning out from within its lines all those that were ceremonially unclean, by issues, leprosies, or the touch of dead bodies, until they were cleansed according to the law, Num 5:2, Num 5:3.
1. These orders are executed immediately, Num 5:4. (1.) The camp was now newly-modelled and put in order, and therefore, to complete the reformation of it, it is next to be cleansed. Note, The purity of the church must be as carefully consulted and preserved as the peace and order of it. It is requisite, not only that every Israelite be confined to his own standard, but that every polluted Israelite be separated from it. The wisdom from above is fi…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on 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,
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 presenc…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Numbers 5:1-4
Numbers 5:1-3
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
2. Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
2. Praecipe filiis Israel ut ejiciant e castris omnem leprosum, omnem seminifluum, et omnem immundum super anima.
3. 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.
3. Tam masculum quam faeminam ejicietis: extra castra ejicietis eos, ne contaminent castra sua, quia ego habito in medio eorum.
2. Command the children of Israel. This passage clearly s…
