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“Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
Numbers 5:2-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
“Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse.
You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
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:
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.
And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
'Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is unclean by the dead;
both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I dwell.'
And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp; as the LORD spoke unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v3 There were three manner of tents: of the Lord,…
There were three manner of tents: of the Lord, of the Levites, and of the Israelites.
Or, in a place out of the host.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Num 5:2 Command the children of Israel, that they…
Num 5:2 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:
Ver. 2. Put out of the camp.] To show, that sin unrepented of, throws us out of the communion of faith and saints; shuts us out of the congregation of God in earth and heaven. No fellowship, place, or reward with them. See Rev 21:27. {See Trapp on "Rev 21:27"}
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Defiled by the dead.] Heb., Defiled by a soul. The Hebrews call a dead corpse Nephesh here, and elsewhere; that is, a soul, to note that it shall live again, and that the soul shall return to it. The heathene also (saith a grave interpreter) called a dead body a soul: possibly from some glimpse of the resurrection.
{a} Animamque sepulchro condimus - Virg., Aeneid.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Out of the camp, in which the people dwelt;…
Out of the camp, in which the people dwelt; as afterward out of the cities and towns, that they might not converse with others, and infect them.
An issue, to wit, of genital seed in men, or of blood in women in their seasons.
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By the dead, i.e. by the touch of the dead. See Lev 21:1; Num 6:6.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Command the children of Israel,.... Not as from himself,…
Command the children of Israel,.... Not as from himself, but from the Lord; deliver out the following as a command of his, to which obedience was required of all the children of Israel:
that they put out of the camp every leper; there were three camps, Jarchi says, in the time of their encampment; between the curtains was the camp of the Shechinah, or the divine Majesty; the encampment of the Levites round about; and from thence to the end was the camp of the standards, to the four winds, which was the camp of Israel; and the leper was to be put out of them all; so Ben Gersom; see Lev 13:46,
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and everyone that hath an issue; a gonorrhoea, man or woman, see Lev 15:2; according Jarchi, such an one might be in the camp of Israel, but was to be put out of the other two camps:
and whosoever is defiled by the dead; by attending the funerals of the dead, or touching them, see Lev 21:1; such an one might go into the camp of the Levites, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom; and was to be put of none but the camp of the Shechinah, or the tabernacle; but the camp of Israel seems to be meant of them all, out of which they were to be put, as an emblem of the rejection of all impure persons out of the church of God.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v3 That they defile not the camp - By which…
That they defile not the camp - By which God would intimate the danger of being made guilty by other mens sins, and the duty of avoiding intimate converse with wicked men. I dwell - By my special and gracious presence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 4 Verse 2. Put out of the camp every leper]…
Verse 2. Put out of the camp every leper] According to the preceding plan, it is sufficiently evident that each camp had a space behind it, and on one side, whither the infected might be removed, and where probably convenient places were erected for the accommodation of the infected; for we cannot suppose that they were driven out into the naked wilderness. But the expulsion mentioned here was founded,
1. On a purely physical reason, viz., the diseases were contagious, and therefore there was a necessity of putting those afflicted by them apart, that the infection might not be communicated.
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2. There was also a spiritual reason; the camp was the habitation of God, and nothing impure should be permitted to remain where he dwelt.
3. The camp was an emblem of the Church, where nothing that is defiled should enter, and in which nothing that is unholy should be tolerated. All lepers - all persevering impenitent sinners, should be driven from the sacred pale, nor should any such ever be permitted to enter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v3 Num 5:3. That they defile not the camp —…
Num 5:3. That they defile not the camp — By which God would intimate the danger of being made guilty by other men’s sins, and the duty of avoiding intimate converse with wicked men. I dwell — By my special and gracious presence.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Camp; in the midst of which God had fixed…
Camp; in the midst of which God had fixed his tabernacle. See Leviticus xvi. 16. Some pretend that these unclean persons were only excluded from the camp of the Lord, and from that of the Levites, which occupied 2000 cubits round the tabernacle. But God will not permit any of the camp to be defiled by such people. They were to absent themselves for seven days, and then wash themselves, &c., chap. xix. 11. If lepers be excluded from the camp, how much more do heretics deserve to be cast out of the Church! (Theodoret, q. 8.) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–3 2. Every leper — A discussion of leprosy may…
2. Every leper — A discussion of leprosy may be found in Leviticus 13. It was considered a punishment from God. The very term “leper,” in Hebrew etymology, signifies one “struck.” The Greek poet AEschylus (Choeph., 271) portrays it as the scourge of an offended deity. It is the opinion of scientific men that the leprosy, the diagnosis of which is given in Leviticus xiii and xiv, includes all severe diseases spreading on the surface of the body in the way described, as syphilis, elephantiasis, and cancer. Leprosy proper, common in Egypt and Syria, begins imperceptibly with a few reddish, painless spots, gradually increasing for some years, and becoming more manifest. The spots become large, covering the entire skin; sometimes raised, though flat. The upper part of the nose swells and softens, the nostrils distend, the under jaw swells, the eyebrows are elevated, the ears grow thick, the ends of the fingers and toes swell, the nails grow scaly, the joints of the feet and hands separate, and the palms and soles become ulcerated. This kind is supposed by some not to be infectious. In Egypt and Palestine it was endemic in a mild form.
Every one that hath an issue — See notes on Lev_15:2-33, where it is called a running issue. The separation enjoined was admirably adapted to prevent contagion of every kind, and to repress licentious indulgences.
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Defiled by the dead — The Hebrew has נפשׁ, nephesh; and the Greek ψυχη, psyche, spirit or soul, instead of the usual word for dead. In Lev_21:11, and Num_6:6, the Hebrew adds מת, meth, dead. This was a ceremonial, and not a physical or contagious, defilement. Actual touch was not necessary for defilement, but touching a grave, bearing the dead, or entering a tent or house where there was a corpse. Note, Num_19:11-18. The reason of the defilement attributed to a dead body is not assigned. It may be on account of its speedy decomposition in a hot climate.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v2 2. Three forms of uncleanness are here mentioned, all…
2. Three forms of uncleanness are here mentioned, all of which are dealt with in detail elsewhere, and all are considered contagious in their ceremonial pollution:—leprosy (Leviticus 13), discharges (Leviticus 15), and contact with the dead (Numbers 19).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Every leper. The law of the leper had been…
Every leper. The law of the leper had been given in great detail in Leviticus 13 and 14, and it had been already ordered that he should be put out of the camp, (Lev_13:46, and cf. Lev_14:3) Every one that hath an issue. These defilements are treated of in Leviticus 15; where, however, it is not expressly ordered that those so polluted should be put out of the comp. Whosoever is defiled by the dead. The fact of being thus defiled is recognized in Lev_11:24 Lev_21:1, but the formal regulations concerning it are not given until Num_19:21. Probably the popular opinion and practice was sufficiently definite to explain the present command.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v2 Put out of the camp every leper, and every…
Num_5:2-3
Put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead.
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.
Where God dwells there must be purity:
I. God himself is pure, and cannot associate with the impure. If discipline is lax, God departs. It is not the large church, or the intelligent or the wealthy one, that attracts Him, but the pure one. As the lightning passes by the polished marble and the carved wood to touch the iron or steel, because there it finds something akin to itself, so God passes by those to dwell with the pure, because in them He finds a character akin to His own.
II. God will not, because he cannot, do any good to the impure. Any one tolerating sin would not appreciate the design of God and accept His blessing; and where He cannot bless, He will not come to dwell. Let us then put out of the camp every leper, everything that defileth; for the presence of God in our midst is of the utmost importance to us as His Church and people. His presence is essential.
1. To our comfort as Churches and Christians. What the shining sun is in nature His presence is with us--our brightness, our joy, &c.
2. To our prosperity. God with His Church has been in all ages the secret of its power and success. His presence is the life of the ministry and of all Christian work (D. Lloyd.)
The exclusion of the unclean:
I. As a sanitary measure.
1. The universal application of the rule.
2. The sacred reason by which it was enforced. Impurity separates from God.
II. As a spiritual parable.
1. Sin is a defiling thing.
2. Sin is a deadly thing.
3. Sin is a separating thing.
Where sin is cherished God will not dwell.
(1) The openly and persistently wicked should be expelled from the Church on earth.
(a) Because of their corrupt influence (1Co_5:6-13).
(b) Because of the dishonour to God which their presence in the Church involves.
(2) The wicked will be excluded from the city of God above.
Conclusion:
1. He who demands this purity has provided the means whereby we may attain unto it. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
2. Let us diligently use the means which He has provided. Wash you, make you clean, &c. (W. Jones.)
In the midst whereof I dwell--
God ever present with His people
This teaches us that God is evermore present with His people. This appeareth in the example of Joseph (Gen_39:21; Gen_39:23). I will propound a few reasons.
1. He will save those that are His. His presence is not a vain presence, neither is He an idle beholder of things that are done; but His presence is to prosper and to save (Jer_30:11). We must not therefore dream of a presence that effecteth nothing, but rather willeth His people oftentimes to stand still, while He worketh all in all.
2. They have good success in their lawful labours, so that He maketh the works of their hands prosperous.
Uses:
1. For the increase of a sound faith in God. He leaveth them not to themselves; He with-draweth not His strength from them; He delivereth them not to the lust and pleasure of their enemies. This is it which He telleth Joshua after the death of Moses (Jdg_1:5).
2. This teacheth us this good duty, that we take heed we do not defile ourselves with the pollutions of sin. For how shall we dare to commit sin that is so highly displeasing in His sight, forasmuch as He is with us to behold us and all our actions? (W. Attersoll.)
God dwelling with His people:
I. God is present with his people.
1. Influentially (Psa_139:1; Psa_139:10).
2. Sympathetically (Gen_28:16-17; Joh_14:16-26; 1Jn_1:3).
II. God is present in the midst of his people.
1. As to the centre of union.
2. As the source of blessing. Life, light, power, beauty, &c.
III. Gods presence in the midst of his people should exert a great and blessed influence upon them.
1. A restraint from sin.
2. An incentive to holiness.
3. An encouragement to duty.
4. An assurance of support in the toils and trials of life.
5. An assurance of victory in the conflicts of life.
6. An assurance of perfect salvation. (W. Jones.)
The presence of God among His people demands holiness on their part
Redemption was the basis of Gods dwelling in the midst of His people. But we must remember that discipline was essential to His continuance amongst them. He could not dwell where evil was deliberately sanctioned. It may, however, be said, in reply, Does not God the Holy Ghost dwell in the individual believer, and yet there is much evil in him? True, the Holy Ghost dwells in the believer, on the ground of accomplished redemption. He is there, not as the sanction of what is of nature, but as the seal of what is of Christ; and His presence and fellowship are enjoyed just in proportion as the evil in us is habitually judged. So also in reference to the assembly. No doubt, there is evil there--evil in each individual member, and therefore evil in the body corporate. But it must be judged; and, if judged, it is not allowed to act, it is rendered null. We are not to judge motives, but we are to judge ways. The very moment a man enters the assembly, he takes his place in that sphere where discipline is exercised upon ever, thing contrary to the holiness of the One who dwells there. And let not the reader suppose, for a moment, that the unity of the body is touched when the discipline of the house is maintained. We frequently hear it said of those who rightly seek to maintain the discipline of the house of God, that they are rending the body of Christ. There could hardly be a greater mistake. The fact is, the former is our bounden duty; the latter, an utter impossibility. The discipline of Gods house must be carried out; but the unity of Christs body can never be dissolved. And why, we may ask, was this separation demanded? Was it to uphold the reputation or respectability of the people? Nothing of the sort. What then? That they defile not their camps in the midst whereof I dwell. And so is it now. We do not judge and put away bad doctrine, in order to maintain our orthodoxy; neither do we judge and put away moral evil, in order to maintain our reputation and respectability. The only ground of judgment and putting away is this, Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord, forever. God dwells in the midst of His people. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
No Church ought to tolerate open offenders:
No Church ought to tolerate any filthy livers, or unclean persons, or notorious offenders among them (Deu_23:17; 1Co_5:1-2; Eph_5:3-5). This truth may be further strengthened by many reasons.
1. For it is a comely thing for the saints of God to do so: that as they differ from heathen men, so they may differ from heathen meetings. Moses teacheth that they ought to put out evil from them, because they are an holy people (Deu_23:14).
2. For the neglect of this duty, the wrath of God falleth upon the sons of men. He is the God of order, and requireth that all things in the Church be done in order. Hence it is that the apostle saith (Col_3:6). And we have sundry examples of this in the people of Israel, who were diversely destroyed because of their sins (1Co_10:5).
3. We showed before that they were as unclean beasts, and should not be admitted to the fellowship of Christs sheep which are clean, lest they defile them through their contagion, and tread down with their feet the residue of their pastures. The apostle saith (1Co_5:6). Sin therefore being infectious, the sinner is not to be tolerated in the assembly of the righteous.
Uses:
1. It should minister great matter of much sorrow to every society of Christian men and women, when any of the congregation grow to be thus profane and defiled with the contagion of sin. Is it not a great grief to have any one member of the body cut off? This the apostle teacheth (1Co_5:2.)
2. It is a cause of great mercy and of a wonderful blessing from God, when such as transgress are resisted and punished. So long as sin is suffered, God is offended, and His wrath is extended over those places and persons. He hath a controversy against those that sin against Him.
3. Every congregation is bound to purge their own body from such excrements and filthiness as annoy it. We must have herein true zeal and godly courage in the cause of God and His truth. We must not stand in fear of the faces of men, though they be never so great and mighty. The censures of the Church must not be like the spiders web, which catcheth flies and gnats, whereas the bigger creatures break from it. This reproveth such as dare not deal with great men, rich men, and mighty men: they are afraid to touch them lest they purchase their displeasure.
4. Is no Church to tolerate any open offenders among them? Then they must use the censure of excommunication as an ordinance of God, not an invention of men; and not only know the nature and use of it, but practise it to the glory of God, and to the good of others. This is it which our Saviour Christ hath left and commanded to be executed among us (Mat_18:17). (W. Attersoll.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v2 5:2 skin disease: The Hebrew word used here describes…
5:2 skin disease: The Hebrew word used here describes various skin diseases that were regarded as contagious (cp. Lev 13–14). • Discharge refers to fluids associated with sexual organs (Lev 15; cp. Luke 8:43-48). • touching a dead person: See Num 6:6-11; 19:11.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.