Numbers 5:3

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-10 The camp was to be cleansed. The purity of the church must be kept as carefully as the peace and order of it. Every polluted Israelite must be separated. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. The greater profession of religion any house or family makes, the more they are obliged to put away iniquity far from them. If a man overreach or defraud his brother in any matter, it is a trespass against the Lord, who strictly charges and commands us to do justly. What is to be done when a man's awakened conscience charges him with guilt of this kind, though done long ago? He must confess his sin, confess it to God, confess it to his neighbour, and take shame to himself; though it go against him to own himself in a lie, yet he must do it. Satisfaction must be made for the offence done to God, as well as for the loss sustained by the neighbour; restitution in that case is not e...

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 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

EXPOSITION THE UNCLEAN TO BE REMOVED (Numbers 5:1). NUMBERS 5:2 EVERY LEPER. The law of the leper had been given in great detail in Leviticus 13:1 and Leviticus 14:1, and it had been already ordered that he should be put out of the camp (Le Leviticus 13:46, and cf. Leviticus 14:3). Every one that hath an issue. These d

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 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,

4. THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE CAMP AND THE NAZARITE CHAPTER 5 _ 1. Concerning the leper, the issue and defilement of the dead (Numbers 5:1)_ 2. Concerning restitution (Numbers 5:5) 3. Concerning the wife suspected of adultery (Numbers 5:11) So far we had the outward arrangement of the camp. This chapter tells us that the camp had to be holy and therefore must be cleansed from that which defiles. Divine directions are given concerning the unclean person, the restitution of anything unjustly taken and what is to be done with a wife suspected of adultery. Leprosy could not be tolerated in the camp in the midst whereof Jehovah dwelt. The persons who had an issue and had come in touch with the de

THE SECLUSION OF PERSONS RENDERED UNCLEAN THROUGH LEPROSY, ISSUES, OR CONTACT WITH THE DEAD. Such seclusion was the result of a primitive belief that persons in the conditions specified were the seat of, or had been exposed to, some supernatural influence which they might extend to any who approached them. Rules relating to the leprous and to sufferers from issues are found in Leviticus 13-15*. For historical instances of the seclusion of lepers, see Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 7:3; 2 Kings 15:5. NUMBERS 5:2. THE DEAD: literally, a soul or ghost. A dead body was thought to be dangerous because the disembodied spirit hovered round it, a

PUT OUT, WITHOUT THE CAMP. Compare Numbers 12:14; Numbers 12:15....

Exclusion of unclean persons. The compiler has very suitably placed this in connexion with the careful arrangements enjoined in the preceding chapter to preserve the sacredness of the Dwelling of Jehovah. Because of His presence the whole camp (-in the midst whereof I dwell") was sacred, and all pollution must be rigorously avoided (cf. Leviticus 15:31). The same principle is applied, in Numbers 35:33 f., to the whole land of Canaan....

VII. ASSORTED LAWS (NUMBERS 5; NUMBERS 6) A. EJECTION OF THE UNCLEAN vv. 1-4 TEXT Numbers 5:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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: 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. 4. 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. PARAPHRASE Numbers 5:1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2. Command the childre