Numbers 31 · Verse 19

Numbers 31:19

And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
Numbers 31:19, King James Version

Numbers 31:19 in other translations

BSBAll of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.
WEB“Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
ASVAnd encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.
YLT‘And ye, encamp ye at the outside of the camp seven days--any who hath slain a person, and any who hath come against a pierced one, ye cleanse yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day--ye and your captives;
DARBYAnd encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever hath killed a person, and whoever hath touched any slain; ye shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
BBEYou yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.
WebsterAnd do ye abide without the camp seven days: whoever hath killed any person, and whoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

What does Numbers 31:19 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 31:19-24
19-24. abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person ... purify both yourselves and your captives--Though the Israelites had taken the field in obedience to the command of God, they had become defiled by contact with the dead. A process of purification was to be undergone, as the law required (Le 15:13; Nu 19:9-12), and this purifying ceremony was extended to dress, houses, tents, to everything on which a dead body had lain, which had been touched by the blood-stained hands of the Israelitish warriors, or which had been the property of idolaters. This became a standing ordinance in all time coming (Le 6:28; 11:33; 15:12).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 31:19-24
The Israelites had to purify themselves according to the law, and to abide without the camp seven days, though they had not contracted any moral guilt, the war being just and lawful, and commanded by God. Thus God would preserve in their minds a dread and detestation of shedding blood. The spoil had been used by Midianites, and being now come into the possession of Israelites, it was fit that it should be purified.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Numbers 31:19 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאַתֶּ֗םve.'a.Temand youH859
חֲנ֛וּcha.NuencampH2583
מִח֥וּץmi.Chutzfrom [the] outsideH2351
לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖הla.ma.cha.Nehof the campH4264
שִׁבְעַ֣תshiv.'AtsevenH7651
יָמִ֑יםya.MimdaysH3117
כֹּל֩kolanyH3605
הֹרֵ֨גho.Reg[one who] has killedH2026
נֶ֜פֶשׁNe.feshanyoneH5315
וְכֹ֣ל\׀ve.Kholand anyH3605
נֹגֵ֣עַno.Ge.a'[one who] has touchedH5060
בֶּֽחָלָ֗לbe.cha.Lal<in> the [one] slainH2491
תִּֽתְחַטְּא֞וּtit.cha.te.'Uyou will purify yourselvesH2398
בַּיּ֤וֹםbai.Yomon the dayH3117
הַשְּׁלִישִׁי֙ha.she.li.Shi<the> thirdH7992
וּבַיּ֣וֹםu.vai.Yomand on the dayH3117
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔יha.she.vi.'I<the> seventhH7637
אַתֶּ֖ם'a.TemyouH859
וּשְׁבִיכֶֽם\׃u.she.vi.Khemand captive[s] yourH7628

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 31:19

  • Numbers 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:

  • Numbers 19:11-22

    He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. …

  • 1 Chronicles 22:8

    But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
abide.Though the Israelites had acted by the commission of God, yet they had contracted pollution by touching the dead; and the spoil having been used by idolaters, must also be purified in the prescribed manner.
5:2; 19:11-22; 1Ch 22:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 31:18

    But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

  • Numbers 31:19

    And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

  • Numbers 31:20

    And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.

Read all of Numbers 31

Numbers 31:19 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y vosotros quedaos fuera del campo siete días: y todos los que hubieren matado persona, y cualquiera que hubiere tocado muerto, os purificaréis al tercero y al séptimo día, vosotros y vuestros cautivos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et vous, demeurez hors du camp, sept jours, quiconque aura tué un homme, et quiconque aura touché quelqu’un de tué; vous vous purifierez le troisième jour et le septième jour, vous et vos captifs.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ihr aber lagert euch außerhalb des Lagers sieben Tage; ein jeder, der einen Menschen getötet, und ein jeder, der einen Erschlagenen angerührt hat, ihr sollt euch entsündigen am dritten Tage und am siebten Tage, ihr und eure Gefangenen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et manete extra castra septem diebus. Qui occiderit hominem, vel occisum tetigerit, lustrabitur die tertio et septimo.