Numbers 5 · Verse 2

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 5:2, King James Version

Numbers 5:2 in other translations

BSB	“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
WEB	“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.
ASV	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:
YLT	‘Command the sons of Israel, and they send out of the camp every leper, and every one with an issue, and every one defiled by a body;
DARBY	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 a dead person:
BBE	Give orders to the children of Israel to put outside the tent-circle every leper, and anyone who has any sort of flow from his body, and anyone who is unclean from the touch of the dead;
Webster	Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whoever is defiled by the dead:

What does Numbers 5:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Nu 5:1-4. The Unclean to Be Removed out of the Camp.

2. 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 usage still more or less prevails in the East among people who do not think the least precaution against the plague or cholera necessary; but judging from personal observation, we think that in Asia the leprosy has now much abated in frequency and virulence. It usually appears in a comparatively mild form in Egypt, Palestine, and other countries where the disorder is, or was, endemic. Small societies of excluded lepers live miserably in paltry huts. Many of them are beggars, going out into the roads to solicit alms, which they receive in a wooden bowl; charitable people also sometimes bring different articles of food, which they leave on the ground at a short distance from the hut of the lepers, for whom it is intended. They are generally obliged to wear a distinctive badge that people may know them at first sight and be warned to avoid them. Other means were adopted among the ancient Jews by putting their hand on their mouth and crying, "Unclean, unclean" [Le 13:45]. But their general treatment, as to exclusion from society, was the same as now described. The association of the lepers, however, in this passage, with those who were subject only to ceremonial uncleanness, shows that one important design in the temporary exile of such persons was to remove all impurities that reflected dishonor on the character and residence of Israel's King. And this vigilant care to maintain external cleanliness in the people was typically designed to teach them the practice of moral purity, or cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. The regulations made for ensuring cleanliness in the camp suggest the adoption of similar means for maintaining purity in the church. And although, in large communities of Christians, it may be often difficult or delicate to do this, the suspension or, in flagrant cases of sin, the total excommunication of the offender from the privileges and communion of the church is an imperative duty, as necessary to the moral purity of the Christian as the exclusion of the leper from the camp was to physical health and ceremonial purity in the Jewish church.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

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. 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, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 5:1-10

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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 5:1-10 →

Numbers 5:2 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.

צַ֚וtzavcommandH6680

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people ofH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

וִֽישַׁלְּחוּ֙vi.sha.le.Chuso they may send awayH7971

מִן\־min-fromH4480

הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔הha.ma.cha.Nehthe campH4264

כָּל\־kol-anyH3605

צָר֖וּעַtza.Ru.a'[one who] has a skin diseaseH6879

וְכָל\־ve.kholand anyH3605

זָ֑בZav[one who] has a dischargeH2100

וְכֹ֖לve.Kholand anyH3605

טָמֵ֥אta.Me'[person] uncleanH2931

לָנָֽפֶשׁ\׃la.Na.feshto a corpseH5315

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

Cross references for Numbers 5:2

Leviticus 13:46
All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.
Leviticus 21:1
And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
Numbers 12:14
And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
Numbers 9:6-10
And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, …
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 19:11-16
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. …
Leviticus 15:2-27
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness. Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean. And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. …
2 Kings 7:3
And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
Deuteronomy 24:8-9
Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do. Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

put out of the camp.The camp of Israel being now formed, with the sanctuary of God in the centre, orders were given that the lepers and unclean persons should be excluded from the camp, according to the laws given at different times on these subjects. See the Marginal References.) This expulsion was founded, 1. On a purely physical reason; for the diseases were contagious, and therefore there was a necessity of putting those afflicted with them apart, that the infection might not be communicated. 2. There was also a spiritual reason: the camp was the habitation of God; and therefore, in honour of Him who had thus condescended to dwell with them, nothing impure should be permitted to remain. 3. Further, there was a typical reason; for the camp was the emblem of the church, where nothing that is defiled should enter, and in which nothing that is unholy should be tolerated.
12:14; Le 13:46; De 24:8,9; 2Ki 7:3
and every.
Le 15:2-27
and whosoever.
9:6-10; 19:11-16; 31:19; Le 21:1

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

Context

Numbers 5:1
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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 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.

Read all of Numbers 5

Numbers 5:2 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Manda á los hijos de Israel que echen del campo á todo leproso, y á todos los que padecen flujo de semen, y á todo contaminado sobre muerto:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Commande aux fils d’Israël qu’ils mettent hors du camp tout lépreux, et quiconque a un flux, et quiconque est impur pour un mort.
German Elberfelder 1871	Gebiete den Kindern Israel, daß sie alle Aussätzigen und alle Flüssigen und alle wegen einer Leiche Verunreinigten aus dem Lager hinaustun;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Præcipe filiis Israël, ut ejiciant de castris omnem leprosum, et qui semine fluit, pollutusque est super mortuo: