“If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp.
Parallel translations
- WEB If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp;
- KJV If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
- BSB If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp and stay outside.
- NKJV If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp.
- NLT “Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A man rendered ceremonially unclean by a bodily emission at night must leave the camp temporarily. Holiness governed even private bodily matters.
Overview
Ceremonial uncleanness from a nocturnal emission required temporary withdrawal from the camp where God dwelt among His people. This was not about moral sin but about ritual purity reflecting God's holiness. Such laws cultivated a deep awareness that approaching God requires cleansing, a need fully met in Christ, who makes His people clean (Heb 10:22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Lev 15:16“‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Num 5:2–3“Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead.
- 1 Cor 5:11–13But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 23:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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