You must have a place outside the camp to go and relieve yourself.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall have a place also outside of the camp where you go relieve yourself.
- KJV Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:
- NKJV “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out;
- NASB “You shall also have a place allocated outside the camp, so that you may go out there to relieve yourself,
- NLT “You must have a designated area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself.
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
Israel must designate a place outside the camp for relieving themselves. Even sanitation was governed by reverence for God's presence.
Overview
This practical hygiene law kept the camp clean because the holy God dwelt in its midst (v. 14). It shows that no part of life, however mundane, lies outside the call to honor God. The principle that holiness embraces the ordinary and bodily aspects of life reflects a wholistic devotion that the gospel likewise calls forth (1 Cor 10:31).
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 23:12 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.