And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”
- KJV And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.
- BSB On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”
- NASB And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean; and afterward you may enter the camp.”
- NLT On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified. Then you may return to the camp.”
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
The soldiers were to wash their clothes on the seventh day to be clean, then return to the camp.
Overview
The final act of purification allowed the warriors to rejoin the community. Cleanliness was required before re-entering the camp where God dwelt. This recurring emphasis on washing and cleansing prepares us to understand the deeper cleansing from sin that God grants through the washing of regeneration in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Lev 11:25Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.
- Lev 14:9It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water, then he shall be clean.
- Lev 15:13“‘When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
- Num 19:19The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 31:24 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.