You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they do not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Both you shall put male and female outside of the camp; that they not defile their camp, in the middle of which I dwell.”
- KJV 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.
- BSB You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”
- NKJV You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell.”
- NLT This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them.”
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
Both men and women were to be put outside so the camp where God dwells would not be defiled. God's dwelling among His people demanded purity from all alike.
Overview
The law applied without partiality, since the issue was the holiness of the camp, not the status of the person. The stated reason—'in the middle of which I dwell'—reveals that God's presence is the heart of the matter. This anticipates the New Testament truth that God's people are His temple, called to purity because His Spirit dwells among them (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Deut 23:14for Yahweh your God walks in the middle of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.
- Lev 26:11–12I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you.
- Rev 21:3I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
- Ps 68:18You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there.
- Num 35:34You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the middle of which I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell in the middle of the children of Israel.’”
- 2 Th 3:6Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion, and not after the tradition which they received from us.
- Heb 12:15–16looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;
- Isa 12:6Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
- Titus 3:10Avoid a factious man after a first and second warning,
- Rev 21:27There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
- 1 Kgs 7:3It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars, fifteen in a row.
- 2 Cor 6:16–17What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
- 1 Cor 5:7–13Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.
- Num 19:22“Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”
- 2 Jn 1:10–11If anyone comes to you, and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him,
- Hag 2:13–14Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
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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 5:3 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.