Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 23:10
If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp and stay outside.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses instructs the Israelite military encampment on maintaining ritual boundaries while positioned against enemy forces.
The words — The term טָה֖וֹר (ta.Hor) literally means "clean," and מִ/קְּרֵה (mi./ke.reh) denotes "from a happening of," structuring the verse around a specific ritual condition rather than a moral failure.
The thread — The regulation aligns with Leviticus 15:16 and Numbers 5:2 on bodily discharges, and is bounded by Deuteronomy 23:9's command to avoid wickedness and Deuteronomy 23:11's evening washing requirement.
Why it lands — The text requires immediate physical separation from the camp for ritual impurity, mandating a specific cleansing procedure before the individual may reenter the community.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Leviticus 15:16 When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- Numbers 5:2 “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.
- 1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.