Bible Strands
Numbers 31:20
And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The command is directed to Israelite soldiers and captives who have contacted the dead during battle, mandating the cleansing of their equipment before reentering the camp.
The words — The text specifies בֶּגֶד (beged), meaning “garment,” and עוֹר (or), meaning “hide,” alongside items crafted from goat hair and wood.
The thread — The purification of materials recurs in Genesis 35:2 with personal cleansing, in Exodus 19:10 where garments are washed for consecration before God’s descent, and in Numbers 19:14 regarding uncleanness from death in a tent.
Why it lands — It requires readers to treat physical objects as capable of ritual defilement and to apply prescribed cleansing protocols before resuming camp life.
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
And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.
Cross-references
- Genesis 35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
- Exodus 19:10 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
- Numbers 19:14 This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,
- Numbers 19:22 Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”