Numbers 31:24

On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God speaks to Moses, relaying instructions to the Israelite army after the campaign against Midian. The command addresses the soldiers regarding their required separation from the camp following ritual contamination.

The words — The Hebrew verb כִּבַּסְתֶּם (khi.bas.tem) means "you will wash," directly linked to בִּגְדֵיכֶם (big.dei.khem, "your clothes") and the temporal phrase הַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי (ha.yom ha.shvi'i, "the seventh day"). The subsequent verb טְהַרְתֶּם (te.har.tem) declares "you will be pure," followed by the permission to come (תָּבֹאוּ, ta.vo'u) to the camp.

The thread — This seven-day waiting period before washing appears in Leviticus 14:9 and 15:13 as part of extended purification sequences. Leviticus 11:25 differs by commanding immediate washing after contact with unclean animal carcasses.

Why it lands — The verse establishes a fixed timeline that delays camp reentry until ritual washing occurs on the seventh day. It requires the community to observe a strict waiting period before restoration to communal worship and 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

וְכִבַּסְתֶּ֧םve./khi.bas.Temand/ you will wash בִּגְדֵיכֶ֛םbig.dei./Khemclothes/ your בַּיּ֥וֹםba/i.Yomon the/ day הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖יha./she.vi.'I<the>/ seventh וּטְהַרְתֶּ֑םu./te.har.Temand/ you will be pure וְאַחַ֖רve./'a.Charand/ after תָּבֹ֥אוּta.Vo.'uyou will come אֶל־'el-to הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ פHa./ma.cha.Nehthe/ camp

King James Version

And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

Cross-references

Leviticus 11:25 and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.
Leviticus 14:9 On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.
Leviticus 15:13 When the man has been cleansed from his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he shall be clean.
Numbers 19:19 The man who is ceremonially clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. After he purifies the unclean person on the seventh day, the one being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and that evening he will be clean.