Bible Strands
Numbers 9:7
and said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Unclean men approach Moses and Aaron on the day of Passover to question their exclusion from the offering.
The words — טְמֵאִים (te.me.'Im) denotes ritual uncleanness, and לְ/נֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֑ם (le./ne.fesh 'a.dam) specifies defilement caused by contact with a human corpse.
The thread — The tension between ritual purity and covenant participation runs through Exodus 12:27, Numbers 9:2, and Deuteronomy 16:2 regarding the appointed Passover sacrifice.
Why it lands — The text forces a direct examination of how communal worship handles unavoidable impurity without adding conditions beyond the stated command.
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 those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
- Numbers 9:2 “The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time.
- Deuteronomy 16:2 You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- 2 Chronicles 30:17 Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7 Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.