3 Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them."
3 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.
3 You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."
3 Ban male and female alike; send them outside the camp so that they won't defile their camp, the place I live among them."
3 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."
3 This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 5:3
Commentary on Numbers 5:1-10
(Read Numbers 5:1-10)
The camp was to be cleansed. The purity of the church must be kept as carefully as the peace and order of it. Every polluted Israelite must be separated. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. The greater profession of religion any house or family makes, the more they are obliged to put away iniquity far from them. If a man overreach or defraud his brother in any matter, it is a trespass against the Lord, who strictly charges and commands us to do justly. What is to be done when a man's awakened conscience charges him with guilt of this kind, though done long ago? He must confess his sin, confess it to God, confess it to his neighbour, and take shame to himself; though it go against him to own himself in a lie, yet he must do it. Satisfaction must be made for the offence done to God, as well as for the loss sustained by the neighbour; restitution in that case is not enough without faith and repentance. While that which is wrongly gotten is knowingly kept, the guilt remains on the conscience, and is not done away by sacrifice or offering, prayers or tears; for it is the same act of sin persisted in. This is the doctrine of right reason, and of the word of God. It detects hypocrites, and directs the tender conscience to proper conduct, which, springing from faith in Christ, will make way for inward peace.