Numbers 9

The LORD spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai. It was the first month of the second year after the people came out of the land of Egypt. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

NoteThe first month of the Hebrew year (later called Abib or Nisan) falls in our March–April. This date puts the chapter about a month earlier than the events of Numbers 1, which are dated to the second month of the same year; the account here is placed out of chronological order.

2"The people of Israel are to keep the Passover at the time set for it.

2Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.

NoteThe Passover was the yearly festival held on the anniversary of Israel's departure from Egypt. Each household killed and roasted a lamb, as they had on the night described in Exodus 12, when the blood on the doorposts marked out the houses that were passed over while the firstborn of Egypt died.

3Keep it at the time set for it, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month. Keep it by following all its rules and all its instructions."

3In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

Note"Twilight" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning literally "between the two evenings", the stretch from late afternoon to nightfall. Because the Hebrew day began at sunset, this meal fell at the boundary between the fourteenth day and the fifteenth.

4So Moses told the people of Israel to keep the Passover.

4And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.

5They kept the Passover in the desert of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The people of Israel did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

5And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

6But some men were unclean because of a dead body, so they could not keep the Passover that day. They came to Moses and Aaron that same day

6And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

Note"Unclean" here is not about dirt or wrongdoing. Contact with a corpse put a person into a ritual state that barred them from sacred meals and offerings; under the rules set out in Numbers 19 it lasted seven days and was ended by a set washing procedure.

7and said to Moses, "We are unclean because of a dead body. Why should we be held back from bringing the LORD's offering at the set time along with the rest of Israel?"

7And 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?

NoteThe Passover lamb counted as an offering brought to the sanctuary, not simply a family meal, which is why ritual uncleanness kept these men from taking part.

8Moses said to them, "Wait here, and I will hear what the LORD commands about you."

8And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.

9Then the LORD said to Moses,

9And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

10"Tell the people of Israel: If any one of you, or of your descendants after you, is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a long journey, he is still to keep the Passover to the LORD.

10Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.

Note"A long journey" translates "on a distant road." The text does not define how far is far enough, and later Jewish interpreters argued over the distance.

11Such people are to keep it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat it with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs.

11The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

NoteBread made without yeast has no time to rise, and was linked to the haste of the departure from Egypt. Bitter herbs were sharp-tasting greens eaten with the meal as a reminder of the bitterness of slavery there.

12They must not leave any of it until morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They must keep it by following all the rules of the Passover.

12They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

NoteUnder the rules of Exodus 12 the lamb was roasted and eaten whole in one night; leftovers were burned rather than kept, and the carcass was not to be cut apart at the joints.

13But if a man is clean and is not away on a journey, and still holds back from keeping the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. He did not bring the LORD's offering at the set time, so he must bear the guilt of his sin.

13But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

Note"Cut off from his people" is a set legal phrase whose exact force is disputed: it may mean expulsion from the community, death, or the ending of a person's family line. "Bear the guilt of his sin" is an idiom meaning to carry the liability for it himself, rather than having it dealt with on his behalf.

14If a foreigner is living among you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, he must do it by the rule for the Passover and by its instructions. You are to have one rule for both the foreigner and the person born in the land."

14And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

NoteThe word translated "foreigner" means a resident outsider, someone of non-Israelite descent settled long-term among the people, not a passing traveler. Such people were not normally required to keep Israel's festivals, and this rule sets the terms if they choose to.

15On the day the tabernacle, the tent for worship, was set up, the cloud covered it. This tent was also called the tent of the testimony. From evening until morning, the cloud over the tabernacle looked like fire.

15And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

NoteThe tabernacle was a portable tent shrine that was taken down and re-erected at each new camp. "The tent of the testimony" refers to the stone tablets of the covenant law, called the testimony, which were kept in a chest inside it.

16It stayed that way all the time: the cloud covered the tabernacle by day, and at night it looked like fire.

16So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

17Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, the people of Israel set out. Wherever the cloud settled, there the people of Israel set up their camp.

17And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.

18At the LORD's command the people of Israel set out, and at the LORD's command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they stayed in their tents.

18At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.

19Even when the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for many days, the people of Israel did what the LORD required of them and did not set out.

19And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.

20Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days. At the LORD's command they stayed in their tents, and at the LORD's command they set out.

20And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.

21Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening until morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether the cloud lifted by day or by night, they set out.

21And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.

22Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle two days, or a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in their tents and did not set out for as long as it remained there. But when it lifted, they set out.

22Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

NoteThe Hebrew here reads literally "or days," which can mean a full year or simply "a long stretch of time"; translations differ on which is meant.

23At the LORD's command they stayed in their tents, and at the LORD's command they set out. They did what the LORD required of them, following his command given through Moses.

23At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.