Numbers 5:2

2 Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead:

Numbers 5:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:2

Command the children of Israel
Not as from himself, but from the Lord; deliver out the following as a command of his, to which obedience was required of all the children of Israel:

that they put out of the camp every leper;
there were three camps, Jarchi says, in the time of their encampment; between the curtains was the camp of the Shechinah, or the divine Majesty; the encampment of the Levites round about; and from thence to the end was the camp of the standards, to the four winds, which was the camp of Israel; and the leper was to be put out of them all; so Ben Gersom; see ( Leviticus 13:46 ) ;

and everyone that hath an issue;
a gonorrhoea, man or woman, see ( Leviticus 15:2 Leviticus 15:19 ) ; according Jarchi, such an one might be in the camp of Israel, but was to be put out of the other two camps:

and whosoever is defiled by the dead;
by attending the funerals of the dead, or touching them, see ( Leviticus 21:1 ) ( 22:4 ) ; such an one might go into the camp of the Levites, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom; and was to be put of none but the camp of the Shechinah, or the tabernacle; but the camp of Israel seems to be meant of them all, out of which they were to be put, as an emblem of the rejection of all impure persons out of the church of God.

Numbers 5:2 In-Context

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead:

3 Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest they defile it when I shall dwell with you,

4 And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: