John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 3. Both male and female shall ye put out , etc.] Whether leprous, or profluvious, or defiled by touching a dead carcass: by this law, Miriam, when leprous, was put out of the camp, ( Numbers 12:14,15); without the camp shall ye put them ; which is repeated that it might be taken notice of, and punctually observed: that they defile not their camps ; of which there were four, the camps of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan: in the midst whereof I dwell ; for the tabernacle, which was the dwelling place of the Lord, was in the midst of the camps of Israel; they were pitched on the four quarters of it; and this is a reason why impure persons were not suffered to be in the camp of Israel, because of the presence of God in the tabernacle so near them, to whom all, impurity is loathsome, and not to be permitted in his sight; and though this was ceremonial, it was typical of the uncleanness of sin, which is abominable to him, and renders persons unfit for communion with him, and with his people.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-10 - The camp was to be cleansed. The purity of the church must be kept a carefully as the peace and order of it. Every polluted Israelite mus be separated. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. The greater profession of religion any house or family makes, the more the are obliged to put away iniquity far from them. If a man overreach of 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 don 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. Satisfactio must be made for the offence done to God, as well as for the los sustained by the neighbour; restitution in that case is not enoug without faith and repentance. While that which is wrongly gotten i knowingly kept, the guilt remains on the conscience, and is not don away by sacrifice or offering, prayers or tears; for it is the same ac of sin persisted in. This is the doctrine of right reason, and of the word of God. It detects hypocrites, and directs the tender conscienc to proper conduct, which, springing from faith in Christ, will make wa for inward peace.
Original Hebrew מזכר2145 עד5704 נקבה5347 תשׁלחו7971 אל413 מחוץ2351 למחנה4264 תשׁלחום7971 ולא3808 יטמאו2930 את853 מחניהם4264 אשׁר834 אני589 שׁכן7931 בתוכם׃8432
