Text -- Numbers 9:6 (NET)

9:6 It happened that some men who were ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man could not keep the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 9:6

¹ tn In the Hebrew text the noun has no definite article, and so it signifies “some” or “certain” men.

² tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.

³ tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.

⁴ tn This clause begins with the vav (ו) conjunction and negative before the perfect tense. Here is the main verb of the sentence: They were not able to observe the Passover. The first part of the verse provides the explanation for their problem.