Numbers 5:2

5:2 “Command the Israelites to expel ¹  from the camp every leper, ²  everyone who has a discharge, ³  and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse. ⁴ 

Numbers 15:36

15:36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, ⁵  just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Leviticus 4:12

4:12 all the rest of the bull ⁶  – he must bring outside the camp ⁷  to a ceremonially clean place, ⁸  to the fatty ash pile, ⁹  and he must burn ¹⁰  it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.

Leviticus 4:21

4:21 He ¹¹  must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp ¹²  and burn it just as he burned the first bull – it is the sin offering of the assembly.

Leviticus 13:45-46

The Life of the Person with Skin Disease

13:45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection, ¹³  his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, ¹⁴  and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 13:46 The whole time he has the infection ¹⁵  he will be continually unclean. He must live in isolation, and his place of residence must be outside the camp.

Leviticus 16:27

16:27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp ¹⁶  and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, ¹⁷ 

Leviticus 24:14

24:14 “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him to death. ¹⁸ 

Hebrews 13:11-13

13:11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings ¹⁹  into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. 13:12 Therefore, to sanctify the people by his own blood, Jesus also suffered outside the camp. 13:13 We must go out to him, then, outside the camp, bearing the abuse he experienced. ²⁰ 

¹ tn The construction uses the Piel imperative followed by this Piel imperfect/jussive form; it is here subordinated to the preceding volitive, providing the content of the command. The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) in this verbal stem is a strong word, meaning “expel, put out, send away, or release” (as in “let my people go”).

² sn The word צָרוּעַ (tsarua’), although translated “leper,” does not primarily refer to leprosy proper (i.e., Hansen’s disease). The RSV and the NASB continued the KJV tradition of using “leper” and “leprosy.” More recent studies have concluded that the Hebrew word is a generic term covering all infectious skin diseases (including leprosy when that actually showed up). True leprosy was known and feared certainly by the time of Amos (ca. 760 b.c.). There is evidence that the disease was known in Egypt by 1500 b.c. So this term would include that disease in all probability. But in view of the diagnosis and healing described in Leviticus 13 and 14, the term must be broader. The whole basis for the laws of separation may be found in the book of Leviticus. The holiness of the Lord who dwelt among his people meant that a high standard was imposed on them for their living arrangements as well as access to the sanctuary. Anything that was corrupted, diseased, dying, or contaminated was simply not compatible with the holiness of God and was therefore excluded. This is not to say that it was treated as sin, or the afflicted as sinners. It simply was revealing – and safeguarding – the holiness of the Lord. It thus provided a revelation for all time that in the world to come nothing unclean will enter into the heavenly sanctuary. As the Apostle Paul says, we will all be changed from this corruptible body into one that is incorruptible (1 Cor 15:53). So while the laws of purity and holiness were practical for the immediate audience, they have far-reaching implications for theology. The purity regulations have been done away with in Christ – the problem is dealt with differently in the new covenant. There is no earthly temple, and so the separation laws are not in force. Wisdom would instruct someone with an infectious disease to isolate, however. But just because the procedure is fulfilled in Christ does not mean that believers today are fit for glory just as they are. On the contrary, they must be changed before going into his presence. In like manner the sacrifices have been done away in Christ – not what they covered. Sin is still sin, even though it is dealt with differently on this side of the cross. But the ritual and the regulations of the old covenant at Sinai have been fulfilled in Christ.

³ sn The rules of discharge (Lev 12 and 15) include everything from menstruation to chronic diseases (see G. Wyper, ISBE 1:947, as well as R. K. Harrison, Leviticus (TOTC), 158-66, and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus (NICOT), 217-25.

⁴ tn The word is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), which usually simply means “[whole] life,” i.e., the soul in the body, the person. But here it must mean the corpse, the dead person, since that is what will defile (although it was also possible to become unclean by touching certain diseased people, such as a leper).

⁵ tn Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”

⁶ tn All of v. 11 is a so-called casus pendens (also known as an extraposition or a nominative absolute), which means that it anticipates the next verse, being the full description of “all (the rest of) the bull” (lit. “all the bull”) at the beginning of v. 12 (actually after the first verb of the verse; see the next note below).

⁷ tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place.”

⁸ tn Heb “a clean place,” but referring to a place that is ceremonially clean. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “the pouring out [place] of fatty ash.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “burn with fire.” This expression is somewhat redundant in English, so the translation collocates “fire” with “wood,” thus “a wood fire.”

¹¹ sn See the note on the word “slaughter” in v. 15.

¹² tn Heb “And he shall bring out the bull to from outside to the camp.”

¹³ tn Heb “And the diseased one who in him is the infection.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and his head shall be unbound, and he shall cover on [his] mustache.” Tearing one’s clothing, allowing the hair to hang loose rather than bound up in a turban, and covering the mustache on the upper lip are all ways of expressing shame, grief, or distress (cf., e.g., Lev 10:6 and Micah 3:7).

¹⁵ tn Heb “All the days which the infection is in him.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “he shall bring into from outside to the camp.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “they shall burn with fire”; KJV “burn in the fire.” Because “to burn with fire” is redundant in contemporary English the present translation simply has “must be burned up.”

¹⁸ tn The words “to death” are supplied in the translation as a clarification; they are clearly implied from v. 16.

¹⁹ tn Grk “whose blood is brought by the high priest.”

²⁰ tn Grk “his abuse.”