Numbers 9:6-10

9:6 It happened that some men ¹  who were ceremonially defiled ²  by the dead body of a man ³  could not keep ⁴  the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. 9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” 9:8 So Moses said to them, “Remain ⁵  here and I will hear ⁶  what the Lord will command concerning you.”

9:9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ⁷  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ⁸  observe the Passover to the Lord.

[9:6]  ¹ tn In the Hebrew text the noun has no definite article, and so it signifies “some” or “certain” men.

[9:6]  ² tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.

[9:6]  ³ tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.

[9:6]  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.

[9:8]  ⁵ tn The verb is simply “stand,” but in the more general sense of waiting to hear the answer.

[9:8]  ⁶ tn The cohortative may be subordinated to the imperative: “stand…[that I] may hear.”

[9:10]  ⁷ tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”

[9:10]  ⁸ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of an imperfect tense. In the apodosis of this conditional sentence, the permission nuance fits well.