Numbers 31:20
in Numbers 31And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood, ye shall purify yourselves.
KJV
And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A process of purification was to be undergone, as the law required (Le 15:13; Nu 19:9-12), and this purifying ceremony was extended to dress, houses, tents, to everything on which a dead body had lain, which had been touched by the blood-stained hands of the Israelitish warriors, or which had been the property of idolaters.
This site's exposition
abide without the camp seven days
on Numbers 31:19-25
Winning the battle exempts no one from the law of the dead. Every man who killed or touched a body waits outside seven days and is purified on the third day and the seventh with the water of separation, which is the red heifer ordinance of chapter 19 put to work. Eleazar rather than Moses states the law here, and he adds a rule chapter 19 did not give, that metal able to bear fire goes through fire and what cannot bear it goes through water. The captives are purified along with the soldiers.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And purify all your raiment,....
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֶּ֧גֶד | beged | garment | H899 → | 217 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כְּלִי־ | keli- | article of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| ע֛וֹר | or | hide | H5785 → | 99 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה | maaseh | product of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| עִזִּ֖ים | ʾizim | goat hair<s> | H5795 → | 74 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כְּלִי־ | keli- | article of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| עֵ֑ץ | ʾetz | wood | H6086 → | 328 times |
| תִּתְחַטָּֽאוּ׃ ס | titchatau | you will purify yourselves | H2398 → | 238 times |
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
בֶּ֧גֶדgarment
begedH899 →217 times
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
כְּלִי־article of
keli-H3627 →325 times
ע֛וֹרhide
orH5785 →99 times
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֥הproduct of
maasehH4639 →236 times
עִזִּ֖יםgoat hair<s>
ʾizimH5795 →74 times
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
כְּלִי־article of
keli-H3627 →325 times
עֵ֑ץwood
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
תִּתְחַטָּֽאוּ׃ סyou will purify yourselves
titchatauH2398 →238 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 19:10Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
it leads to
- Leviticus 15:5
Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Leviticus 11:44–45
For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
- Genesis 35:2
So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
- Leviticus 11:25
and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.
- Leviticus 15:5
Through
Genesis 35:2So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:14
When Moses came down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.
- Exodus 19:10
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
- Ezekiel 18:31
Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Exodus 19:14
About Numbers

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.
