Numbers 5:3

Summary

Numbers 5:3 extends the instruction to expel from the camp: it applies without distinction of sex ("from male to female"), and states the underlying reason — the camp(s) must not become unclean because God himself is described as dwelling among the people.

Key words

• mizzakhar ("from male", H2145) — combined with nekevah ("female", H5347) forms a merism (a "from X to Y" construction) expressing totality: every person, regardless of sex, is included in the expulsion.
• teshallechu ("you will send away", H7971G) — piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; the piel stem gives the verb an intensive/causative force ("send away decisively"), and the verb is repeated twice in the verse (words 5 and 11), the second time with the object suffix -m ("them") attached.
• yetamme'u ("they will make unclean", H2930A) — piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural; again the piel intensifies the action, here in a negative clause ("they shall not defile").
• shokhen ("dwelling", H7931) — qal participle, masculine singular; participles describe an ongoing state rather than a single event, so the dwelling is presented as continuous, not a one-time act.
• betokham ("in their midst", H8432 + suffix) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, specifying location "in the midst of them."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the merism mizzakhar 'ad-nekevah ("from male unto female"), placed before the verb teshallechu for emphasis — the totality of persons affected is stated before the action itself. The verb "send away" (shalach, H7971) appears twice in piel imperfect form: first without a direct object (word 5), then repeated with the pronominal suffix -m ("them," word 11) after the phrase "outside the camp." This repetition is a feature of Hebrew style that reinforces the command; the second occurrence also directly attaches the object.

The clause introduced by ve-lo' ("and not") gives the rationale: yetamme'u ("they will make unclean") governs mach'aneihem ("their camp[s]," built from machaneh, H4264, with a 3rd person plural suffix). The final clause, introduced by the relative 'asher ("which/who"), contains a participial construction: 'ani shokhen betokham — literally "I [am] dwelling in their midst." The use of the participle shoken rather than a finite verb presents this dwelling as a continuous, ongoing condition rather than a completed or future event.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders machaneihem with the plural noun paremvolas ("camps"), matching the plural form found in the Hebrew word list, while the Vulgate simplifies this to the pronoun "ea" ("them"), dropping the noun "camp" from the second clause entirely. The Vulgate also collapses the doubled Hebrew verb teshallechu...teshallechum into a single imperative "eicite" ("cast out"), where the Hebrew and LXX (exaposteilate) each preserve one instance of the sending verb tied to the two prepositional phrases. Modern translations such as BSB and RV1909 render the camp noun in the singular ("their camp" / "el campo"), differing from the plural construct form listed in the Hebrew data.