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Numbers 31:20

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 31:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “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.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

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.
Numbers 31:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 31

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18But all the women-children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.
20And 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.
21And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:
22howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.
← Numbers 31:19Numbers 31:21 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And purify all your raiment, etc.] By washing them; and this may intend not so much their own wearing apparel, as the raiment they took off of the dead bodies of the Midianites, since the person that touched a dead body was not obliged to wash his clothes, but the clean person that sprinkled the water of purification on him, (<041919>Numbers 19:19,21), some render the words, “purify yourselves” f456, “together with the raiment”, etc. which seems to be the best version of them: and all that is made of skins; of any sort of creatures, as the covering of tents, shoes, bottles, etc. (see <031132>Leviticus 11:32) and all work of goats’ hair; such as the covering of tents was also made of: and…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Your raiment - Namely, your spoil and prey. All work - All which had contracted some ceremonial uncleanness either from the dead bodies which wore them, or the tents or houses where they were, in which such dead bodies lay, or from the touch of the Israelitish soldiers, who were legally defiled by the slaughters they made. Numbers 31:27”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“raiment: Num 19:14-16, Num 19:22; Gen 35:2; Exo 19:10 that is made: Heb. instrument, or, vessel Numbers 31:21”
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Related study paths

Read Numbers 31 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification