Passage

Numbers 9.12

Book: Numbers · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

10. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be on a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto Jehovah. 11. In the second month on the fourteenth day at even they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs:

12. they shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break a bone thereof: according to all the statute of the passover they shall keep it.

But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people; because he offered not the oblation of Jehovah in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto Jehovah; according to the statute of the passover, and according to the ordinance thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one statute, both for the sojourner, and for him that is born in the land. (Numbers 9:10-14, ASV)

WEB

10. “Say to the children of Israel, ‘If any man of you or of your generations is unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to Yahweh. 11. In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it.

But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn’t offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14. “‘If a foreigner lives among you, and desires to keep the Passover to Yahweh; according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner, and for him who is born in the land.’” (Numbers 9:10-14, WEB)

KJV

10. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD. 11. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land. (Numbers 9:10-14, KJV)

YLT

10. 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Though any man is unclean by a body or in a distant journey (of you or of your generations), yet he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah; 11. in the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the evenings they prepare it; with unleavened and bitter things they eat it;

12. they do not leave of till morning; and a bone they do not break in it: according to all the statute of the passover they prepare it.

'And the man who is clean, and hath not been on a journey, and hath ceased to prepare the passover, even that person hath been cut off from his people; because the offering of Jehovah he hath not brought near, in its appointed season, that man doth bear his sin. 14. 'And when a sojourner sojourneth with you, then he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah, according to the statute of the passover, and according to its ordinance, so he doth; one statute is to you, even to a sojourner, and to a native of the land.' (Numbers 9:10-14, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

Speaker: Yahweh, speaking to Moses (Numbers 9:9-10).
Audience: Israelites unclean through a dead body or away on a journey, who keep the Passover a month late (Numbers 9:10-11).
Location: The wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 9:1).
Time period: The instruction is given in the first month of the second year (Numbers 9:1) and governs a Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month (Numbers 9:11); traditionally dated to the 15th or 13th century BC, depending on the Exodus chronology.

Theological reading

The late Passover keeps the same statute. Yahweh provides a second date for those who could not keep the feast, but not a lighter rite: "they shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break a bone thereof" (Numbers 9:12, ASV), repeating Exodus 12:46. The provision is gracious and the standard unchanged, and the one who simply refuses to keep the feast is cut off (Numbers 9:13).

John applies the bone rule to the cross. Explaining why the soldiers did not break Jesus' legs, John writes, "A bone of him shall not be broken" (John 19:36, ASV). The words also echo Psalm 34:20, "Not one of them is broken" (Psalm 34:20, ASV). Which text John has chiefly in view is discussed; many readers hold that both stand behind it, presenting Jesus as the Passover lamb and as the righteous sufferer.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

Quoted in

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.