9:6 It happened that some men 4 who were ceremonially defiled 5 by the dead body of a man 6 could not keep 7 the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.
29:12 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you are to have a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work, and you must keep a festival to the Lord for seven days.
1 tn The literal Hebrew expression is “between the evenings” (so also in vv. 5, 11). Sunset is certainly one evening; the other may refer to the change in the middle of the afternoon to the late afternoon, or the beginning of dusk. The idea is probably just at twilight, or dusk (see R. B. Allen, TWOT 2:694).
2 tn The two verbs in this verse are identical; they are imperfects of instruction. The English translation has been modified for stylistic variation.
3 tn The two words in this last section are standard “Torah” words. The word חֹק (khoq) is a binding statute, something engraved and monumental. The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) means “judgment, decision,” but with a more general idea of “custom” at its core. The verse is making it very clear that the Passover had to follow the custom and form that was legislated in Egypt.
4 tn In the Hebrew text the noun has no definite article, and so it signifies “some” or “certain” men.
5 tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.
6 tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.
7 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.