Leviticus 19:23
in Leviticus 19When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten.
KJV
And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Fruit ... uncircumcised - i. e. unfit for presentation to Yahweh. In regard to its spiritual lesson, this law may be compared with the dedication of the first-born of beasts to Yahweh Exo 13:12; Exo 34:19. Its meaning in a moral point of view was plain, and tended to illustrate the spirit of the whole Law.
This site's exposition
When you enter the land
on Leviticus 19:23-25
A planted tree's fruit is "forbidden" for three years. The Hebrew behind that word is uncircumcised, used of men and of the lips of Moses at Exodus 6:12. The Torah uses it of a tree only here.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Fruitbearing trees are works that bring forth virtues. We circumcise trees when we are suspicious of how weak our first efforts are and do not approve of the first fruits of our work. We call the fruit that grows unclean and do not take it …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
PateriusEXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, LEVITICUS 14 · Written before 606.
proposed
Fruitbearing trees are works that bring forth virtues. We circumcise trees when we are suspicious of how weak our first efforts are and do not approve of the first fruits of our work. We call the fruit that grows unclean and do not take it …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And when ye shall come into the land,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The very expression, 'to regard them as uncircumcised,' suggests the propriety of pinching them off; I do not say cutting them off, because it is generally the hand, and not a knife, that is employed in this operation" [MICHAELIS].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Three years shall it be as uncircumcised - I see no great reason to seek for mystical meanings in this prohibition. The fruit of a young tree cannot be good; for not having arrived at a state of maturity, the juices cannot be sufficiently elaborated to produce fruit excellent in its kind. The Israelites are commanded not to eat of the fruit of a tree till the fifth year after its planting: in the three first years the fruit is unwholesome; in the fourth year the fruit is holy, it belongs to God, and should be consecrated to him, Lev 19:24; and in the fifth year and afterward the fruit may be employed for common use, Lev 19:25.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תָבֹ֣אוּ | tavou | you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאָ֗רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ | uneta'tem | and you will plant | H5193 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵ֣ץ | ʾetz | tree of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| מַאֲכָ֔ל | maakhal | food | H3978 → | |
| וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם | vaaraltem | and you will regard as uncircumcised | H6188 → | |
| עָרְלָת֖וֹ | arelato | foreskin its | H6190 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פִּרְי֑וֹ | piryo | fruit its | H6529 → | 119 times |
| שָׁלֹ֣שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| שָׁנִ֗ים | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֛ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| עֲרֵלִ֖ים | ʾarelim | uncircumcised | H6189 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵאָכֵֽל׃ | yeakhel | it will be eaten | H398 → | 810 times |
וְכִי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
תָבֹ֣אוּyou will go
tavouH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָאָ֗רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙and you will plant
uneta'temH5193 →
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֵ֣ץtree of
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
מַאֲכָ֔לfood
maakhalH3978 →
וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥םand you will regard as uncircumcised
vaaraltemH6188 →
עָרְלָת֖וֹforeskin its
arelatoH6190 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פִּרְי֑וֹfruit its
piryoH6529 →119 times
שָׁלֹ֣שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
שָׁנִ֗יםyears
shanimH8141 →877 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֛םto <the> you
lakhem
עֲרֵלִ֖יםuncircumcised
ʾarelimH6189 →
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵאָכֵֽל׃it will be eaten
yeakhelH398 →810 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
Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…
- Leviticus 26:41
and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Through
Leviticus 12:3And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.
it leads to
- Luke 2:21
When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
- Luke 1:59
On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.
- John 7:22–23
But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.)
- Luke 2:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies24
- Gleaning and the corner of the field
- Overcome Evil with Good
- Be Holy, Because I Am Holy
- Hospitality in Israel and the Early Church
- The Words Philoxenia and Ger
- How Scripture Shapes Christian Ethics
Show the next 6 titles
About Leviticus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Pacian of Barcelona, Commentary (church-history corpus) and Paterius, EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, LEVITICUS 14.
