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Numbers 15:15

in Numbers 15

The assembly is to have the same statute both for you and for the foreign resident; it is a permanent statute for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout your generations: as ye are, so shall the sojourner be before Jehovah.

KJV

One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.

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This verse in Numbers 15

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

This was an invitation to the Gentiles to become proselytes, and to embrace the faith and worship of the true God. In civil things there was a difference between strangers and true-born Israelites, but not in the things of God; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord, for with him there is no respect of persons.

This site's exposition

Everyone who is native-born shall prepare these things

on Numbers 15:13-16

One ordinance covers the homeborn and the stranger, and four verses say it three times over. Exodus 12:49 had given one law to both for the passover, and here the same rule reaches every offering made by fire.

This site's exposition

You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD.

The phrase permanent statute is the one Leviticus 16:29 uses for the Day of Atonement, where the foreign resident also keeps the day. Here it governs every offering made by fire. The rule was meant to outlast the wilderness.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Concerning dough for heave-offerings, ver. 17-21. Sacrifices for sins of ignorance, ver. 22-29. Concerning presumptuous sinners, ver. 30,

quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-22/30-anchored-1-16

One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

ככם כגר means, AS YOU ARE SO IS THE STRANGER (“you and the stranger shall be alike”). Thus (the use of the prefix כ with each of two things or persons stated to be exactly alike) is the Hebrew idiom to express complete similarity.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Numbers 15:15:1, via Sefaria, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • הַקָּהָ֕לthe assembly

    hakahalH6951 →123 times

  • חֻקָּ֥הa statute

    chukahH2708 →104 times

  • אַחַ֛תone

    ʾachatH259 →971 times

  • לָכֶ֖ם[will belong] to you

    lakhem

  • וְלַגֵּ֣רand to the sojourner

    velagerH1616 →92 times

  • הַגָּ֑רwho sojourns

    hagarH1481 →97 times

  • חֻקַּ֤תa statute of

    chukatH2708 →104 times

  • עוֹלָם֙perpetuity

    olamH5769 →438 times

  • לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םto generations your

    ledoroteikhemH1755 →167 times

  • כָּכֶ֛םas <the> you

    kakhem

  • כַּגֵּ֥רas the sojourner

    kagerH1616 →92 times

  • יִהְיֶ֖הit will be

    yihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 9:14If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’”6 worksNumbers 15:29You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.6 worksExodus 12:49The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.”5 worksExodus 12:24And you are to keep this command as a permanent statute for you and your descendants.2 worksGalatians 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.2 works1 Samuel 30:25And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute as an ordinance for Israel to this very day.2 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 12:14And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.2 worksLeviticus 24:22You are to have the same standard of law for the foreign resident and the native; for I am the LORD your God.’”2 worksNumbers 10:8The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come.2 worksEphesians 2:11–22Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—2 worksExodus 12:43And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it.2 worksEzekiel 14:7For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.2 worksColossians 3:11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.1 worksNumbers 18:8Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Galatians 3:28

    There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

    it leads to

    • Romans 3:29–30

      Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Corinthians 12:12–13

      The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.

    • Colossians 3:11

      Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

    • Galatians 5:6

      For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

    • Romans 10:12–15

      For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,

  • Through

    Exodus 12:49

    The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 9:14

      If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Leviticus 24:22

      You are to have the same standard of law for the foreign resident and the native; for I am the LORD your God.’”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Numbers 15:15–16

      The assembly is to have the same statute both for you and for the foreign resident; it is a permanent statute for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same…

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 15 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 15 →