Numbers 9:14
in Numbers 9If 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.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Numbers 9
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But circumcision was an indispensable condition; and whoever did not submit to that rite, was prohibited, under the sternest penalties, from eating the passover.
This site's exposition
But if a man who is ceremonially clean
on Numbers 9:13-14
The foreigner may keep it under “the same statute”, and Exodus 12:48 sets circumcision as the condition, which Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold indispensable. Matthew Henry reads the one statute forward to Acts 10 and the household of Cornelius.
This site's exposition
the same statute to both the foreigner and the native
John Wesley takes the foreigner here as a proselyte, a man who had joined himself to Israel's God. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that such a man carried the same liability as a native Israelite, so neglecting the feast cut him off too. One statute bound both.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
As then there was one law, so in the days of the Messiah there should be one gospel, for the stranger and for him that was born in the land; for in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him, and this was a truth before Peter perceived it, Acts x.
And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord,....
How the passage was read
On Numbers 9:1-14On Numbers 9:1-14
The make-up Passover
This passage creates something rare in the Law: a second chance at a feast. Anyone unclean or far away at Passover could keep it exactly one month later, on the 14th of the second month. Jewish tradition calls it Pesach Sheni, “Second Passover,” and it is still marked lightly today (some eat a piece of matzah on the day). Israel's kings used the provision at national scale: Hezekiah's great Passover was held in the second month on exactly this ground (2 Chronicles 30).
What the Jewish commentators add
The purpose of this is to command the stranger to bring this Passover-offering in the wilderness just as He commanded the Israelites. It is possible that when He said in Seder ‘Bo El Par’oh’ ( Go in unto Pharaoh ), 90 Exodus:1.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Now He resumes the telling of the journey [through the wilderness] and the commandments which they were commanded about it, such as the trumpets, which Moses was now commanded were to be for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to set forward. 94 Further,:2.
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.
Sources: Mishnah Pesachim 9:1 (who keeps the Second Passover) · 2 Chronicles 30 (the provision used nationally)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִֽי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָג֨וּר | yagur | he will sojourn | H1481 → | 97 times |
| אִתְּכֶ֜ם | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| גֵּ֗ר | ger | a sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| וְעָ֤שָֽׂה | veasah | and he will observe | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פֶ֙סַח֙ | fesach | a passover | H6453 → | 49 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֔ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּחֻקַּ֥ת | kechukat | according to [the] statute of | H2708 → | 104 times |
| הַפֶּ֛סַח | hapesach | the passover | H6453 → | 49 times |
| וּכְמִשְׁפָּט֖וֹ | ukhemishpato | and according to judgment its | H4941 → | 422 times |
| כֵּ֣ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֑ה | yaaseh | he will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| חֻקָּ֤ה | chukah | a statute | H2708 → | 104 times |
| אַחַת֙ | ʾachat | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| וְלַגֵּ֖ר | velager | and to the sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| וּלְאֶזְרַ֥ח | uleezrach | and to [the] native-born of | H249 → | 17 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
וְכִֽי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
יָג֨וּרhe will sojourn
yagurH1481 →97 times
אִתְּכֶ֜םwith you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
גֵּ֗רa sojourner
gerH1616 →92 times
וְעָ֤שָֽׂהand he will observe
veasahH6213 →2628 times
פֶ֙סַח֙a passover
fesachH6453 →49 times
לַֽיהוָ֔הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּחֻקַּ֥תaccording to [the] statute of
kechukatH2708 →104 times
הַפֶּ֛סַחthe passover
hapesachH6453 →49 times
וּכְמִשְׁפָּט֖וֹand according to judgment its
ukhemishpatoH4941 →422 times
כֵּ֣ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֑הhe will do
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
חֻקָּ֤הa statute
chukahH2708 →104 times
אַחַת֙one
ʾachatH259 →971 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will belong
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֔םto you
lakhem
וְלַגֵּ֖רand to the sojourner
velagerH1616 →92 times
וּלְאֶזְרַ֥חand to [the] native-born of
uleezrachH249 →17 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Deuteronomy 31:12Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:10
The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all…
- Deuteronomy 6:6–7
These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
- Psalms 19:7–11
The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
- Deuteronomy 4:10
Through
Leviticus 24:22You are to have the same standard of law for the foreign resident and the native; for I am the LORD your God.’”
it leads to
- Exodus 12:49
The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.”
- 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…
- Numbers 15:29
You 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.
- Leviticus 19:34
You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 17:10
If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
- Exodus 12:49
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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.