Numbers 15:16
in Numbers 15The same law and the same ordinance will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing with you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
KJV
One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
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This verse in Numbers 15
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis 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
The same law and the same ordinance
The verse restates verse 15 in two terms, one law for worship and one ordinance for judgment, so the foreigner stands under both. Verse 26 forgives him with Israel. Verse 29 repeats the same law for sins done in error, so he shares the atonement as he shares the offering.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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 law, and one manner,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תּוֹרָ֥ה | torah | a law | H8451 → | 219 times |
| אַחַ֛ת | ʾachat | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וּמִשְׁפָּ֥ט | umishpat | and judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אֶחָ֖ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֑ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| וְלַגֵּ֖ר | velager | and to the sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| הַגָּ֥ר | hagar | who sojourns | H1481 → | 97 times |
| אִתְּכֶֽם׃ פ | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
תּוֹרָ֥הa law
torahH8451 →219 times
אַחַ֛תone
ʾachatH259 →971 times
וּמִשְׁפָּ֥טand judgment
umishpatH4941 →422 times
אֶחָ֖דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will belong
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֑םto you
lakhem
וְלַגֵּ֖רand to the sojourner
velagerH1616 →92 times
הַגָּ֥רwho sojourns
hagarH1481 →97 times
אִתְּכֶֽם׃ פwith you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.