Bible Strands
Exodus 12:48
If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses issues this directive to the Israelite assembly immediately after prescribing the Passover lamb's selection and slaughter, defining household eligibility for the upcoming meal.
The words — The passage centers on גֵּר (ger), denoting a resident foreigner or sojourner, and הִמּוֹל (himmol), the causative form meaning to circumcise.
The thread — The identical requirement for resident foreigners appears in Numbers 9:14 and Numbers 15:15, while Colossians 3:11 later references the erasure of the native-foreigner ritual distinction.
Why it lands — The text requires any outsider wishing to eat the Passover to submit to household circumcision, establishing that ritual participation demands the same physical consecration for native and resident alike.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
Cross-references
- 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 to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’”
- 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.
- Numbers 15:15 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.
- Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Exodus 12:19 For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation of Israel.
- Exodus 12:43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it.
- Ezekiel 47:22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who dwell among you and who have children. You are to treat them as native-born Israelites; along with you, they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
- Genesis 17:12 Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.
- Ezekiel 44:9 This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.