Numbers 15:2

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land that I am giving you as a home

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God speaks to Moses, who is to address the Israelites immediately after the initial divine address in Numbers 15:1. This instruction occurs at the start of a new section on offerings.

The words — The Hebrew דַּבֵּר (da.Ber) and תָּבֹאוּ (ta.Vo.'u) command "speak" and "you will go/enter," framing the directive as a future action tied to arrival. The phrase אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ('el-benei Yisra'el) specifies the audience as the people of Israel.

The thread — This opening structure appears in Leviticus 23:10, Numbers 15:18, and Leviticus 25:2, though the phrasing varies slightly between "giving you" and "bringing you." Each passage uses the formula to introduce instructions contingent on entering the promised territory.

Why it lands — The text commands Moses to relay a future directive to Israel regarding land entry. Readers must recognize the conditional structure that ties subsequent instructions to the nation's arrival in the territory.

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

דַּבֵּר֙da.Berspeak אֶל־'el-to בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ve./'a.mar.Taand/ you will say אֲלֵהֶ֑ם'a.le./Hemto/ them כִּ֣יkithat תָבֹ֗אוּta.Vo.'uyou will go אֶל־'el-into אֶ֙רֶץ֙'e.retz[the] land of מוֹשְׁבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םmo.she.Vo.tei./Khemdwelling places/ your אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhich אֲנִ֖י'a.NiI נֹתֵ֥ןno.Ten[am] about to giveלָכֶֽם׃la./Khemto <the>/ you

King James Version

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

Cross-references

Leviticus 23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest.
Numbers 15:18 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land to which I am bringing you
Leviticus 25:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
Leviticus 14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew into a house in that land,
Deuteronomy 7:1 When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
Deuteronomy 12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.
Deuteronomy 12:9 For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.