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.’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses issues this directive to the Israelite assembly immediately after warning of exclusion for those who neglect the Passover and before recording the tabernacle cloud's manifestation.

The words — The text uses גֵּר (Ger, “sojourner”) and חֻקָּה (chu.Kah, “statute”) to define the participant and the governing rule. A גֵּר dwelling among the people must keep the פֶּסַח (Pesach, “Passover”) to Yahweh precisely according to the prescribed חֻקָּה.

The thread — This regulation parallels Exodus 12:48 on foreign Passover participation and Leviticus 24:22’s identical legal standard for resident and native. Isaiah 56:3 later addresses the same concern regarding foreign inclusion in the community.

Why it lands — The text commands identical Passover observance for foreign residents and native Israelites without exception. It requires the reader to enforce uniform ritual standards across ethnic lines rather than granting separate accommodations.

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

וְכִֽי־ve./khi-and/ if יָג֨וּרya.Gurhe will sojourn אִתְּכֶ֜ם'i.te./Khemwith/ you גֵּ֗רGera sojourner וְעָ֤שָֽׂהve./'A.sahand/ he will observe פֶ֙סַח֙fe.sacha passover לַֽיהוָ֔הla./Yah.wehto/ Yahweh כְּחֻקַּ֥תke./chu.Kataccording to/ [the] statute of הַפֶּ֛סַחha./Pe.sachthe/ passover וּכְמִשְׁפָּט֖וֹu./khe./mish.pa.T/oand/ according to/ judgment/ its כֵּ֣ןkenso יַעֲשֶׂ֑הya.'a.Sehhe will do חֻקָּ֤הchu.Kaha statute אַחַת֙'a.Chatone יִהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehit will belongלָכֶ֔םla./Khemto/ youוְלַגֵּ֖רve./la./Gerand/ to the/ sojourner וּלְאֶזְרַ֥חu./le./'ez.Rachand/ to/ [the] native-born of הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פha./'A.retzthe/ land

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

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.
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.’”
Isaiah 56:3 Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
Ephesians 2:19 Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
Leviticus 19:10 You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 22:25 Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”
Leviticus 25:15 You are to buy from your neighbor according to the number of years since the last Jubilee; he is to sell to you according to the number of harvest years remaining.
Deuteronomy 29:11 your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—
Deuteronomy 31:12 Assemble 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.