Numbers 9:14

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) And if a stranger . . . —The law respecting the stranger is contained in Exodus 12:48-49.

Benson Commentary

Numbers 9:14-15. A stranger — Who is a proselyte. Namely, the tent of the testimony — Or, the tabernacle above the tent of the testimony; that is, that part of the tabernacle in which was the testimony, or the ark of the testimony; for there the cloudy pillar stood. This was an evident token of God’s special presence with, and providence over them. And this cloud was easily distinguished from other clouds, both by its peculiar figure, and by its constant residence in that place. Fire — That they might better discern it, and direct themselves and their journeys or stations by it. Had it been a cloud only, it had scarce been visible by night: and had it been a fire only, it would have scarce been discernible by day. But God was pleased to give them sensible demonstrations that he kept them night and day.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-14 God gave particular orders for the keeping of this passover, and, for aught that appears, after this, they kept no passover till they came to Canaan, Jos 5:10. It early showed that the ceremonial institutions were not to continue always, as so soon after they were appointed, some were suffered to sleep for many years. But the ordinance of the Lord's Supper was not thus set aside in the first days of the Christian church, although those were days of greater difficulty and distress than Israel knew in the wilderness; nay, in the times of persecution, the Lord's Supper was celebrated more frequently than afterward. Israelites in the wilderness could not forget the deliverance out of Egypt. There was danger of this when they came to Canaan. Instructions were given concerning those who were ceremonially unclean, when they were to eat the passover. Those whose minds and consciences are defiled by sin, are unfit for communion with God, and cannot partake with comfort of the gospel passover, till they are cleansed by true repentance and faith. Observe with what trouble and concern these men complained that they were kept back from offering to the Lord. It should be a trouble to us, when by any occasion we are kept back from the solemnities of a sabbath or a sacrament. Observe the deliberation of Moses in resolving this case. Ministers must ask counsel of God's mouth, not determine according to their own fancy or affection, but according to the word of God to the best of their knowledge. And if, in difficult cases, time is taken to spread the matter before God by humble, believing prayer, the Holy Spirit assuredly will direct in the good and right way. God gave directions in this case, and in other similar cases, explanatory of the law of the passover. As those who, against their minds, are forced to absent themselves from God's ordinances, may expect the favours of God's grace under their affliction, so those who, of choice, absent themselves, may expect God's wrath for their sin. Be not deceived: God is not mocked.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

According to all the ordinances - i. e. those relating to the Passover lamb, not those concerning the feast, for the Little Passover lasted, according to the Jews, only one day; nor was it held to be needful that at it leaven should be put away out of the houses.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover—Gentile converts, or proselytes, as they were afterwards called, were admitted, if circumcised, to the same privileges as native Israelites, and were liable to excommunication if they neglected the passover. But circumcision was an indispensable condition; and whoever did not submit to that rite, was prohibited, under the sternest penalties, from eating the passover.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A stranger, to wit, a proselyte.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord,.... Then he must become a proselyte of righteousness, and be circumcised, or otherwise be might not eat of the passover, Exodus 12:48; Ben Gersom interprets this of the second passover, and of a proselyte that was not obliged to the first, he not being then a proselyte, but became one between the first and the second; and so Aben Ezra understands it of a second passover, though he observes, that some say the first is meant:

according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do; according to the several rites and ceremonies, whether of the first or second passover, that an Israelite was obliged to observe, the same a proselyte was to observe, and what they were has been already taken notice of:

ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land: for a proselyte, and a native of Israel; see Exodus 12:49.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. a stranger] a sojourner. The Heb. gêr has no exact equivalent in English. He was one who was not an Israelite but who, permanently or for a considerable period, put himself under Israelite protection and became a member of the community. He was sharply distinguished from a foreigner, who was making only a temporary stay in the country (tôshâbh, see Numbers 35:15). The latter was forbidden to eat the Passover (Exodus 12:45).

him that is born in the land] Heb. ’ezrâḥ, a native of the land, i.e. a full-blooded Israelite. R.V. sometimes ‘home-born,’ e.g. Numbers 15:13; Numbers 15:30.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - Ye shall have one ordinance. This is repeated from Exodus 12:49 as a further warning not to tamper more than absolute necessity required with the unity, either in time or in circumstance, of the great national rite.

CHAPTER 9:15-23 THE SIGNALS OF GOD (verses 15-23). Numbers 9:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Jehovah gave these general instructions: "Every one who is defiled by a corpse or upon a distant

(Note: The רחקה is marked as suspicious by puncta extraordinaria, probably first of all simply on the ground that the more exact definition is not found in Numbers 9:13. The Rabbins suppose the marks to indicate that rechokah is not to be taken here in its literal sense, but denotes merely distance from Jerusalem, or from the threshold of the outer court of the temple. See Mishnah Pesach ix. 2, with the commentaries of Bartenora and Maimonides, and the conjectures of the Pesikta on the ten passages in the Pentateuch with punctis extraordinariis, in Drusii notae uberiores ad h. v.)

journey, of you and your future families, shall keep the Passover in the second month on the fourteenth, between the two evenings," and that in all respects according to the statute of this feast, the three leading points of which - viz., eating the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, leaving nothing till the next day, and not breaking a bone (Exodus 12:8, Exodus 12:10, Exodus 12:46), - are repeated here. But lest any one should pervert this permission, to celebrate the Passover a month later in case of insuperable difficulties, which had only been given for the purpose of enforcing the obligation to keep the covenant meal upon every member of the nation, into an excuse for postponing it without any necessity and merely from indifference, on the ground that he could make it up afterwards, the threat is held out in Numbers 9:13, that whoever should omit to keep the feast at the legal time, if he was neither unclean nor upon a journey, should be cut off; and in Numbers 9:14 the command is repeated with reference to foreigners, that they were also to keep the law and ordinance with the greatest minuteness when they observed the Passover: cf. Exodus 12:48-49, according to which the stranger was required first of all to let himself be circumcised. In Numbers 9:14, יהיה stands for תּהיה, as in Exodus 12:49; cf. Ewald, 295, d. ו...ו et...et, both...and.