Numbers 15:15-16

15:15 One statute must apply ¹  to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent ²  statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike ³  before the Lord. 15:16 One law and one custom must apply to you and to the resident foreigner who lives alongside you.’”

Numbers 15:26

15:26 And the whole community ⁴  of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.

Numbers 15:29

15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Numbers 9:14

9:14 If a resident foreigner lives ⁵  among you and wants to keep ⁶  the Passover to the Lord, he must do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its custom. You must have ⁷  the same ⁸  statute for the resident foreigner ⁹  and for the one who was born in the land.’”

Numbers 15:14

15:14 If a resident foreigner is living ¹⁰  with you – or whoever is among you ¹¹  in future generations ¹²  – and prepares an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he must do it the same way you are to do it. ¹³ 

Numbers 15:30

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ¹⁴  who acts defiantly, ¹⁵  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ¹⁶  the Lord. ¹⁷  That person ¹⁸  must be cut off ¹⁹  from among his people.

Numbers 19:10

19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Numbers 35:15

35:15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.

¹ tn The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.

² tn Or “a statute forever.”

³ tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”

⁴ tn Again, rather than translate literally “and it shall be forgiven [to] them” (all the community), one could say, “they (all the community) will be forgiven.” The meaning is the same.

⁷ tn The words translated “resident foreigner” and “live” are from the same Hebrew root, גּוּר (gur), traditionally translated “to sojourn.” The “sojourner” who “sojourns” is a foreigner, a resident alien, who lives in the land as a temporary resident with rights of land ownership.

⁸ tn The verb is the simple perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. It is therefore the equivalent to the imperfect that comes before it. The desiderative imperfect fits this usage well, since the alien is not required to keep the feast, but may indeed desire to do so.

⁹ tn The Hebrew text has “there will be to you,” which is the way of expressing possession in Hebrew. Since this is legal instruction, the imperfect tense must be instruction or legislation.

¹⁰ tn Or “you must have one statute.”

¹¹ tn The conjunction is used here to specify the application of the law: “and for the resident foreigner, and for the one…” indicates “both for the resident foreigner and the one who….”

¹⁰ tn The word גּוּר (gur) was traditionally translated “to sojourn,” i.e., to live temporarily in a land. Here the two words are from the root: “if a sojourner sojourns.”

¹¹ tn Heb “in your midst.”

¹² tn The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.

¹³ tn The imperfect tenses must reflect the responsibility to comply with the law, and so the classifications of instruction or obligation may be applied.

¹³ tn Heb “soul.”

¹⁴ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

¹⁵ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

¹⁶ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

¹⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

¹⁸ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.