Exodus 12:48

Exo 12:48 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.

Ver. 48. No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.] The Chaldee hath it, No profane person. So God saith, "No stranger uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary." {Eze 44:9}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 48. And when a stranger - will keep the passover, &c.] Let all who sojourn among you, and who desire to partake of this sacred ordinance, not only be circumcised themselves, but all the males of their families likewise, that they may all have an equal right to the blessings of the covenant.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

48. The ‘stranger,’ or, better, sojourner, Heb. gêr, i.e. the protected foreigner, if he is circumcised, may keep the Passover. The gêr was like the Arab jâr, i.e. ‘a man of another tribe or district, who coming to sojourn in a place where he was not strengthened by the presence of his own kin, put himself under the protection of a clan or of a powerful chief’ (W.R. Smith, Relig. of the Semites, p. 75 f.; cf. his Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, pp. 41–43). ‘Stranger’ is the conventional rendering of gêr; but it is inadequate: a better word would be sojourner, which would also preserve the connexion with the corresponding verb in such passages as v. 49, Gen_12:10; Gen_19:9; Gen_47:4. In the legislation of JE and Deut. the gêr has no legal status in Israel, and is represented as liable to oppression (Exo_22:21; Exo_23:9, Deu_Exo_1:16, &c.): in P (cf. Eze_47:22) he is placed on practically the same footing as the native Israelite, he enjoys the same rights (Num_35:15 ‘for the sojourner and for the settler’ [above, on v. 45]; Lev_19:34 ‘thou shalt love him as thyself’), and is bound by the same laws (ch. Exo_12:19, Lev_16:29; Lev_17:8; Lev_17:10; Lev_17:12-13; Lev_17:15; Lev_18:26; Lev_20:2; Lev_22:18; Lev_24:16); the principle, ‘One law shall there be for the homeborn and for the gêr,’ is repeatedly affirmed (ch. Exo_12:49, Lev_24:22, Num_9:14; Num_15:15-16; Num_15:29). Indeed, in P the term is already on the way to assume the later technical sense of ‘proselyte,’ the foreigner who, being circumcised and observing the law generally, is in full religious communion with Israel.

come near] to take part in the sacred rite. So often in P, as Exo_40:32, Lev_9:5; Lev_9:7-8 (EVV. ‘draw near’), Exo_21:17 f. (‘approach’), Num_16:40.

one that is born in] lit. a native of; the word, when standing alone, is rendered homeborn (v. 49). It denotes the native Israelite, as distinct, especially, from the gêr, or foreigner settled in Israel; cf. v. 19, Lev_16:29; Lev_17:15; Lev_18:26; Lev_19:34; Lev_23:42; Lev_24:16; Lev_24:22, Num_9:14; Num_15:13; Num_15:29-30.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dwell, or become a proselyte, by circumcision, if a male; or by baptism, if a female; receiving a sort of new-birth, John iii. 10. The Jews would not suffer any to dwell among them, who would not observe the seven precepts given to Noe, Genesis ix. But the proselytes of justice embraced the Jewish religion. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Vers. 48, 49. And when a stranger, etc. Here we have the positive ordinance corresponding to the implied permission in ver. 19, and modifying in the most important and striking way the prohibitive enactment of ver. 43. The "stranger," even if he only "sojourned" in the land, was to be put on exactly the same spiritual footing as the Israelite ("One law shall be," etc.) if only he and his would be circumcised, and so enter into covenant,

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No stranger that was uncircumcised might eat of it. Neither may any now approach the Lord's supper who have not first submitted to baptism; nor shall any partake of the benefit of Christ's sacrifice, who are not first circumcised in heart. Any stranger that was circumcised might eat of the passover, even servants. Here is an indication of favour to the poor Gentiles, that the stranger, if circumcised, stands upon the same level with the home-born Israelite; one law for both. This was a mortification to the Jews, and taught them that it was their dedication to God, not their descent from Abraham, that entitled them to their privileges.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

ועשה פסח AND HE WILL KEEP THE PASSOVER (the words may mean, then he shall keep the Passover) — One might think that this verse implies that any-one who becomes a proselyte (גר) must keep the Passover-offering rite immediately after his circumcision (even though this has not taken place just before Passover), therefore Scripture states והיה כאזרח הארץ “but he shall be as a native of the land”. How is it in the case of a native? He brings the offering on the fourteenth! So, too, a proselyte must bring it only on the fourteenth (Mekhilta).

וכל ערל לא יאכל בו AND NO UNCIRCUMCISED PERSON SHALL EAT THEREOF — This is stated in addition to the somewhat similar text in v. 43 in order to include in the prohibition of eating the Paschal offering any person whose brothers have died in consequence of circumcision (in which case the parents are exempted from circumcising any of their children born after the death of these), because such a one is not to be regarded as an apostate who of set purpose remains uncircumcised, and the law regarding such a one cannot be derived from the statement in v. 43, “no strange person shall eat thereof” (because Rashi has explained this to refer to an Israelite whose doings have estranged him from God).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.