Numbers 15:13

a stranger--one who had become a proselyte. There were scarcely any of the national privileges of the Israelites, in which the Gentile stranger might not, on conforming to certain conditions, fully participate.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(13) All that are born of the country.—The Targum of Jonathan is, “all that are born in Israel, and not among the people.” It seems clear, however, from Num_15:14 that the reference in this verse is to the indigenous Israelites.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. homeborn] i.e. native Israelites.

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.

And if a stranger sojourn with you,.... A stranger, or proselyte, not of the gate, but of righteousness, as Ben Gersom and the Jewish, writers in general interpret it:

or whatsoever be among you in your generations; whether such a proselyte settled and continued among them, or only stayed with them awhile:

and will offer an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord; is desirous of offering a burnt offering or a peace offering to the Lord in an acceptable manner:

as ye do, so shall he do; bring the same meat offering and drink offering, according to the nature and number of the cattle he brings for sacrifice.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13-16. These rules apply to the sacrifices of aliens living in the Holy Land as well as to the native-born Israelite.

These things — The meat and drink offerings.

A stranger — Septuagint, proselyte. The position of the Israelites as a distinct nation under special divine protection powerfully attracted the neighbouring peoples. Hence the law provides for their incorporation into Israel. Circumcision was the condition of any fellowship with the proselyte or stranger, as rendered in the Authorized Version. He is required to keep the sabbath, to be present at the passover, the feast of weeks, of tabernacles, and the day of atonement, to observe the laws of prohibited marriages, to abstain from blood, from Molech worship, and blasphemy. But he could not hold land (see Lev_25:23, note) nor intermarry with the descendants of Aaron. See Lev_21:14, note. The instances of wholesale proselytism are the Shechemites, Kenites, Gibeonites, Cherethites, Pelethites, and Nethenim. Instances of individuals are Doeg, the Edomite; Uriah, the Hittite; Araunah, the Jebusite; and two in the face of an express prohibition — Zelek, the Ammonite, and Ithmah, the Moabite. Deuteronomy 23, 3. Later rabbins regarded the following classes unfit for admission within the covenant: (1.) Love-proselytes, drawn by the hope of gaining the beloved one; (2.) Man-for-woman or woman-for-man proselytes, where either follows the religion of the other as a matter of convenience; (3.) Esther-proselytes, to escape danger; (4.) King’s-table-proselytes, mere office-seekers; (5.) Lion-proselytes, persons impelled by a superstitious dread of some divine judgment, as were the Samaritans. 2Ki_17:26. See Lev_23:22, note.

Before the Lord — Equal in religious privileges.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All that are born of the country. jrzahAlK, all the native born. Septuagint, pav o autocywn . The phrase is used no doubt from the point of view of a resident in Canaan; but it was only to such residents that these ordinances applied. Those things. The regulations just mentioned.

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