Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 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.
48. The ‘stranger,’ or, better, sojourner, Heb. gr, i.e. the protected foreigner, if he is circumcised, may keep the Passover. The gr was like the Arab jr, 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 gr; 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 gr has no legal status in Israel, and is represented as liable to oppression (Exo 22:21; Exo 23:9, DeuExo 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 gr,’ 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 gr, 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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, e.] Who by so doing became a proselyte of the gate, he observing the commands of the sons of Noah:
and will keep the passover of the Lord is desirous of being admitted to that ordinance:
let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near, and keep it: first himself, and then all his male children and male servants, and then, and not till then, he might approach to this ordinance, and observe it; for by this means he would become a proselyte of righteousness, and in all respects as an Israelite, or son of Abraham, as it follows:
and he shall be as one that is born in the land; a native and proper inhabitant of Canaan, enjoying all the privileges and immunities of such:
for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof; these laws and rules concerning those persons that were to eat of the passover are such as were to be observed in all successive generations, to the coming of Christ; and were the rather necessary to be given now, because of the mixed multitude who now came up with the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
with thee. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, Targum of Onkelos, Septuagint, and Syriac, read “with you”.
no uncircumcised person shall eat. Were they circumcised during the three days’ darkness, and was the command then given, the word against which they did not rebel? (Psa 105:28).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
a stranger: Exo 12:43, Num 9:14, Num 15:15, Num 15:16
let all: Gen 17:12, Eze 44:9, Eze 47:22
shall be: Gal 3:28, Col 3:11
Reciprocal: Gen 17:10 – Every Gen 21:4 – General Exo 12:19 – whether Lev 19:34 – General Deu 29:11 – stranger 2Ch 6:32 – the stranger Eze 14:7 – of the stranger