What Does Numbers 15:14 Mean in the King James?
And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; as ye do, so he shall do.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The stranger remains named, but the offering follows the same pattern as yours.
THE MEANING
When a person from outside your people lives among you and brings an offering to the LORD, this verse gives them the same manner of offering you use. Their origin remains visible, but it does not change the practice of this act of approach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Someone who did not begin inside the community must remain at the edge of its worship.
THE ROOT
גֵּר
gēr
GROWS FROM
ג־ו־ר
g-w-r
To sojourn or reside among a people.
English “stranger” can sound like a visitor or unknown person; גֵּר (gēr, a resident alien) names one who resides among another people. The verse’s “with you” fits that root sense: this is someone living within the community, and the same offering practice applies.
ALSO GROWS
gûr: To sojourn or reside as an alien.
גּוּר
This verb shares the root of “stranger” and emphasizes residence among the people.
megūrîm: Sojournings or dwellings.
מְגוּרִים
This related form ties the root to living somewhere, rather than simply being unfamiliar.
רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ
rēaḥ nîḥōaḥ
GROWS FROM
נוּחַ
n-w-ḥ
To rest, settle, or come to rest.
The Hebrew phrase behind “sweet savour” carries a word from the root of rest and settling. The offering is described as a pleasing aroma, with a resonance of repose beneath the sensory image.
ALSO GROWS
Nōaḥ: Noah; a name associated with rest.
נֹחַ
The name shares this root, making the link between the offering’s aroma and rest audible elsewhere in Scripture.
mĕnūḥāh: Rest or resting place.
מְנוּחָה
This form makes the root’s sense of settling explicit and deepens the phrase’s resonance.
THE PATTERN
When someone from outside the community joins its approach to God, the text gives them the same practice or access.
One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.THE THREAD
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.Genesis 8:21 uses the same Hebrew phrase, רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ (rēaḥ nîḥōaḥ, a pleasing aroma), for Noah’s offering. Its root resonates with rest and settling, opening this verse’s shared offering as something received in a pleasing, settling way.
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