New Living Translation
Leviticus 19:23
23“When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden. Do not eat it.
Leviticus 19:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten.
Context of Leviticus 19:23
21The man, however, must bring a ram as a guilt offering and present it to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 22The priest will then purify him before the Lord with the ram of the guilt offering, and the man’s sin will be forgiven. “When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden. Do not eat it. 24In the fourth year the entire crop must be consecrated to the Lord as a celebration of praise. 25Finally, in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you follow this pattern, your harvest will increase. I am the Lord your God.
Read all of Leviticus 19Leviticus 19:23 word by word
וְכִי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ מַאֲכָ֔ל וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם עָרְלָת֖וֹ אֶת־פִּרְי֑וֹ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם עֲרֵלִ֖ים לֹ֥א יֵאָכֵֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And when ye shall comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- into the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- and shall have plantedנָטַעnâţa‛ · to plantH5193
- all manner of treesעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
- for foodמַאֲכָלma'ăkâl · foodH3978
- then ye shall countעָרַל‛ârêl · be uncircumcisedH6188
- the fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
- thereof as uncircumcisedעׇרְלָה‛orlâh · foreskinH6190
- threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
- yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
- shall it be as uncircumcisedעָרֵל‛ârêl · uncircumcisedH6189
- unto you: it shall not be eatenאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
Cross-references for Leviticus 19:23
- Leviticus 14:34“When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.
- Leviticus 12:3On the eighth day the boy’s foreskin must be circumcised.
- Leviticus 22:27“When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a special gift to the Lord.
- Exodus 6:12“But Lord!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker!”
- Exodus 22:29“You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine. “You must give me your firstborn sons.
- Jeremiah 6:10To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the Lord. They don’t want to listen at all.
- Jeremiah 9:25“A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit—
- Acts 7:51“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!
Commentaries on Leviticus 19:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Three years shall it be as uncircumcised - I see no great reason to seek for mystical meanings in this prohibition. The fruit of a young tree cannot be good; for not having arrived at a state of maturity, the juices cannot be sufficiently elaborated to produce fruit excellent in its kind. The Israelites are commanded not to eat of the fruit of a tree till the fifth year after its planting: in the three first years the fruit is unwholesome; in the fourth…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Fruit uncircumcised - i. e. unfit for presentation to Yahweh. In regard to its spiritual lesson, this law may be compared with the dedication of the first-born of beasts to Yahweh Exodus 13:12; Exodus 34:19. Its meaning in a moral point of view was plain, and tended to illustrate the spirit of the whole Law.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23-25For the first three years, they should only prune and cultivate a newly planted fruit tree. This helps the tree grow strong. In the fourth year, people considered all of the fruit the "fitrstfruits" and gave the fruit to God (see Exodus 23:16). People could only eat the fruit in the fifth year.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 23-2523-25. ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised; three years ... it shall not be eaten of--"The wisdom of this law is very striking. Every gardener will teach us not to let fruit trees bear in their earliest years, but to pluck off the blossoms: and for this reason, that they will thus thrive the better, and bear more abundantly afterwards. The very expression, 'to regard them as uncircumcised,' suggests the propriety of pinching them off; I do…Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 19:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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