Leviticus 19 · Verse 23

Leviticus 19:23

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.
Leviticus 19:23, King James Version

Leviticus 19:23 in other translations

BSBWhen you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten.
WEB“‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. For three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.
ASVAnd 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 their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten.
YLT‘And when ye come in unto the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then ye have reckoned as uncircumcised its fruit, three years it is to you uncircumcised, it is not eaten,
DARBYAnd when ye come into the land and plant all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count its fruit as uncircumcised, three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of;
BBEAnd when you have come into the land, and have put in all sorts of fruit-trees, their fruit will be as if they had not had circumcision, and for three years their fruit may not be used for food.
WebsterAnd when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food; then ye shall count its fruit as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised to you: it shall not be eaten of.

What does Leviticus 19:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 19:23-25
23-25. 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 not say cutting them off, because it is generally the hand, and not a knife, that is employed in this operation" [Michaelis].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 Three 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 year the fruit is holy, it belongs to God, and should be consecrated to him, Lev 19:24; and in the fifth year and afterward the fruit may be employed for common use, Lev 19:25.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Leviticus 19:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְכִי\־ve.khi-and ifH3588
תָבֹ֣אוּta.Vo.'uyou will goH935
אֶל\־'el-intoH413
הָאָ֗רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙u.ne.ta'.Temand you will plantH5193
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
עֵ֣ץ'etztree ofH6086
מַאֲכָ֔לma.'a.KhalfoodH3978
וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥םva.'a.ral.Temand you will regard as uncircumcisedH6188
עָרְלָת֖וֹa.re.la.Toforeskin itsH6190
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
פִּרְי֑וֹpir.Yofruit itsH6529
שָׁלֹ֣שׁsha.LoshthreeH7969
שָׁנִ֗יםsha.NimyearsH8141
יִהְיֶ֥הyih.Yehit will beH1961
לָכֶ֛םla.Khemto <the> you
עֲרֵלִ֖ים'a.re.LimuncircumcisedH6189
לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
יֵאָכֵֽל\׃ye.'a.Khelit will be eatenH398

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 19:23

  • Leviticus 22:27

    When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

  • Acts 7:51

    Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

  • Jeremiah 9:25-26

    Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

  • Jeremiah 6:10

    To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

  • Leviticus 14:34

    When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

  • Exodus 6:12

    And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?

  • Exodus 22:29-30

    Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

  • Leviticus 12:3

    And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

  • Exodus 6:30

    And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
And when.
14:34
uncircumcised.
12:3; 22:27; Ex 6:12,30; 22:29,30; Jer 6:10; 9:25,26; Ac 7:51

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Leviticus 19:22

    And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

  • Leviticus 19:23

    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.

  • Leviticus 19:24

    But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal.

Read all of Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y cuando hubiereis entrado en la tierra, y plantareis todo árbol de comer, quitaréis su prepucio, lo primero de su fruto: tres años os será incircunciso: su fruto no se comerá.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et quand vous serez entrés dans le pays, et que vous y aurez planté toute sorte d’arbres dont on mange, vous en regarderez le fruit comme incirconcis; il sera incirconcis pour vous pendant trois ans: on n’en mangera point.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und wenn ihr in das Land kommet und allerlei Bäume zur Speise pflanzet, so sollt ihr ihre erste Frucht als ihre Vorhaut achten; drei Jahre sollen sie euch als unbeschnitten gelten, es soll nichts von ihnen gegessen werden;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quando ingressi fueritis terram, et plantaveritis in ea ligna pomifera, auferetis præputia eorum: poma, quæ germinant, immunda erunt vobis, nec edetis ex eis.