Leviticus 19:23
New International Version
“’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.

New Living Translation
“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.

English Standard Version
“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.

Berean Standard Bible
When 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.

King James Bible
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 King James Version
‘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.

New American Standard Bible
‘Now when you enter the land and plant 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.

NASB 1995
When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

NASB 1977
‘And when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

Amplified Bible
‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall consider their fruit forbidden. For three years the fruit shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.

Christian Standard Bible
“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden. It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden. It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten.

American Standard Version
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 their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten.

Contemporary English Version
After you enter the land, you will plant fruit trees, but you are not to eat any fruit from them for the first three years.

English Revised Version
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 their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"When you come into the land and plant all kinds of fruit trees, you must not eat the fruit for [the first] three years.

Good News Translation
"When you come into the land of Canaan and plant any kind of fruit tree, consider the fruit ritually unclean for the first three years. During that time you must not eat it.

International Standard Version
"When you have entered the land and planted all sorts of trees for food, regard its fruit as uncircumcised for the first three years for you. It is not to be eaten.

Majority Standard Bible
When 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.

NET Bible
"'When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit to be forbidden. Three years it will be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.

New Heart English Bible
"'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years shall they be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.

Webster's Bible Translation
And 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.

World English Bible
“‘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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And when you come into the land and have planted all [kinds] of trees [for] food, then you have reckoned its fruit as uncircumcised, it is uncircumcised to you [for] three years, it is not eaten,

Young's Literal Translation
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,

Smith's Literal Translation
And when ye shall come into the land, and ye planted every tree of food, and ye made uncircumcised in its uncircumcision its fruits: three years it shall be to you uncircumcised: it shall not be eaten.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
When you shall be come into the land, and shall have planted in it fruit trees, you shall take away the firstfruits of them: the fruit that comes forth shall be unclean to you, neither shall you eat of them.

Catholic Public Domain Version
When you will have entered into the land, and will have planted in it fruit trees, you shall take away their first-fruits; the fruit that germinates shall be unclean to you, neither shall you eat from these.

New American Bible
When you come into the land and plant any fruit tree there, first look upon its fruit as if it were uncircumcised. For three years, it shall be uncircumcised for you; it may not be eaten.

New Revised Standard Version
When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall regard their fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you, it must not be eaten.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And when you shall come into the land and shall have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall leave them for three years, and you shall not eat of their fruit.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And when you have entered the land and you have planted every tree for food leave them three years and you shall not eat from their fruit.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
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 forbidden; three years shall it be as forbidden unto you; it shall not be eaten.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And whenever ye shall enter into the land which the Lord your God gives you, and shall plant any fruit-tree, then shall ye purge away its uncleanness; its fruit shall be three years uncleansed to you, it shall not be eaten.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Keep My Decrees
22The priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven the sin he has committed. 23When 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. 24In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 20:19-20
When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them? / But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

Genesis 1:11-12
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. / The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Exodus 23:10-11
For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, / but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

Isaiah 65:21-22
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. / No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

Jeremiah 31:5
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.

Ezekiel 36:30
I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine.

Matthew 7:17-20
Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. / A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. / Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ...

Luke 6:43-45
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. / For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles. / The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. / He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. / You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ...

Romans 11:16-18
If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches. / Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, / do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

1 Corinthians 3:6-9
I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. / So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. / He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ...

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, / gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

James 3:12
My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Revelation 22:2
down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.


Treasury of Scripture

And when you shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised to you: it shall not be eaten of.

And when

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;

uncircumcised

Leviticus 12:3
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

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.

Exodus 6:12,30
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? …

Jump to Previous
Circumcision Consider Count Eaten Enter Food Forbidden Fruit Fruit-Trees Kind Kinds Manner Plant Planted Reckoned Regard Sorts Thereof Three Tree Trees Uncircumcised Uncircumcision Used
Jump to Next
Circumcision Consider Count Eaten Enter Food Forbidden Fruit Fruit-Trees Kind Kinds Manner Plant Planted Reckoned Regard Sorts Thereof Three Tree Trees Uncircumcised Uncircumcision Used
Leviticus 19
1. A repetition of various laws














When you enter the land
This phrase signifies a pivotal moment for the Israelites, marking the transition from their nomadic life in the wilderness to settling in the Promised Land. The Hebrew word for "enter" (בּוֹא, bo) implies not just physical entry but also a spiritual and covenantal engagement with the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This entry is a fulfillment of God's promises and a call to live in obedience to His statutes.

and plant any kind of tree for food
The act of planting trees is symbolic of establishing roots and a future in the land. In ancient Near Eastern culture, trees were not only a source of sustenance but also a sign of prosperity and blessing. The Hebrew word for "plant" (נָטַע, nata) suggests intentionality and care, reflecting the Israelites' responsibility to cultivate the land God has given them. This act is a partnership with God in creation, emphasizing stewardship and gratitude.

you are to regard the fruit as forbidden
The Hebrew term for "forbidden" (עָרֵל, arel) is often translated as "uncircumcised," indicating something that is not yet ready or consecrated. This command teaches patience and discipline, reminding the Israelites that the first fruits belong to God. It is a test of faith, trusting that God will provide in due time. This period of waiting is a spiritual exercise in self-control and reverence for God's timing.

For three years it will be forbidden to you
The number three in biblical terms often signifies completeness or divine perfection. The three-year waiting period is a time of preparation and maturation, both for the tree and the people. It reflects God's order and the natural cycle of growth, teaching the Israelites to respect the processes of life and the sanctity of God's creation. This period also serves as a reminder of the Israelites' dependence on God for sustenance.

and must not be eaten
This command underscores the principle of firstfruits, where the initial yield is dedicated to God. By refraining from eating the fruit, the Israelites acknowledge God's sovereignty and provision. It is an act of worship and submission, recognizing that all blessings come from Him. This restraint cultivates a spirit of thankfulness and reinforces the covenant relationship between God and His people.

(23) And when ye shall come.--Rather, And when ye be come, as the Authorised Version renders the same phrase in Leviticus 14:34. This is one of the four instances in Leviticus of a law being given prospectively having no immediate bearing on the condition of the people of Israel (viz., Leviticus 14:34; Leviticus 19:23; Leviticus 23:10; Leviticus 25:2), and though all the four enactments are introduced by the same phrase, they are translated in three different ways in the Authorised Version:--"When ye be come into the land," in Leviticus 14:34; Leviticus 23:10; "When ye shall come into the land," in Leviticus 19:23; and "When ye come into the land," in Leviticus 25:2; thus giving the impression as if the phrases in the original were different in the different passages. In legislative formulae it is of importance to exhibit uniformly the same phraseology in a translation. . . . Verses 23-25. - The eating of the fruit of young trees by their owners for five years is forbidden, on the principle that such fruit is unclean until it has been sanctified by the offering of a crop as firstfruits to the Lord for the use of the servants of the tabernacle, and a full crop is not to be expected until the fourth year from the time that the trees were planted. The fruit is at first to be counted as uncircumcised, being regarded in a position similar to that of the heathen, that is, unclean, from not having been yet sanctified by the offering of the firstfruits. This sanctification takes place in the fourth year.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When
וְכִי־ (wə·ḵî-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you enter
תָבֹ֣אוּ (ṯā·ḇō·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

the land
הָאָ֗רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

and plant
וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ (ū·nə·ṭa‘·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5193: To strike in, fix, to plant

any
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

kind of tree
עֵ֣ץ (‘êṣ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6086: Tree, trees, wood

for food,
מַאֲכָ֔ל (ma·’ă·ḵāl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3978: An eatable

you shall regard
וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם (wa·‘ă·ral·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 6188: To count as foreskin (as uncircumcised)

the fruit
פִּרְי֑וֹ (pir·yōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6529: Fruit

as forbidden.
עָרְלָת֖וֹ (‘ā·rə·lā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6190: The prepuce

For three
שָׁלֹ֣שׁ (šā·lōš)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

years
שָׁנִ֗ים (šā·nîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 8141: A year

it will be
יִהְיֶ֥ה (yih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

forbidden
עֲרֵלִ֖ים (‘ă·rê·lîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 6189: Having foreskin (uncircumcised)

to you
לָכֶ֛ם (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

and must not
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

be eaten.
יֵאָכֵֽל׃ (yê·’ā·ḵêl)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat


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OT Law: Leviticus 19:23 When you come into the land (Le Lv Lev.)
Leviticus 19:22
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