Numbers 15:41 kjv
I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.
Numbers 15:41 nkjv
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God."
Numbers 15:41 niv
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.'?"
Numbers 15:41 esv
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God."
Numbers 15:41 nlt
I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the LORD your God!"
Numbers 15 41 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ex 3:14 | God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"... "Thus you shall say... 'I AM' has sent me..." | God's self-designation and eternal nature. |
| Ex 6:2 | God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD." | Revelation of Yahweh as covenant name. |
| Ex 20:2 | "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." | Basis of the Ten Commandments. |
| Lev 11:45 | "For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy." | Links Exodus, God's nature, and holiness. |
| Lev 19:2 | "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy." | General command for holiness from God's nature. |
| Lev 22:33 | "who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD." | Similar formulation to Num 15:41. |
| Deut 4:20 | "...the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of His own possession..." | God's unique possession of Israel. |
| Deut 4:35 | "To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him." | Exclusivity of Yahweh as God. |
| Deut 6:12 | "then watch yourself that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." | Warning against forgetting the Exodus. |
| Deut 8:14 | "...do not forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt..." | Reminder against pride and forgetting God. |
| Deut 26:16 | "This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances..." | God's command as source of obedience. |
| Psa 81:10 | "I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it." | God's provision linked to Exodus. |
| Isa 43:3 | "For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom..." | God as Israel's savior and Holy One. |
| Hos 13:4 | "Yet I have been the LORD your God since the land of Egypt; and you were to know no other God but Me, for there is no savior besides Me." | Exclusive worship of Yahweh. |
| Jer 7:23 | "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people...'" | Core covenant promise: I will be your God, you will be My people. |
| Jer 31:33 | "But this is the covenant... 'I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.'" | New Covenant internalizing God's law. |
| Eze 37:27 | "My dwelling place will also be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people." | Future dwelling and relationship. |
| Zech 8:8 | "...and they will be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness." | God's relationship in the restored nation. |
| Rom 6:6 | "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;" | Spiritual exodus from slavery to sin. |
| Heb 8:10 | "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL... I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." | Quoting Jer 31, New Covenant. |
| 1 Pet 1:15-16 | "...like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.'" | Holiness for NT believers. |
| Rev 21:3 | "And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be among them;'" | Eschatological fulfillment of God dwelling with His people. |
Numbers 15 verses
Numbers 15 41 Meaning
Numbers 15:41 establishes the fundamental identity of God (the LORD) in relation to Israel, rooting His claim and their obligations in His pivotal act of redemption. It declares that the God who liberated Israel from Egyptian bondage is the very God who desires to maintain an exclusive and covenantal relationship with them, guiding them towards holiness through His commands. This verse underscores that divine laws are not arbitrary but stem directly from God's character and His salvific work.
Numbers 15 41 Context
Numbers chapter 15 addresses various laws and offerings given to the Israelites, following their forty-year wilderness wandering sentence due to disobedience and unbelief. These regulations aim to re-establish the covenant relationship and outline proper worship and conduct for the new generation entering the promised land. Verses 37-41 specifically introduce the command regarding the tzitzit (fringes) on garments, instructing Israel to attach a cord of blue to them. This visual reminder was intended to prevent them from prostituting themselves after their own heart and eyes. Verse 41 concludes this instruction, emphasizing the foundational reason for obeying this and all other commands: because God is their Deliverer and their God, by virtue of His liberating act in the Exodus. It links outward observance directly to the core of their covenant identity and divine purpose.
Numbers 15 41 Word analysis
- I am: Hebrew ʾAnî (אֲנִי) - First person singular pronoun. Emphasizes God's personal and active self-revelation. It signifies direct divine authority and presence.
- the LORD: Hebrew YHWH (יְהוָה) - The divine proper name, typically rendered as "LORD" in English Bibles. It speaks to God's eternal, self-existent nature (Ex 3:14) and His covenant faithfulness. This name establishes His uniqueness and His special relationship with Israel.
- your God: Hebrew ʾĔlōhêkem (אֱלֹהֵיכֶם) - ʾĔlōhîm (God, a plural of majesty, often singular in meaning) combined with the second person masculine plural possessive suffix "your." Signifies God as their particular and exclusive sovereign. It underscores a personal, proprietorial relationship; God is not just a God, but their God.
- who brought you out: Hebrew Ha-Motzîʾ ʾetkem (הַמּוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם) - The causative participle of yatsa (to go out), meaning "the one causing you to go out" or "the one leading you forth." Highlights God's initiating, powerful, and historical action of deliverance. This act defines His claim over Israel.
- of the land of Egypt: Hebrew Miʾeretz Mitzrayim (מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם) - Refers to the physical place of Israel's bitter bondage and slavery. It sets the historical context for God's powerful intervention and rescue. It underscores the contrast between their former state of oppression and their current state of liberation.
- to be: Hebrew Liheyot (לִהְיוֹת) - Infinitive construct from hayah (to be, become). Indicates the purpose or outcome of the Exodus: God's redemptive act was not merely liberation from, but liberation for a specific relationship and destiny.
- your God: Hebrew Lakhem LeʾElohim (לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים) - "For you as God." Reinforces the unique, exclusive, and mutual covenant relationship. It means that God assumes the role of sovereign, provider, and protector for Israel, and Israel, in turn, is to acknowledge Him as such through obedience and worship.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "I am the LORD your God": This recurring covenant formula serves as the foundational self-identification of Yahweh. It grounds all divine commands in God's eternal, sovereign nature and His particular covenantal relationship with Israel. This formula often introduces key commandments or reinforces God's authority.
- "who brought you out of the land of Egypt": This phrase defines God's relationship with Israel through His specific, unparalleled act of historical redemption. The Exodus is the pivotal event that marks Israel's birth as a nation and the establishment of their covenant with Yahweh, serving as the constant motivation and justification for all subsequent divine requirements. It inherently implies God's power, faithfulness, and providential care. This statement also carries a polemical edge, implicitly contrasting Yahweh's real and active intervention with the impotent deities of Egypt.
- "to be your God": This crucial purpose clause encapsulates the very reason for the Exodus and the essence of the covenant. God did not deliver Israel simply for freedom's sake, but for a continuing, intimate, and exclusive relationship where He would fully function as their God, and they would be His obedient people. It implies a demand for their sole allegiance and worship, distinguishing them from all other nations.
Numbers 15 41 Bonus section
The doubling of "I am the LORD your God" in verse 41—at the beginning and end—provides an emphatic frame, serving as a powerful and authoritative theological "signature" for the entire passage on tzitzit. This rhetorical device underscores the solemnity and divine origin of the command and reaffirms God's covenant identity as the ultimate basis for all instructions. It is a formula found frequently throughout the Pentateuch, particularly in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, linking commands to God's character. The concept of God "being their God" also has eschatological implications, fulfilled in the New Covenant and ultimately in the eternal state, where God fully dwells with His people (Rev 21:3). This verse encapsulates a foundational principle for understanding God's relationship with humanity: divine commands are never separate from divine identity and divine action.
Numbers 15 41 Commentary
Numbers 15:41 functions as a climactic covenant reminder, anchoring the specific command of wearing tzitzit (vv. 37-40) and, by extension, all divine ordinances, in the core identity of God and His redemptive work. God identifies Himself not just as the Creator, but as "the LORD your God" – a title emphasizing His personal, exclusive covenant with Israel. This covenant was dramatically established through the Exodus from Egypt, a defining act that demonstrated His power, love, and ownership over them. Therefore, Israel's obligation to obey His commands, like remembering His precepts through the tzitzit, is not an arbitrary burden but a logical response to the relationship He initiated and sustained. This verse fundamentally connects historical redemption (Exodus), theological identity ("I am the LORD"), and covenant obligation ("to be your God"), affirming that true worship and obedience stem from remembering who God is and what He has done. It moves from recollection to relationship, prompting a life of holiness.
- Example 1 (Remembrance): A believer, reflecting on their personal redemption in Christ (analogous to Exodus), finds motivation to live according to God's New Covenant commands, recognizing Him as their God.
- Example 2 (Identity): Just as Israel was defined by their God who delivered them, a Christian's identity is shaped by being redeemed by Christ, spurring them to live out their new identity.