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Leviticus 24 · a question people ask

Did it matter that his father was an Egyptian?

In the text

The chapter names his mother and says his father was an Egyptian (24:10-11), but doesn't say whether that played any part. Israel had left Egypt with "A mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38); Leviticus 24 doesn't say whether he was one of them. What the chapter does say is that the charge was what he did: he "blasphemed the Name, and cursed" (24:11). And the law the LORD gives in answer is the same for everyone: "The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name" (24:16), and "You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born" (24:22).

The verses

“The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.”
Leviticus 24:10-11 · World English Bible
“He who blasphemes the LORD’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name.”
Leviticus 24:16 · World English Bible
“You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am the LORD your God.’””
Leviticus 24:22 · World English Bible
“A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock.”
Exodus 12:38 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Leviticus 24

Leviticus 24: The lamp, the bread and the Name

Leviticus 24 sets the lamp and the bread "before the LORD continually" (24:3, 24:8) beside a man who "blasphemed the Name" (24:11). Nobody decided his case alone: they waited "until the LORD’s will should be declared" (24:12). The law that came is "one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born" (24:22), and its "life for life" is about an animal (24:18).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions