The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: these are the regulations for the Passover meal — no foreigner may eat it. The regulations for Passover participation address the boundaries of the covenant community. No foreigner — no one outside the covenant relationship — may participate. But the verses that follow complicate the simple reading: foreigners can join through circumcision. The regulation is not ethnic but covenantal: the boundary is defined by belonging, and belonging can be chosen. The church fathers used this passage to reflect on admission to communion — the Lord's Supper is similarly bounded by baptism, not ethnicity. The Passover's regulations are not about national origin but about covenant membership, and covenant membership is open to those who choose to enter it. The foreigner who circumcises is no longer a foreigner.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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