By Ann Marie B. Bahr
“A wandering Aramean was my father . . . “ (Deuteronomy 26:5)
The Hebrew word “ger” (גר) can be translated as “sojourner,” “stranger,” “alien,” or “foreigner.” In our world, the foreigner or stranger is often viewed with suspicion, or even as a threat. The biblical perspective is shockingly different.
In some passages, the stranger is treated as a royal figure, maybe even divine. He is to be welcomed with the utmost hospitality, his every need anticipated and taken care of.
The LORD1 appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures2 of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes. Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. (Genesis 18: 1-8)
We might expect this kind of treatment to be extended to royalty, but the stranger, sojourner, or wanderer is far from royalty in his ability to command attention. Far from being protected by a military escort, he lacks even the protection and benefits provided by kin and birthplace. His high status and privileges derive solely from the bond of hospitality. Without the protection of the native born, he would quickly fall prey to robbers or succumb to starvation. He has no land on which to grow his food.
Hospitality was a cultural norm throughout the ancient Middle East, not just among the Hebrews. While Abraham was living in the land of the Hittites, Sarah died. Abraham had no place to bury her because he owned no land, being only a sojourner there. So, Abraham appealed to the Hittites, saying
“I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.”
In the end, Abraham buys a field and a burial plot from the Hittites because he can afford to do so. But hospitality demanded that the burial lot be offered even if a resident foreigner could not pay.
Abraham’s descendants sojourned in the land of Canaan for generations without owning any of its land or settlements. Their status is often translated into English as “foreigner,” “sojourner,” “alien,” or “wanderer.3” They did not possess the land until after they fled to Egypt to escape a famine, were ultimately oppressed there, escaped from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, and conquered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. Even after the conquest, the descendants of Abraham sojourned as resident aliens, either individually or as a nation. David sojourned among the Philistines for a year and four months in order to escape Saul’s wrath (2 Samuel 27: 1-7). And the exiles in Babylon, even those who had acquired wealth and position, are referred to in Cyrus’ decree as “sojourners” (Ezra 1:4)
The tribes of Israel as possessors of the land
Once the people of Israel conquered and possessed the land of Canaan, they ceased to be the “foreigner” and became the native-born of the land. The “foreigner” referred to in the texts becomes the indigenous peoples of Canaan.
In the law books and in later Israelite history, the period of sojourning and oppression in Egypt becomes the cornerstone memory undergirding Israel’s laws requiring justice and compassion for foreigners.
You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of a foreigner, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23: 9)
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10: 18-19)
The foreigner is often grouped with the poor, the fatherless, and widows, indicating his inability to survive without the charity of natives. Foreigners own no land because the land is apportioned to the members of the tribes of Israel. Therefore, they cannot grow their own food. They survived by gleaning the harvest of the fields and vineyards, by working for wages when work was available, and as recipients of the tithe. They served as laborers in the building of the Jerusalem temple.
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. (Leviticus 19: 9-10)
David gave orders to gather together the foreigners who were residing in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. (I Chronicles 22:2)
Then Solomon took a census of all the foreigners who were residing in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had taken. There were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. Seventy thousand of them he assigned as laborers, eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers of the work. (II Chronicles 2: 17-18)
Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns. The Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work you undertake. (Deuteronomy 14: 28-29)
Strict equality of native-born and alien under the law
Both native born citizens and resident aliens must be treated the same under the law. This command appears frequently in the law books, indicating its importance and persistence over time.
There shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you. (Exodus 12:49)
You shall have one law for the alien and for the citizen; for I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 24:22)
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
You shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native. (Numbers 9:14)As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations: you and the alien shall be alike before the LORD. You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance. (Numbers 15: 15-16)
Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien. (Deuteronomy 1:16)
You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the LORD against you, and you would incur guilt. (Deuteronomy 24:14)
While we find repeated statements that Israelites and resident foreigners must be treated the same under the law, what exactly does that entail? Is the foreigner required to worship the God of Israel? May the resident alien participate in Israel’s religious celebrations?
What seems clear is that laws regarding how one human must treat another human, what we might call “civil law” or “moral law” (e.g., laws against murder, theft, etc.) were to be applied without either detriment or advantage to the resident alien. By virtue of their residence (not their ethnicity nor their degree of religious assimilation), they were part of the Israelite community. As such, they were required to live life under its law.
What is less clear are the tenets of what we might call “religious” or “cultic” law. Were foreigners required to worship Yahweh? Were they even allowed to do so? Did they have to be inducted into the Israelite religion before they were allowed to participate in religious celebrations? The answer to the last question is, in most cases, “No.” They would be allowed to participate in all religious celebrations except Passover. Passover was reserved for those who had fully assimilated through mikvah4 for both males and females, and circumcision for males.
Christians often assume that aliens would have to convert to the Israelite religion in order to enjoy the full protection of the law. But there is no evidence for this, and it is unlikely. Unlike Christians and Muslims, Jews have never sought to increase their numbers through conversion. In the first century CE, Jewish faith spread through much of the Roman Empire. Non-Jews who were attracted to its one God, scriptures and moral teachings were known as “God-fearers.” They could participate in synagogue services and Jewish learning to the extent of their interest, but few became full Jews. Ancient Israelite religion was probably similar to these first century practices.
In sum, my best guess regarding the status of resident aliens under the law is this: They were fully included in all the laws governing the city in which they dwelt. Along with Levites, the poor, and orphans, they enjoyed special privileges because they were unable to fully provide for themselves. But if they harmed a fellow resident, they would suffer the same legal consequences as the native born. As residents of an Israelite community, they were guests of Yahweh. Geographic areas were seen as being under the protection of a particular deity. Even if a resident was not fully assimilated into the religion of the Israelites, they were under the protection of its deity simply because they lived there. They could participate in religious celebrations except for Passover. The few who became fully assimilated through mikvah and circumcision could be part of the Passover service.
Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow. Then all the people shall say, “Amen.” (Deuteronomy 27:19)
History Synopsis
When Moses fled into the desert to escape Pharaoh, he said, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.5” As we have seen, this early period of wandering, exile, and living as foreigners in Egypt significantly shaped the law codes of the Bible, collectively known as “Mosaic Law.” The conquest of Canaan (sometime between 1400 and 1200 BCE) ushered in a new period of approximately half a millennium of life within the land. During this time, the twelve tribes, which began the period as a loose tribal confederation, became a monarchy ruled successively by Saul, David, and Solomon (ca. 1047-930 BCE), and then fractured into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah after Solomon’s death. The ten northern tribes were deported from their homeland by the Assyrians in the early eighth century BCE. They were scattered among the nations and became known as the “Ten Lost Tribes.” They disappear from history, exiled permanently from their homeland. In the sixth century BCE (597-538 BCE), many Judeans (members of the two southern tribes of Judah) were exiled to Babylon. At this point in history, all of ancient Israel was once again thrust into the status of being “strangers in a strange land.”
Ezekiel’s Vision
In the midst of the trauma of the Babylonian exile, the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of the post-exilic temple and land of Israel. This was in the early sixth century BCE. In his vision, the new, post-exilic division of the land was to include portions for foreigners. This vision does not appear to have materialized. The traumatic post-exilic period focused on re-settling the scattered remnants of Judah. Nonetheless, it is interesting that such a radical proposal of caring for foreigners emerged during a period of forced exile from their own homeland. Speaking from exile, Ezekiel prophesied:
You shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who reside among you and have begotten children among you. They shall be to you as citizens of Israel; with you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe aliens reside, there you shall assign them their inheritance, says the LORD God. (Ezekiel 47: 21-23)
The Prophets
When the prophets attempted to explain the Exile–why the people were cast out of the land which God had given them–oppression of foreigners was cited among the reasons for God’s wrath.
For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, . . . then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever. (Jeremiah 7: 5-7)
The demand for kindness toward foreigners included even Israel’s most trenchant enemies. During the Exodus, the Moabites refused to offer food and water as the Israelites passed through their territory. Later, King Balak hired Balaam to curse them. During the period of the Judges, Moab conquered and oppressed Israel for eighteen years. Nonetheless, Isaiah insists that Israel must provide safety and hospitality to anyone fleeing Moab:
Be a refuge to the outcasts of Moab. (Isaiah 16:4)
The Writings
Chronicles
When David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he set it inside a tent that he had pitched for it. The tent and the song accompanying its ceremony of installation recalled the theme of wandering as foreigners from one nation to another. It also celebrated God’s protective presence throughout their period of homelessness.
When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in the land,
wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,
He allowed no one to oppress them. He rebuked kings on their account
saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
(I Chronicles 16: 19-22)
In some passages, the theme of being foreign and without a home expands from being a description of Israel’s ancestral history to being a description of the human condition in general:
For we are aliens and transients before you, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow (I Chronicles 19: 15)
Job
Job’s claim to righteousness includes his treatment of strangers:
I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. (Job 29: 15-16)
No stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler. Job 31: 32
The Psalms
The psalms are the prayerbook and hymnbook of ancient Israel. They reference many of the themes and events found in the books of law and history, but their tone is prayerful and poetic rather than factual and narrative. They often speak directly to God, and they do so from a position of humbleness and trust. This humility can be expressed as being only transient, a “mere breath” or a “passing guest,” as in this psalm:
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry . . . For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears. (Psalm 39: 12)
The right attitude for receiving instruction is that of the alien:
I live as an alien in the land; do not hide your commandments from me. (Psalm 119: 19)
Or, if the focus is on God rather than on the supplicant, the recollection of being a wanderer can be used to praise God’s faithful protection:
When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it [i.e., the land of Canaan], wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” (Psalm 105: 12-15)
The New Testament
Though not as prominent, the command to welcome strangers extends to the New Testament. Here, the word translated as “stranger” in English is ξένος (xénos).
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (Matthew 25:35)
Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. (Romans 12: 13)
And, in a passage reminiscent of the first scriptural quotation in this essay:
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13: 2)
We began with the story of three strangers who appeared to Abraham as he sat by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18: 1-8). These three strangers were actually the LORD. As the footnote explains, in some passages either God (as in Genesis 18) or angels (as in this passage) are said to appear in human form. In these two passages, they appear specifically as strangers.
________
Scattered throughout the Bible are texts in which God or angels appear to human beings in human form. A New Testament example occurs in Hebrews 13: 2. ↩︎
The Hebrew word is “seah” סאה. Three seahs is between 18 and 27 US dry quarts, or about five gallons of flour—enough to make quite a few cakes. ↩︎
“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor . . .” (Deuteronomy 26:5) There are several Hebrew words that can be translated into English as “foreigner.” In this article, I am using only the one which generally refers to a resident alien. ↩︎
A ritual bath for purification and cleansing. Mikvah is required for all (both males and females) who wish to convert to Judaism today, and it very likely was required in biblical times as well. ↩︎
Exodus 2: 22 ↩︎
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