Reference: Stranger
American
Is sometimes used in a special sense, easily understood from the context. It usually denotes a foreigner, who is not a native of the land in which he resides, Ge 23:4. The Mosaic Law enjoined a generous hospitality towards foreign residents, saying, "Thou shalt love him as thyself," Le 19:33-34; De 10:18-19; 24:17; 27:19. They were subject to the law, Ex 20:10; Le 16:20, and were admitted to many of the privileges of the chosen people of God, Nu 9:14; 15:14. The strangers whom David collected to aid in building the temple, 1Ch 22:2, probably comprised many of the remnants of the Canaanite tribes, 1Ki 9:20-21. Hospitality to strangers, including all travellers, was the duty of all good citizens, Job 31:32; Heb 13:2.
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"I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
"When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.
'When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
'If an alien sojourns among you and observes the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.'"
'If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, just as you do so he shall do.
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. "So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
"You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge.
'Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel were unable to destroy utterly, from them Solomon levied forced laborers, even to this day.
So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.
"The alien has not lodged outside, For I have opened my doors to the traveler.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Easton
This word generally denotes a person from a foreign land residing in Palestine. Such persons enjoyed many privileges in common with the Jews, but still were separate from them. The relation of the Jews to strangers was regulated by special laws (De 23:3; 24:14-21; 25:5; 26:10-13). A special signification is also sometimes attached to this word. In Ge 23:4 it denotes one resident in a foreign land; Ex 23:9, one who is not a Jew; Nu 3:10, one who is not of the family of Aaron; Ps 69:8, an alien or an unknown person. The Jews were allowed to purchase strangers as slaves (Le 25:44-45), and to take usury from them (De 23:20).
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"I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
'As for your male and female slaves whom you may have--you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 'Then, too, it is out of the sons of the sojourners who live as aliens among you that you may gain acquisition, and out of their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession.
"So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death."
"No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD,
"You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.
"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns. "You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the LORD and it become sin in you. read more. "Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin. "You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge. "But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. "When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. "When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. "When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
"When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
'Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O LORD have given me.' And you shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God; and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household. read more. "When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. "You shall say before the LORD your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.
I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother's sons.
Fausets
A foreigner settled among the covenant people, without Israelite citizenship, but subject to Israel's laws, and having a claim to kindness and justice (Ex 12:49; Le 24:22; 19:34; 25:6; De 1:16; 24:17-19; 10:18-19; 16:11,14; 26:11). (See PROSELYTES.) In contrast to one "born in the land," not transplanted, "ezrach." Geer, toshab; geer implies the stranger viewed in respect to his foreign origin, literally, one turned aside to "another people"; toshab implies his permanent residence in the hind of hision. Distinguished from the "foreigner," nakri, who made no stay in Israel. The stranger included the "mixed multitude" from Egypt (Ex 12:38); the Canaanites still remaining in Palestine and their descendants, as Uriah the Hittite and Araunah the Jebusite, Doeg the Edomite, Ittai the Gittite; captives in war, fugitives, and merchants, amounting under Solomon to 153,600 males (2Ch 2:17), one tenth of the population.
Strictly, the stranger had no share in the land. It is to be a peculiarity of restored Israel that the stranger shall inherit along with the native born (Eze 47:22). Still anomalies may have been tolerated of necessity, as that of Canaanites (on conversion to the law) retaining land from which Israel had been unable to eject their forefathers. Strangers were excluded from kingship. Though tolerated they must not violate the fundamental laws by blaspheming Jehovah, breaking the sabbath by work, eating leavened bread at the Passover, infringing the marriage laws, worshipping Moloch, or eating blood (Le 24:16; 18:26; 20:2; 17:10,15; Ex 20:10; 12:19). If the stranger were a bondservant he had to be circumcised (Ex 12:44). If free he was exempt, but if not circumcised was excluded from the Passover (Ex 12:48); he might eat foods (De 14:21) which the circumcised stranger might not eat (Le 17:10,15).
The liberal spirit of the law contrasts with the exclusiveness of Judaism after the return from Babylon. This narrowness was at first needed, in order to keep the holy seed separate from foreign admixture (Nehemiah 9; 10; 13; Ezra 10). But its degeneracy into proud, morose isolation and misanthropy our Lord rebukes in His large definition of "neighbour" in the parable of the good Samaritan (Lu 10:36). The law kept Israel a people separate from the nations, yet exercising a benignant influence on them. It secured a body of 600,000 yeomen ready to defend their own land, but unfit for invading other lands, as their force was ordained to be of infantry alone. Interest front a fellow citizen was forbidden, but from a stranger was allowed, subject to strict regard to equity. The hireling was generally taken from strangers, the law guarded his rights with tender considerateness (De 24:14-15). (See NETHINIM; SOLOMON'S SERVANTS.)
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'Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.
A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.
but every man's slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.
"But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. "The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you."
but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
'And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.
'And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.
"When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.
"When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.
'But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you
'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
"You shall also say to the sons of Israel: 'Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
'Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'"
'All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you.
"Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, 'Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him.
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. "So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
"You shall not eat anything which dies of itself You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.
and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns.
"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns. "You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the LORD and it become sin in you.
"You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge. "But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. read more. "When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.
Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, following the census which his father David had taken; and 153,600 were found.
"You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
Hastings
This seems, on the whole, the most suitable English word by which to render the Heb. z
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God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
They said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.
'Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.
"Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:
"If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished.
"You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
"Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves. "Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.
"Thus they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy.
'Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.'"
"This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you;
'But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
'No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a sojourner with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift.
'If a priest's daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the gifts.
'Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger's family,
"So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up But the layman who comes near shall be put to death.
"So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death."
Now those who were to camp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but the layman coming near was to be put to death.
'If an alien sojourns among you and observes the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.'"
"But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.
"But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death."
but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
"When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you,
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. "So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
"The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
"The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
"The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.
because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
"You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land.
"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns.
"You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge.
"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I command you today. "So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime read more. and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. "So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. "Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them. "You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God; and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God. "You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very distinctly." Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the LORD your God.
"Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath,
"It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, 'I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.'
Saul's son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin,
For strangers have risen against me And violent men have sought my life; They have not set God before them. Selah.
To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words;
Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields--strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
'I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it.
"And I will bring you out of the midst of the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you.
Strangers devour his strength, Yet he does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it.
For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will pass through it no more.
"On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem-- You too were as one of them.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
Morish
1. This term was applied to any sojourning among the Israelites, who were not descendants of Israel. The law gave injunctions against the oppression of such. Nu 15:14-30.
2. Gentiles are also called 'strangers' from the covenants of promise (Eph 2:12), showing that the covenants made with Israel did in no wise embrace the Gentiles, though God's grace at all times extended to them.
3. Those called strangers in 1Pe 1:1 were Jews away from their own land: sojourners of the dispersion.
4. Both the O.T. and the N.T. saints were and are strangers upon earth. David said, "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." Ps 39:12. They "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb 11:13. The same is true of the saints now. 1Pe 2:11. Their citizenship is in heaven, and this earth is no longer their home or their rest.
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'If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, just as you do so he shall do. 'As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the LORD. read more. 'There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.'" Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land where I bring you, then it shall be, that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD. 'Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as the offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. 'From the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations. 'But when you unwittingly fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the LORD has spoken to Moses, even all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the LORD gave commandment and onward throughout your generations, then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. 'Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error. 'So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error. 'Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. 'The priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven. 'You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. 'But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.
"Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers.
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
Smith
Stranger.
A "stranger," in the technical sense of the term, may be defined to be a person of foreign, i.e. non-Israelitish, extraction resident within the limits of the promised land. He was distinct from the proper "foreigner," inasmuch as the latter still belonged to another country, and would only visit Palestine as a traveller: he was still more distinct from the "nations," or non-Israelite peoples. The term may be compared with our expression "naturalized foreigner." The terms applied to the "stranger" have special reference to the fact of residing in the land. The existence of such a class of persons among the Israelites is easily accounted for the "mixed multitude" that accompanied them out of Egypt,
formed one element the Canaanitish Population,which was never wholly extirpated from their native soil, formed another and a still more important one captives taken in war formed a third; fugitives, hired servants, merchants, etc., formed a fourth. With the exception of the Moabites and Ammonites,
De 23:3
all nations were admissible to the rights of citizenship under certain conditions. The stranger appears to have been eligible to all civil offices, that of king excepted.
De 17:15
In regard to religion, it was absolutely necessary that the stranger should not infringe any of the fundamental laws of the Israelitish state. If he were a bondman, he was obliged to submit to circumcision,
if he were independent, it was optional with him but if he remained uncircumcised, he was prohibited from partaking of the Passover,
and could not be regarded as a full citizen. Liberty was also given to an uncircumcised stranger in regard to the use of prohibited food. Assuming, however, that the stranger was circumcised, no distinction existed in regard to legal rights ha between the stranger and the Israelite; to the Israelite is enjoined to treat him as a brother.
Le 19:34; De 10:19
It also appears that the "stranger" formed the class whence the hirelings were drawn; the terms being coupled together in
The liberal spirit of the Mosaic regulations respecting strangers presents a strong contrast to the rigid exclusiveness of the Jews at the commencement of the Christian era. The growth of this spirit dates from the time of the Babylonish captivity.
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A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.
but every man's slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.
"But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.
'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
'No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a sojourner with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift.
'All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you.
'He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee.
"So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.
"No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD,
Watsons
STRANGER. Moses inculcated and enforced by numerous and by powerful considerations, as well as by various examples of benevolent hospitality, mentioned in the book of Genesis, the exhibition of kindness and humanity to strangers. There were two classes of persons who, in reference to this subject, were denominated strangers, ????. One class were those who, whether Hebrews or foreigners, were destitute of a home, in Hebrew ??????. The others were persons who, though not natives, had a home in Palestine; the latter were ????, strangers or foreigners, in the strict sense of the word. Both of these classes, according to the civil code of Moses, were to be treated with kindness, and were to enjoy the same rights with other citizens, Le 19:33-34; 24:16,22; Nu 9:14; 15:14; De 10:18; 23:7; 24:17; 27:19. In the earlier periods of the Hebrew state, persons who were natives of another country, but who had come, either from choice or from necessity to take up their residence among the Hebrews, appear to have been placed in favourable circumstances. At a latter period, namely, in the reigns of David and Solomon, they were compelled to labour on the religious edifices which were erected by those princes; as we may learn from such passages as these: "And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred; and he set three score and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens," &c, 1Ch 22:2; 2Ch 2:1,16-17. The exaction of such laborious services from foreigners was probably limited to those who had been taken prisoners in war; and who, according to the rights of war, as they were understood at that period, could be justly employed in any offices, however low and however laborious, which the conqueror thought proper to impose. In the time of Christ, the degenerate Jews did not find it convenient to render to the strangers from a foreign country those deeds of kindness and humanity which were not only their due, but which were demanded in their behalf by the laws of Moses. They were in the habit of understanding by the word ??, neighbour, their friends merely, and accordingly restricted the exercise of their benevolence by the same narrow limits that bounded in this case their interpretations; contrary as both were to the spirit of those passages which have been adduced above, Le 19:18.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
'When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
'Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'"
'If an alien sojourns among you and observes the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.'"
'If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, just as you do so he shall do.
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
"You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land.
"You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge.
'Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.