About STRANGER

What does STRANGER mean?

The Hebrew word ger can mean “stranger,” “foreigner” or “convert,” all of whom are vulnerable outsiders often forced to live on the outskirts of society.

Description about STRANGER

The Hebrew word ger can mean “stranger,” “foreigner” or “convert,” all of whom are vulnerable outsiders often forced to live on the outskirts of society. When Abraham asks the Hittites to sell him a burial plot for Sarah, he refers to himself as a ger toshav, a “resident stranger” in the land. The term appears to be a contradiction; if Abraham is a resident, then he is not a stranger, and if he is a stranger, then he is not a resident. But upon deeper contemplation, we see that Abraham’s phrase captures the tenuousness of the human condition. Abraham calls himself a “stranger” in this world, for though he is alive right now, he recognizes that, like his wife Sarah, he will not live forever. At the same time, Abraham is a “resident” of this world, for he is still alive and capable of fulfilling his mission on Earth. Forced to flee from Egypt to the land of Midian, Moses referred to himself as a ger and chose a name for his son that reflected his outsider status. “He named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land” (Exodus 22:2). In Biblical times, the word ger was often used to refer to people from other nations who were living within the borders of Israel. If these people renounced idol worship, they were permitted to stay and even protected by the laws of the Bible. “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19). God considers the Israelites’ own experience as hated strangers in Egypt as the foundation for their responsibility and obligation to care for strangers within their own borders.

Where is STRANGER in the Bible?

Genesis 23:4, Deuteronomy 10:19

What did STRANGER do in the Bible?

What does the Bible say about STRANGER?