Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SOJOURNER

A “foreigner” or “resident alien” residing among a people or in a land not his or her own (Heb. gēr, usually translated “stranger” or “alien”).

The sojourner prototype was Abraham (Gen. 12:10; 23:4; cf. Heb. 11:9). The continuing sojourner/alien status of Abraham’s progeny is recalled for perpetuity in the credo of Deut. 26:5-10. When Israel became established as a nation and a people, remembrance of Israel’s past alien status justified laws regarding fair treatment of the alien among them (Exod. 22:21[MT 20]; 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19). Officially aliens in Israel enjoyed equal status with regard to worship (Num. 9:14; 15:15-16), sabbath rest (Exod. 23:12; Deut. 5:14), and, with widows and orphans, protective care (Exod. 22:21-24[20-23]; Deut. 24:17, 19-20; cf. Mal. 3:5). This may have been especially or only true for the circumcised alien (Exod. 12:48-49). Alien legislation includes an early example of the so-called great commandment: “You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:34).

Of course, in everyday life the alien in Israel did not always enjoy equal or even fair treatment. In fact, Heb. gēr may stem from Akk. gārû, “enemy” or “opponent.” As still today, in ancient times to be a “stranger” was to be considered hostile. Hostility toward aliens was apparent especially in the extreme measures taken by Ezra and Nehemiah following the Exile to segregate the alien wives and their children and those Israelites who had “mixed” with them (1 Esdr. 8:69-70; Ezra 10:44; Neh. 13:3) — the despised Samaritans.

The LXX renders gēr as prosḗlytos, “proselyte.” By NT times gēr, “sojourner/alien,” came to have a more religious than ethnic meaning. There is a blurring of distinctions between the sojourners/aliens, the proselytes proper, and the so-called God-fearers who were attracted first to Judaism and then to Christianity. Eph. 2:19 refers to the gentile “God-fearer” converts as “no longer strangers and aliens, but . . . citizens . . . [and] members of the household of God.”

In the final analysis, pious Jews viewed themselves as aliens sojourning in God’s world (Lev. 25:23; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12[13]), i.e., as utterly dependent on God’s grace as the resident alien was dependent on those among whom he or she lived.

Edmon L. Rowell, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SOJOURNER

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)