In every society there are strangers, people who are different from the majority. Foreigners often have a different position within a society. They have a different cultural background. They come from another country. They behave differently, they dress differently, they have different customs and they speak a different language. Strangers have always existed. Also in Biblical times people came into contact with strangers. The Bible writes about this. What guidelines does the Bible provide for dealing with strangers? In the Old Testament, God gives the people of Israel instructions for this. The New Testament also talks about strangers. The central focus is on good care for the foreigner.
The Stranger in the Bible
How is the Bible written about foreigners? The answer to that is not clear. It makes quite a difference which strangers are talked about. In the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, four different words are used that can be translated into English as ‘stranger’. One stranger is not the same as the other. Some are close to the people of Israel. They are part of the social and religious community. Other foreigners are clearly not included. Depending on the group of foreigners, guidelines are given for dealing with them. The New Testament also talks about strangers. There is an outward movement visible in the New Testament. What Jesus started in Israel is ultimately intended for all nations.
Four different Hebrew words for the stranger
There are four words in the Old Testament that can be translated into English as the word stranger. The Hebrew word ger is used for foreigners living within Israel’s borders who have certain rights. This is about the stranger who has found his place among the Israelites and is open to their laws. This stranger, who lives in Israel ( ger ), is recommended in the Old Testament for the protection of the people. The foreigners also live within the borders of Israel, represented in Hebrew by the word toshav . They are aliens (non-Israelites) with limited rights. Usually these are people from the Canaanite peoples, who inhabited the land before the Israelites settled there and who were given a place among the Israelites. In addition, there are also the people of foreign nations. They are considered heathens and enemies. This group is referred to by the Hebrew word nochri . This is usually translated as the word foreigner. Finally, there is also the zar . This concerns the dangerous stranger, the barbarian (Isaiah 25:2).
Caring for the weak in society
In the Hebrew Bible, the people of Israel are instructed several times to take good care of the weak in society. In Biblical times it was difficult for widows, orphans and also for strangers to survive. They
are often mentioned in the same breath. ‘You must not exploit or oppress foreigners, because you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. You may not exploit widows and orphans either. If you do this and they beg me for help, I will certainly listen to them” (Exodus 22:20-22). The Israelites are commanded to care for the poor, even if they are foreigners. ‘If one of you falls into poverty and cannot support himself, you shall help him as you would help a stranger who is your guest; you shall not let it fade away” (Leviticus 25:35).
You yourselves have been strangers
The command to take good care of foreigners is substantiated by the fact that the people of Israel used to reside in Egypt as foreigners. They know what it means to be a stranger. ‘You are not allowed to exploit foreigners. For you know what it feels like to be strangers, because you yourselves were strangers in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). Even before the descendants of Jacob were sojourners in Egypt, the patriarch Abraham was sojourners in Egypt. The people of Israel had to confess the following before the Lord: My father was a wandering Aramean. He went into Egypt and lived there as a stranger with a handful of people, but they grew into a very great and mighty nation” (Deuteronomy 26:5). The Israelites are to treat the strangers with love. Thus says the Lord: “You also must treat strangers with love, for you yourselves were strangers in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).
Being a stranger yourself
Believers can feel like strangers on earth. In an environment where many people do not believe in God and do not keep His commandments, a person may feel like an outsider if faith in God is dear to him. This is expressed in the Psalms. In Psalm 119 the poet says, “I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide your commandments from me” (Psalm 119:19). Like a stranger in an unknown land, the believer feels the need for a guide to choose the right path. The law of the Lord is a sure guide for him.
The Stranger in the New Testament
In the Old Testament, a stranger is someone who does not belong to the people of Israel. The view of the foreigner is viewed from the perspective of national historiography. The New Testament begins with the Gospels. They tell the story of Jesus. Jesus generally addresses primarily the Israelites. To a Canaanite woman who begs Him to heal her daughter, Jesus says: I have only been sent to the lost sheep of the people of Israel (Matthew 15:24). If the woman persists, Jesus makes it even stronger.
But she came near and fell down before him and said, ‘Lord, help me!’ He replied, ‘It is not good to take away the children’s bread and feed it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Sure, Lord, but the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, “You have great faith! What you desire will come to pass.” And from that moment on her daughter was healed (Matthew 15:25-28).
Because of her wise answer and her tenacious faith, this woman found Jesus ‘ ear. Also in another place Jesus meets a stranger with great faith. This time it is a Roman centurion. About his faith, Jesus says: ,I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west, and will sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 8:11). ). Jesus shows that in the future many from the east and from the west, strangers from all nations, will participate as believers in the kingdom of God.
Peter’s vision
The gospel of Jesus is for all people from all nations. After his resurrection, Jesus instructed his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). At first the gospel was proclaimed mainly to Jews, but later also to Gentiles. This was a big step for the Jewish disciples, as the Gentiles were considered unclean. Jewish law forbade entering a stranger’s home because contact with non-Jews made it ritually unclean. So this had to be avoided. The apostle Peter received a vision that made it clear to him that the Gentiles may also be baptized and belong to God. In the vision he received three times, he received the command from God to eat unclean animals. The ritual distinction made in the law between clean and unclean animals is a reference to the distinction between Jews and non-Jews. For Peter, this vision meant that the strangers, the foreigners, may join the circle of believers (Acts 10). The apostle Paul agrees. He writes to the Galatians: ‘There is no more Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28).
Jesus and the Samaritans
The Samaritans are a separate population group in the Bible. In Jesus’ time, Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other. They avoided each other as much as possible. In Old Testament terms, the Samaritans fell under the group of nochri or the zar . They were seen as hostile, unclean strangers. It is special that Jesus interacts with them positively. He approaches a Samaritan woman at a well and asks her for water. A pastoral-theological conversation arises between them (John 4). In another place, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. For example, he sets a stranger as an example of charity (Luke 10: 25-37).
The stranger as an image of God
In an essay, the British Rabbi Jonathan Sacks describes the stranger as an image of God. Genesis describes how man is created in God’s image. Sacks recognizes that a stranger is different from us. He speaks a different language and he behaves differently. Sacks has God say to this: The alien was not created in your image, but they were created in my image.