Notes on Foreigners

The Resident Alien

• The Hebrew word is gerim. These are people who live within Israel's borders, often as refugees or laborers.
• Leviticus 19:33-34 "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."
• These people were granted legal rights equal to those of native-born Israelites.
• However, they were required to follow the laws of the land.

The Hostile Foreigner

• The Hebrew words are zarim and nokrim. These are people with political ties to other nations or who came as invaders.
• II Samuel 22:45-46 "Foreigners pretend obedience to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. Foreigners lose heart, and come trembling out of their fortresses."

Limited Immigration

Some groups were barred or treated with extreme caution due to historical risks.

Ammonites and Moabites:

• Deuteronomy 23:3-4 "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, 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."
• Nehemiah 13:1-3 "On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel."

Military Response

Ammonites

• I Samuel 11 - Saul repelled the Ammonites who besieged Jabesh-Gilead

Marital Restrictions

• Worshipers of false gods were forbidden to marry Israelites to prevent corruption (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; Ezra 9:1-2; Nehemiah 13:23-29)

Walls and Borders

• Most large cities and many smaller ones had fortified walls.