Sojourner

Biblical Texts

A sojourner is a person who lives in a place that is not his or her homeland. Depending on context, the Korean Revised Version, New Edition renders the concept as nageune ("stranger"), georyumin ("resident alien"), gaek ("guest" or "stranger"), or ibang nageune ("foreign stranger").

• The patriarchs and Moses: While seeking land in which to bury Sarah, Abraham told the Hittites, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you" (Genesis 23:4). Moses named the son born to him in Midian Gershom, expressing through that name that he had become a stranger in a foreign land (Exodus 2:22).
• The law: Exodus 22:21, Leviticus 19:33–34, and Deuteronomy 10:18–19 command that the stranger not be mistreated but be loved as oneself. The reason given is the memory that "ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." One provision requires that grain be left behind at harvest so that the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow may gather it (Deuteronomy 24:19). Another commandment requires that "thy stranger that is within thy gates" also rest on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10).
• Ruth and the Psalms: The Moabite woman Ruth called herself "a stranger" before Boaz (Ruth 2:10). The psalmist in Psalm 39:12 calls himself a stranger with the Lord, and Psalm 146:9 declares that "The LORD preserveth the strangers."
• New Testament: In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus says, "I was a stranger, and ye took me in" (Matthew 25:35). Hebrews 11:13 records that the forefathers of faith "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." First Peter addresses its recipients as "strangers scattered" (1 Peter 1:1) and as "strangers and pilgrims" (1 Peter 2:11).

Background and Original Languages

The Hebrew word ger refers to a resident of foreign origin who has settled among the Israelites. A ger usually had no inherited land, and for this reason the law frequently groups the ger with the fatherless and the widow as vulnerable people to be protected. Toshav likewise denotes one who dwells as a resident, and it is sometimes paired with ger (Genesis 23:4; Leviticus 25:23). A foreigner merely passing through is sometimes distinguished by the term nokri.

The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) frequently rendered ger as prosēlytos. This word later acquired the fixed sense of "proselyte," a convert to Judaism. In the New Testament, paroikos (resident alien), parepidēmos (temporary resident), and xenos (stranger, guest) are used with similar meanings.

Significance Across Scripture

The term "sojourner" carries two strands of meaning.

• Ethical meaning: Israel's experience of living as strangers in Egypt serves as the basis for the command to care for the sojourners in their midst.
• Spiritual identity: Leviticus 25:23 states that the land belongs to God and that the people are sojourners before Him. Here the sojourner becomes a way in which God's people understand themselves.

The New Testament takes up both strands. Hebrews interprets the sojourning patriarchs as longing for a better country (Hebrews 11:13–16). First Peter describes the situation of believers scattered throughout the world as that of sojourners. Ephesians 2:19, by contrast, says that Gentile believers are now "no more strangers and foreigners." In this verse the term denotes the condition of being outside the people of God. The exhortation to show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2) carries forward the ethic of welcoming the sojourner.

Interpretations and Issues

• Spiritual pilgrimage and social hospitality: Puritan and revivalist devotional traditions have emphasized a pilgrim consciousness expressed in the conviction that "this world is not our home." Those who stress social engagement read the term as grounds for hospitality toward immigrants and refugees. Most denominations teach both meanings, but which one receives priority varies by denomination and preacher. Some critics argue that an excessive pilgrim consciousness leads to neglect of present realities.
• "The least of these" in Matthew 25: Interpreters differ as to whether this phrase refers to Jesus' disciples and Christians or to all who suffer.
• Text and later interpretation: Those who "have entertained angels unawares" in Hebrews 13:2 are commonly explained with reference to the hospitality of Abraham and Lot (Genesis 18–19). The text of Hebrews, however, does not name them.

In the Korean Church

Expressions such as "a sojourner's life" and "the sojourner's road" frequently appear in sermons and prayers, especially at funeral services, to speak of the transience of life and the hope of heaven. In church ministries that serve migrant workers and marriage immigrants, the provisions in Leviticus and Deuteronomy for protecting sojourners are frequently cited.