Strangers is the favourite rendering in AV, not only of Ijj or i?:-]? and \i (see below), but also of "13 and afJiB. The latter circum&tance is specially unfortunate, because it obscures to the Eng. reader the distinction between the foreigner and the ger, which in Heb. is marked clearly enough, and on which not a little depends for the understanding of many passages. The ^Sr is indeed a foreigner by birth, but he resides m Israel and is protected by the community ; whereas the foreijjner proper ("I'i) is not only an alien by birth, but lias neither lioine nor rights in Israel It would have been well if RV had uniformly, instead of occasionally, substituted 'sojourner" for 'stranger' as the tr° of "13, and left ' strangei,' 'foreigner,' 'alien' to represent such words as ijj and ii.
We shall now examine the linguistic u.sage of the last two Heb. words and their equivalents in LXX and NT.
(a) n; izir) in its root meaning appears acarcely to differ from gSr, although ultimately the two words have very different connotations. The orig. sense of both is one who turns asiae from the way (sc. to lodge somewhere). It is easy to connect this with the idea of a stranger or ati^n. Amongst other applications 11 is used to designate one who is not of a priestly family. Ex 2ff<3 3033, Nu sm- 8S 187 (aU P), Lv 2210- !» " (H). or who does not belong to the tribe of Levi, Nu 1" 18^ (P). "The plur. D'ni is a frequent designation of foreign (generally hostile) peoples in contrast to Israel, Hos 79 S', Is 1', Ezk T^i, Jl 3", Ob 1* etc. The LXX equivalents are iXJ^rpiei and iXXtyif^t, the former of which occurs not infrequently in NT, the latter only once (Lk 17^8 of the Samaritan leper).
(i) -i;; (nokhri) or 'cril (tlen-n^khdr). If the root Idea here is Hrangenegs, perhaps 'stranger' might with advantage be reserved as the special tr° of these two equivalent terms. n^J Is y n)i 'exile' in 2 8 1519 (of Ittai the Oittite); it is opposed to a 'brother' (nN), i.e. a fellow-Israelite, in Dt 15^ 17"; it is used of the stranger who directs his prayer towards the temple of Israel's Ood, 1 K 8*1 = 2 Oh 632 ; of the foreign wives (ni■^:;X Ezr 103 ; of foreign garb ClyJ Eha^D perhaps referring to the uniform of the foreign body-guard), Zeph 18 (cf. I?}'*?? 'every- thing foreign,' Neb 1330). The commonest LXX equivalent il aXA«T^/« (cf. Ac 7*, He 119-34). aiXXoyitrit also occurs (/.a. On n^J, Ex 12«, Lv 22», Is SOS-H) and IlXXc^Xm (Is 2« 61*). This last, wliich is the favourite LXX tr" of D'Pf '75 (Philistines), occurs only once in NT (Ac lO^s of Cornelius). Another favourite LXX rendering of i;j Is {i.« {e.g. 2S 16'» of IttoiX It is the exact opposite of \vtxipi**. The only Instances of it« occurrence in NT are Mt 2534 si *» 277, Ao 17*1. Eoh S^ '» Hell", 3Jn».
As in olden times foreigner and enemy were almost convert- ible terms, we find both it and "l^; used so as to include the idua of hostility or barbarism (cf. Is 1', Ps M», Ezk ll", Hos 7» [all C"!!), Ps IS**^ «» ("i;j 'j;l. The same meaning of hottile Is contained in the ixyirpM of He lis*, 1 Mac 1»8 S7, Sir *518 etc.).
Presencte and Position of Foreigners in I.'SRAEL. — In the early stages of their history, the relations of Israel to foreigners did not differ essen- tially from those of other nations. As the law, however, was grjftlually introduced, the attitude of Israelites to non- Israelites underwent a material change, until ultimately the 'nations' outside
50
FOKEIGNEK
FOREIGXEK
Israel became the ' heathen,' while the stranger domiciled in Israel, the 'jcr,' became tlie ' prose- lyte'(Uertholet).
(a) The pre- Deuteronomic Period. — Our earliest sources contain abundant references to foreigners, whetlier passing stranj;ers or residents in Israel. Trade was frequently the motive of their visits. The two words for ' merchant,' ins and Szi, both mean originally 'traveller' ; in Pr Zl''* and Job 41" ' Canaanite ' is synonymous with ' trader,' showing that in early times the travelling merchantmen in Palestine had been, not Israelites, but Canaanites. The danger of travelling alone (Jg 5") was avoided by caravans, some of the most important of whose trade-routes traversed Palestine (Gn ST'", 1 K 10-, Is 8-3 [Eng. 9'] 60"- ', Ezk 20-). It must never be forgotten that from the occupation of Canaan downwards Israel was in constant contact with foreigners in the shape of the large remnants of the original inliabitants of the land. Our different sources offer different explanations of the survival of the Canaanites, but they all agree as to the fact (Ex 23^, Dt 7^, Jg 22» 31*-). We have the well- kno\\Ti stoi^y of the Gibeonites (Jos 9), as well as a whole list of Can. towns enumerated amongst the various Isr. tribes (Jg !"*•) ; in 1*^'- it is the Isr. that dwell among the Can., while Issachar is actually tributary to the latter (Gn 49''"-)- In Jg 5" (of. 12") we hear of Amalekite remnants, in Jg S» (cf. Ex IS""-), Nu W\ 1 S IS" of Kenites, Midianites, etc. The Jerahmeelites, the clans of Caleb, Othniel, Kenaz, etc. (1 S 30"- =9), appear to have been of Arabian or Edomite origin. Even at the era of the Exodus the early narrative JE speaks of a ' mixed multitude ' which attached itself to Israel (Ex 12^, Nu 11*). Shechera was still a Can. city in the time of Abinielech (Jg 9) ; Jerus. continued in the possession of the Jebusites Aown to the time of David (2 S 5"^-), and even after its conquest by the latter we find Araunah the Jebusite still in possession of property there (2 S 24 ; cf. Jos IS^^, Jg 1=') ; RahaVs descendants dwell in Israel 'to this day' (Jos 6^, JE) ; Gezer is first taken from the Can. bv the Pharaoh who was Solomon's father-in-law (1 If 9'").