The Christian communities addressed in 1 P 1' are called ^k\£ktoI irapeiriOTj/xoi StaaTopd?. AV loosely translates ' to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,' and wrongly transfers iK\eKToU to the verse following. Read with RV ' to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion,' or simply ' to the elect sojourners of the Dispersion.' It is now generally agreed that ' St. Peter had in his mind predominantly, though probably not exclusively, Gentile readers,' and that diaairopas, like the pre- ceding wa.peTrldT)ij.oi, is used to describe their religious condition, both words being ' taken from the vocabulary created by Jewish history and after- wards transferred to the Christian Church ' (F. H. Chase in HDB iii. 783' ; T. Zahn, Introduction to NT, Eng. tr., Edinburgh, 1909, ii. 141, 153, n. 5). In 1 P 2" a strong moral appeal is made to Christians as irdpoiKoi Kal irapeiriSTHioi. : here, vdpotKoi. having the first claim to 'sojourners,' it was necessary that wapeirlSrifiot should be translated by a different word, and ' pilgrims,' which, in its Latin form peregrini, is used by the Vulgate in this verse, at once suggested itself. It is to be noticed that the rendering ' sojourners ' for 'strangers' in 1 P 2" connects the appeal made with the exhortation given in I", iv (p6§if rhv rrii ■jrapoiKLas vfxujv xP^^ov dva(TTpd(pr}T£.*
'Alien' occurs twice in the NT <AV). In He IP^ the fine rendering 'armies of the aliens' (dXkorpluiv) could not be improved upon. In Eph 2'^ RV rightly substitutes the verb for the noun, as required by the Greek text, dTrrjWoTpiufiifoi t7}s iroXireias, 'alienated from the commonwealth of Israel ' (cf. 4", Col P^).
' Foreigner ' (from foraneus) was not a word in common use when the AV was made, and in the NT is found only in Eph 2" (ovKin iari ^ivot xai TrdpoiKoi). We regret the disappearance of the in- spiriting words ' no more strangers and foreigners,'
* Note on eiriStjiueu', TrapeTrifiij^os. — ' In distinction from en-cSTj^eif, it [Trapeiri5T)juo9] emphasises more definitely the merely temporary character of the residence ' (Zafan, ii. 139).
STEANGER, ALIEN, FOREIGiN EK STRAxXG ER, ALIEN, FOREIGNER 531
but must admit the consistency of RV \n trans- lating ' no more strangers ami sojourners.'
In ivliat follows, tliis study of words is supple- mented by some reflexions of a devotional and practical nature.
1. Christ and the stranger.— Kindness to the striin"er-yucst lias ahvays hccn one uf the most attractive features of Eastern life and m:imiers. 'From the earliest times of Semitic life the aw- lessness of the desert . . . has been temiiercd hy the iirinciiile that the {-uest is inviolable (\\ . K. Smith, US-, London, 1894, p. 76). The description in Gn 18--* of Abraham's entertainment of his three mysterious visitors ' presents a perfect picture of the manner in which a modern licdawee sheyUli receives travellers arriving at his encampment (E W Lane, Manners (aid C-imtoms of the Modern Eqvptians\ London, 1871, i. 3ti4). The humani- tarian laws enjoined on Israel inclu.led the lollow- in>' • ' A stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither Shalt thou oppress him ; f"'" J'e \vere strangers in the land of Egypt' (Ex '22='; cf. SS", Lv I'J^- «, j)j jijis. 19) xhe stranger, who is to be made welcome, and whose rights are to „^e respected, often comes into view, e.g. m Ru 2i«, Ps 94'' Hb", Mai 3'. In Greece, Zeis ayopa'toi, the Trotector ot the assembly of the people, was also Zeus J^wos, the Protector of strangers. The beautiful story ot Philemon and Baucis, the aged Phrygian couple who received Zeus and Hermes into their hut when others had refused to take them m (cf. J B Lif'htfoot, Colossinns and Phdeman, London, 1875* p 370, who uses the legend to illustrate the scene at Lystra, Ac 14"), >"ust have had it_s origin in some mind which had conceived it possible that the gods might put men to the proof by visiting them in Imman form. The truth (.hus dimly sliadowed forth was realized in Jesus Christ. He, wlien ' found in fashion as a man, accejited the title of ' Prophet' as one which, ' so far as it went, was a true description of His work (H. B. Swete The Ascended Christ, London, 1910, p. o3), and in His preaching ministry, was dependent tor food and lodging on those who 'received him (Lk 10** 19°- '• cf. 2 K 4«-'°). In one of His last discourses He taught that the stranger was, along with others whom He named, one of His brethren or next of kin, who had the right to the same ministering love which had been shown toward Himself, and solemnly said that men s hnal accept- ance before Him as their Judge depended upon their recognizing and doing justice to that riglit. His authoritative and atlecting words J^^-os ^mI" Kal aw-nya-ttri fi( (Mt 2.'-)'») impressed it for ever on the heart of the Church that in receiving the stranger she fed and sheltered her Lord. 1 hey made care for the stranger a standing rule of Christian life (cf. J. R. Seeley, Eccv IIomo'\ London, 1873, p. 194). Their effects are seen in Ro !'>" 1 Ti 3= 5'", Tit l^ 3 Jn», Clem. Koin. i 1 2 Didache, xi. 2. It is somewhat remarkable that i'n He 13- our Lord's words are not referred to The marked feature of apostolic Christianity presented to view in these passages ijointed for- ward to the systematic provision whicli was made for the entertainment of strangers in the Jei-oSoxici, of post-apostolic times. 'A "saint, i.e. a Chris- tian, provided with a letter of recommendation from his church, could travel from one end ot the Roman Empire to the other without having any anxiety about a home. Wherever there was a Christian Church he was sure of receiving food and