Immigration and the Bible, pt. 2: Sojourners in the Land—Ethical Considerations
Introduction
This is part two in a
series I’m teaching in my Sunday school class on the subject of immigration and the
Bible. In part one (which you can find here)
we examined the general historical context of immigration in the ancient Near East.
One of the important points to remember from part one is that a distinction is made in
Scripture between a sojourner dwelling in the land as a permanent resident
(Heb., ger) and a foreigner who was
just passing through or temporarily doing business in the land (nekhar or zar). In this post we want to consider what Scripture teaches
concerning our ethical responsibility toward sojourners in the land.
Sojourners in the Land—Ethical
Considerations
We understand of course,
that we have an obligation to treat everyone humanely—native born citizens,
legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, men,
women, children, and the rich and poor alike.
This obligation is grounded in the fact that we are all made in the
image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27). The Lord mentions this particular
ground for ethical behavior in the first recorded prohibition of murder. It
comes immediately after the flood.
“For
your lifeblood I will require a reckoning:
from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I
will require a reckoning for the life of man.
Whoever sheds the blood
of man,
by man shall his blood
by shed,
for God made man in his
own image.”
—
Genesis 9:5-6
This is a mandate from
God himself for the death penalty for the crime of murder. We should note well that
the fact that man is made in the image of God is stated as the reason for such a fearful penalty. The
word “for” at the beginning of the last line introduces a rationale for what
precedes. The dignity of man as a bearer of the image of God is so great that
to unjustly take his life is a crime of enormous proportions and deserves a
penalty equally as serious.
We are on good grounds to
infer that the same rationale (man bears the divine image) is the basis for all
ethics. We should do no harm to, nor commit any injustice against anyone,
because everyone is made in the image and likeness of God.
The Lord expressed this
obligation in another way in Leviticus, in the famous command: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
(Lev. 19:18b). Jesus identified this as the most important commandment of the
law after loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mk. 12:30).
Interestingly enough, the Lord applies this standard specifically to
sojourners.
“When a stranger [ger] sojourns [gur] with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall
treat the stranger [ger] who sojourns
[gur] with you as the native among
you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
—
Leviticus 19:33-34
The Lord hints in this
passage at an additional motive for treating the sojourner justly, a motive
rooted in Israel’s own bitter experience in Egypt: “you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
The Israelites had been welcomed into Egypt as legal sojourners. But the Egyptians
eventually turned against them, did wrong to them, oppressed them, and enslaved
them. Israel therefore knew what it was like to be poorly treated in a foreign
land. That experience was to make them all the more considerate of the
sojourners who lived among them, a point repeated several times.
“You shall not wrong a
sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Ex.
22:21)
“You shall not oppress a
sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the
land of Egypt” (Ex. 23:9)
“He executes justice for
the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and
clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of
Egypt” (Deut. 10:19)
The general prohibition
is, “You shall not wrong or oppress them.” Other commandments prohibit specific
acts of oppression, for instance in the matter of wages.
“You shall not oppress a
hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one
of the sojourners [ger] who are in
your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day,
before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you
to the Lord, and you be guilty of
sin.
—
Deuteronomy 24:14-15
Those who hired
themselves out for daily labor did so because they had no other means of
earning a living; they had no fields, no crops, nor herds or flocks, or shop or
business of their own. A typical Israelite raised crops and would have stores
of food laid up to tide him over until the next harvest. Not so the hired hand.
This is why in the ancient world it was considered a matter of justice that he
be paid on a daily basis for his labor.[1]
Here the Lord reinforces this ethical obligation. The obligation is also
mentioned in Leviticus: “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The
wages of a hired servant[2]
shall not remain with you all night until the morning” (Lev. 19:13).
The Lord’s concern for
the wellbeing of sojourners can also be seen in the provisions of the fourth
commandment.
Six days you shall labor,
and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any
work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female
servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
—
Exodus 20:9-10
This is framed as a
commandment for sojourners to refrain from working on the Sabbath just like
everyone else in Israel, but it also serves to protect them (like it protects
servants) from being required to work on the Sabbath. It ensures they get a
weekly day of rest. They benefit from the blessings of the Sabbath like the
native Israelite. This is stated more explicitly in Exodus 23:12.
Six days you shall do
your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey
may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien [ger], may be refreshed.
—
Exodus 23:12
We also find that Israel
was prohibited from denying or perverting justice due to a sojourner.
You shall not pervert
the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless or take a widow’s garment
in pledge.
—
Deuteronomy 24:17
Cursed be anyone who
perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
—
Deuteronomy 27:19
In the dark days before
the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel lamented, “Father and mother are treated with
contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless
and the widow are wronged in you” (Ezek. 22:7; cf. v. 29).
We notice in these
verses that the sojourner is frequently mentioned along with the fatherless and
widow and others who are “poor” or “needy.” All of these are objects of God’s
special concern because they are the most vulnerable people in society, the
easiest and most likely to be forgotten or exploited.
Not only does the Lord
wish to ensure that justice is not denied to them, but also that they become
the objects of Israel’s benevolent care. We find, for instance, that they are
all mentioned together as proper recipients of the poor tithe.
“At the end of every
three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year
and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no inheritance
with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your
towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”
—
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (cf. 26:12)
The poor tithe was only one
means of providing for the poor. Another was by way of the gleaning laws.
When you reap the
harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge,
neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not
strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your
vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
—
Leviticus 19:9-10 (cf. 23:22)
The Lord solemnly warned
Israel through Malachi of the judgment that awaited them for their failure in
these matters.
Then I will draw near to
you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the
adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the
hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who
thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
—
Malachi 3:5
“Thrusting aside the
sojourner” may be taken as either refusing to hear his case in a court of law
(thus denying him justice), or as refusing the benevolent care to which he is
entitled under the law (thus denying him compassion).
Equal Treatment
(Protection) under the Law
Everything we have
mentioned so far can be summarized under the rubric, “equal treatment
(protection) under the law,” a long cherished legal principle in the
Judeo-Christian West. The principle is stated explicitly several times in
Scripture. It applies, for instance, to participation in the celebration of
Passover.
“If a stranger [ger] shall sojourn [gur] with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised.
Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no
uncircumcised person shall eat of it [i.e.., whether native or sojourner]. There shall be one law for the native
and for the stranger [ger] who
sojourns [gur] among you.”
—
Exodus 12:49
It applies likewise to
the presentation of sacrifice and offering.
“If a stranger [ger] is sojourning [gur] with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he
wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he shall do as you do. For the
assembly, there shall be one statute forever throughout your generations. You
and the sojourner [ger] shall be
alike before the Lord. One law and
one rule shall be for you and for the stranger [ger] who sojourns [gur]
with you.”
The “one law” statute
also applies to crime and punishment.
“Whoever takes a human
life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it
good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be
done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever
injury he has given a person shall be given to him. Whoever kills an animal
[belong to another man] shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be
put to death. You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the
native, for I am the Lord your
God.”
—
Leviticus 24:17-22 (cf. 18:26)
This stands in sharp
contrast to other legal codes of the ancient Near East which often assigned
more lenient penalties to native citizens when their crimes were committed
against resident aliens or others who were in a lower socio-economic class.[4]
The one rule statute of Scripture is an integral component of that righteousness
and justice that form the foundation of God’s throne (Ps. 97:2) and if properly
implemented would make the nations stand in awe of Israel and say, “Surely this
great nation is a wise and understanding people” (see Deut. 4:5-8).
[1]
See the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, Matthew 20:1-16. The owner of
the vineyard went out in the morning to hire workers and then paid them in the
evening.
[2] Whether “one of your brothers or
one of the sojourners who are within your land within your towns,” as per Deut.
24:14-15.
[3] Jewish scholar Jacob Milgrom, who
has been described as “the most significant Jewish authority on all things
legal and ceremonial in Israel” (Daniel Block), points out that Old Testament law requires the sojourner to obey all the
prohibitive commandments, but not the performative ones. See Jacob Milgrom, Numbers in The JPS Torah Commentary,
Excursus 34, pp. 398-402
[4] See Martha Roth, ed., Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia
Minor, 2nd edition (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1997)
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