The Stranger and Foreigner in the Bible

The stranger and foreigner occupy a tender and recurring place in the heart of Scripture, where God commands his people to love, protect, and welcome those who live among them as outsiders. From the very giving of the Law, Israel was reminded that they too had once been strangers: "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 22:21). Their own history of bondage was to make them tender toward the vulnerable, never repeating against others the injustice they had suffered. The command rises even higher in Leviticus, where the foreigner is not merely to be tolerated but loved: "You shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 19:34). This ethic of hospitality is rooted in the character of God himself. Deuteronomy declares that the Lord "loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing," and therefore commands, "Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 10:19). To welcome the stranger is to imitate God's own compassion. Jesus makes this care a mark of true discipleship, identifying himself with the outsider in the parable of the sheep and goats: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Matthew 25:35). How we treat the foreigner is, in his eyes, how we treat him. The New Testament continues this theme with both promise and identity. Hebrews urges believers, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2), recalling Abraham's welcome of heavenly visitors. At the same time, Peter reminds Christians that they themselves are "sojourners and exiles" in this world (1 Peter 2:11), citizens of a heavenly homeland passing through a foreign land. Holding both truths together, the believer welcomes the outsider with open arms while remembering that he, too, is only a pilgrim awaiting his true home with God.