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To: Raycpa
Firstly, I want to be perfectly clear that we are to love the sojourner as our own people. That is not up for discussion.

I have reviewed many sources, and attempted to carefully seek the Lord's will on this issue. The best source I have found to date is The Anchor Bible Dictionary from which the following is taken, and reprinted with permission. Please note the sojourner was expected to obey the law, and I hope I do not have to bring up the penalities for disobedience. I hope this answers your questions.

SOJOURNER [Heb gēr (גֵּר); Gk paroikos (παροικος)]. A foreigner who is traveling through a land or one who has taken up residence in that land. The key is that the sojourner has no familial or tribal affiliation with those among whom he or she is traveling or living.
The Hebrew word derives from the root gwr. It is a common Afrasian root which appears in Egyptian and in the Semitic languages Phoenician, Ugaritic, Old South Arabic and Aramaic as well as Hebrew. In all of these languages, the meaning is generally agreed upon. The nominal form of the root applies to someone who is not native to the area, and the verbal form means “to travel,” “to sojourn,” or “to stay in a foreign territory.” However, there is some variation in the way lexicographers have tried to capture the meaning of gēr, and suggestions have included “sojourner,” “foreign resident,” “stranger,” “foreigner,” “immigrant,” “client,” and “resident alien.” Sojourner is used most often because it conveys the idea that the individual is not a permanent member of the community in which he or she lives. The term client is frequently employed to indicate that the individual does not have full rights within a community and thus is dependent on a patron for protection.

:::snip:::

In biblical texts the term gēr is used in two basic ways: to describe the experiences of the Israelites themselves when they are living among foreigners; and to describe those non-Israelites who live among the Israelites. However, this distinction becomes confused when the claim is made that the Levites are gērı̂m (sojourners) among the Israelites. In all of these cases, there are certain expectations of both the native population and the sojourners.
In a number of places, Israelites are said to sojourn in a land. Abraham, because of a famine in Palestine, sojourned in Egypt (Gen 12:10), and, in one version of the “sister–wife” story, Abraham sojourns in Gerar (Gen 20:1). Apparently Lot’s criticism of the men of Sodom is seen as a violation of his role as sojourner (Gen 19:6–9). It appears that because of his status as sojourner, Abraham must make a specific request for permission to purchase land from the Hittites in Canaan in order to have a place to bury Sarah (Gen 23:4). In another version of the “sister–wife” story, Isaac is a sojourner in Gerar and is protected by Abimelech (Gen 26:3, 11). Gen 32:4 indicates that Isaac sojourned with Laban; Gen 36:6–7 tells of Jacob and Esau sojourning in the Canaan; and Gen 47:4 reports that Joseph and his brothers requested permission of the Pharaoh to sojourn in the land of Goshen. When the Israelites finally settled in Canaan, it was in the land of their sojourning, which God had promised to them (Gen 17:7; Exod 6:4). This understanding of the Patriarchs as sojourners is also found outside of the Pentateuch (cf. Ps 39:13—Eng 39:12; 105:12; 1 Chr 29:15).
The second way in which “sojourn” is employed is to describe foreigners who live among the Israelites. Often these foreigners are subject to the same laws as the Israelites (Exod 12:49; Num 15:16). Thus, the sojourner shall observe the day of atonement (Lev 16:29) and Passover (Num 9:14); shall refrain from consuming blood (Lev 17:10); shall not blaspheme the name of Yahweh (Lev 24:16); shall observe the statutes relative to the ashes of the red heifer (Lev 19:10); and shall receive equal treatment under the law (Deut 24:14). Only occasionally is there a law which makes a distinction between Israelite and sojourner (cf. Deut 14:21). The reason given for this equal treatment is that Israel was once a sojourner in the land of Egypt (Exod 23:9; Lev 19:33–34; Deut 10:19; 16:9–12).
While equal treatment for the sojourner is the norm, it is clear that the sojourner does not enjoy the same social status as that of the Israelite. This realization emerges initially when one sees the way in which the sojourner has to be singled out in biblical legislation. The sojourner is not a full member of Israelite society but someone of different and lower status. The same perspective appears when one looks at the reference to the sojourner in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:10). The sojourner is listed after sons, daughters, servants, and cattle. This secondary status can be seen in that the most frequent context in which the “foreigners” are mentioned includes mention of widows, orphans, and the poor (Lev 23:22; Deut 10:18; 24:17, 19; Jer 7:6; 22:3; Ezek 22:7, 29; Zech 7:10; Ps 94:6; 146:9). Widows, orphans, and the poor are to receive special consideration by the Israelites because of their lack of means of support, and so too are the sojourners.
So, like the widow and the orphan, the sojourner is in a distinct social class, part of a group which requires special care and protection. The Israelites are expected to provide this care and protection for these foreigners who live among them, because they too were once foreigners sojourning in a strange land. As is stated in Leviticus 19:34, “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your God.”
In the NT (and in the LXX) the Greek word paroikos is used to translate the Hebrew gēr and to convey the idea of a sojourner or resident alien. It appears only four times in the NT. In StephenÂ’s speech in Acts 7, he uses the word to refer to AbrahamÂ’s time as a sojourner (v 6) and MosesÂ’ sojourning in Midian (v 29). In Ephesians 2:19 the writer states that those who join the “household of God” will no longer be sojourners. In 1 Peter 2:11 the writer beseeches the sojourners “to abstain from the passions of the flesh.” These usages are consistent with those of the Hebrew Bible which see gēr as a sojourner in a foreign land.
63 posted on 03/18/2006 10:02:53 AM PST by GarySpFc (de oppresso liber)
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To: GarySpFc

Based on what you copied, how is it possible to justify throwing them out?


65 posted on 03/18/2006 10:21:18 AM PST by Raycpa
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