What Do Scriptures Say About Immigration?

Immigration, particularly illegal immigration, is a big issue due to the rounding up of criminal illegal aliens and deporting them. In defense of illegal immigrants, Democrats often cite the Bible. I am a firm believer in scripture study and living according to the teachings of the prophets. However, I do not believe in misquoting or abusing scriptures.

James Hoffmeier noted that secularists and liberals rarely consult the Bible when making policies, and they “reject the Bible’s teachings on same-sex marriage, abortion, and trans ideology.” He said that he was surprised when the same people regularly cited the Old Testament while defending illegal aliens and/or sanctuary cities. 

As an Old Testament scholar, I was first intrigued by the fact that the Bible was even being used in the immigration debate, and yet I knew that the Bible was not being read seriously….

Three important questions must be raised before one attempts to apply Israelite law to the modern situation:

1. Was there such a thing as territorial sovereignty in the second millennium B.C. when these laws originated?

2.Within that socio-legal setting, what was a “stranger” or “sojourner”?

3. How does one obtain this status?

Regarding the first [question], the answer is unequivocal.

Nations small and large had clearly recognizable borders, typically demarcated by natural features such as rivers, valleys, and mountain ranges, much as they are today….

Wars were fought over where boundary lines would be drawn, and forts were strategically placed on frontiers to defend the territory and to monitor movements of pastoralists.

Permits akin to the modern visa were issued to people entering another land…

Secondly, what about the “stranger” or “alien”?

The Bible is not “a living, breathing document” that can mean whatever you want it to say. The question must be answered contextually and based on what the key words meant when they were written before we apply what that might mean in our own times.

The most significant Hebrew word for our discussion is ger, translated variously in English versions, which creates some confusion, as “stranger” (KJV, NASB, JB), “sojourner” (RSV, ESV), “alien” (NEB, NIV, NJB, NRSV), and “foreigner” (RNIV, NLT). It occurs more than 80 times as a noun and an equal number as a verb (gwr), which typically means “to sojourn” or “live as an alien.”

The problem with more recent English translations (e.g., TNIV and NLT) is that they use “foreigner” for ger, which is imprecise and misleading because there are other Hebrew terms for “foreigner,” namely nekhar and zar. The distinction between these two terms ger is that while all three are foreigners who might enter another country, the ger had obtained legal status.

There are several episodes in the Bible that illustrate how a foreigner became a ger.

The individual or party had to receive permission from the appropriate authority in that particular culture. Perhaps the best-known story has to do with the children of Israel entering Egypt.

In the book of Genesis, we are told of how during a time of famine in Canaan, the sons of Jacob did the natural thing under the circumstances – go to Egypt, where the Nile kept the land fertile. Even though their brother Joseph was a high-ranking official who had recommended to Pharaoh that they be allowed to settle in the northeast delta of Egypt, they felt compelled to ask Pharaoh for permission….

Here we notice that they declare their intention “to sojourn” (gwr) and deferentially they ask “please let your servant dwell in the land of Goshen.” No less authority than the king of Egypt granted this permission.

This means that the Hebrews, though foreigners, were residing in Egypt as legal residents, gers.

[Hoffmeier’s second story was about Moses was granted permission by Jethro to become a “sojourner,” “stranger,” or “alien.”]

Moses was thus able to call himself a sojourner (ger), not a foreigner (nakhiriyah) land. Gershom, his son’s name, contains the word ger, reflecting his change of status.

From the foregoing texts, we can conclude that in the ancient biblical world, countries had borders that were protected and respected and that foreigners who wanted to reside in another country had to obtain some sort of permission in order to be considered an alien with certain rights and privileges….

Finally, a brief word on the biblical practice of sanctuary….

Once again the conditions for sanctuary protection are plainly stated. “These six towns will be a place of refuge … so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there” (Numbers 35:15).

Sanctuary, then, is explicitly a place to get a fair hearing in the case of accidental death, but for no other crime. The cities of refuge were not a place to void trial or punishment.

American cities that use their communities to circumvent the law to help the illegal alien in the name of justice are doing a gross injustice to the letter and spirit of the biblical law.

I left out most of the article, but I highly recommend it for anyone interested in immigration and/or sanctuary cities. As he explains it, Democrats, Leftists, or others have no ground to quote the Bible in support illegal immigration or sanctuary cities.