The common English word stranger(s) appears in the KJV some 210 times. However, the ancient language Bible terms rendered “strangers” conveyed various shades of meaning. These ancient terms meant either: alien, sojourner, non-Israelite, foreigner, proselyte, visitor, guest, etc. The KJV word “strangers” doesn’t reflect those shades of meaning. Here we’ll identify and compare Old Testament (OT) Hebrew terms which show the meaning of types of “strangers”. Also we’ll identify the corresponding terms in the Greek OT Septúagint/LXX and Greek New Testament (NT).
1. Ger Strongs h1616 noun occurs 93 times in the OT Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT). In KJV English, the Hebrew ger is translated stranger 87 times. Próselyte Strongs g4339 is the corresponding noun in the Greek LXX (occurs 80 times), and is seen in the Greek NT 4 times.
A ger/proselyte was a (permanent) resident alien in ancient Israel. He enjoyed civil rights in Israel, but not property rights. The ger wasn’t a native landowner in the town or rural house where he resided (in the Holy Land). Bible genealogies were patrimonial; descent was reckoned from the father, not the mother (unlike in later Judaism). So the son of a ger/proselyte married to an Israelitess was himself a ger, and without property rights of his mother’s tribe. (That a ger is to have property rights in the future was prophesied in Ezk.47:22-23.)
After Israel exited Egypt for the Land of Canáan, in the LXX there’s no verse using proselyte g4339 that couldn’t refer to a circumcised alien in the Land! (Ex.22:21 & 23:9 Israelites previously were resident aliens in Egypt.)
By using the LXX term proselyte, the OT meaning is generally clearer than with the MT ger. But a proselyte (LXX) in the theocracy of ancient Israel differed in some respects from the later concept of a proselyte to Judaism seen in the NT. The 4 NT occurrences of proselyte are Mt.23:15; Ac.2:10, 6:5, 13:43. The rabbis’ meaning of proselyte in the Talmud of Judaism (see below) differed from the OT.
The term proselyte g4339 doesn’t occur in the LXX Genesis (or Job). The first occurrence in the LXX is Ex.12:48-49. “If any proselyte comes to you to keep the Passover to the Lord, you shall circumcise him, and he shall be as a native born of the Land. No uncircumcised man shall eat of it. There shall be one law to the native, and to the proselyte coming among you.” Israel was authorized to eat the Passover only at the tabernacle/temple city. The proselyte at that time was a circumcised resident alien only in the Holy Land, not in other nations besides Israel! (see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.)
Le.24:22 “There shall be one judgment for the proselyte and the native, I Am the Lord your God.” The same law of God and justice system applied to the proselyte as to the native born Israelite. (cf. Nu.15:15-16.) De.27:19 “Cursed is he who perverts the judgment of a proselyte, orphan, or widow.”
Christ told Moses/Israel in Le.19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself, I Am the Lord”. v.33-34 “If a proselyte comes to you in the Land, you shall not afflict him. The proselyte that comes to you shall be among you as the native, you shall love him as yourself.” Love the proselyte as oneself.
De.7:1-6 generally, the seven heathen peoples/“nations” who had inhabited the Land weren’t to be allowed ger/proselyte status. Intermarriage with them was forbidden; they weren’t to be assimilated into Israel. Those corrupt peoples were to be destroyed. (But not all were, see Jg.1:27-ff & 2Ch.8:7-8.)
The OT notes various other peoples who were either restricted, or allowed, proselyte status. De.23:2-8 Ammonites and Moabites were restricted (males only?); Edomites and Egyptians were allowed. Eugene Heideman “The two most prominent outsiders to enter fully into the life of Israel were women, Raháb the prostitute of Jericho (Jsh. 2:1-3; 6:22-25) and Ruth the Moabitess (Ru.1:6-19, 4:7-22).”
2Ch.2:17-18 by the time of King Solomon, there were at least 153,600 male proselytes in Israel. Over the centuries, proselytes/ger and their descendants were assimilated into Israel in the Land.
Of the 93 MT occurrences of ger h1616, 11 times the LXX translates it pároikos g3941 sojourner, instead of proselyte g4339 (permanent) resident alien.
2. Tosháb h8453 noun, occurs 14 times in the MT. Pároikos g3941 noun/adjective, is the LXX term. It occurs 27 times. (In 11 of the 27 occurrences, paroikos is used for ger…see below for the verses).
The toshab was an unnaturalized sojourner or temporary dweller (not just a visitor). Unlike proselytes, he wasn’t fully a citizen in Israel’s religious community. The toshab was uncircumcised, and therefore not authorized to eat the Passover (unlike the proselyte). Ex.12:45 “A sojourner [paroikos or toshab] or hireling shall not eat of it.” Le.22:10 the toshab couldn’t eat holy food. De.14:21 LXX a paroikos could have an animal that died of itself (was unbled). Conversely, Le.17:15 a proselyte couldn’t. (The LXX makes this distinction clearer than the MT.) Le.25:45-46 the Jubilee law of release didn’t apply to a toshab; his child could be a perpetual slave. Nu.35:15 city of refuge protection was given the toshab too. In 1Ch.29:15 & Ps.39:12, David referred to himself and his fathers as temporary sojourners/toshab/paroikos (LXX) on the earth in this fleeting life.
The LXX paroikos g3941 occurs more often than the Hebrew MT toshab h8453. Again, 11 times the MT h1616 ger is translated paroikos g3941 sojourner in the LXX…in Ge.15:13, Ge.23:4a, Ex.2:22, Ex.18:3, De.14:21, De.23:7, 2Sm.1:13, 1Ch.29:15, Ps.39:12a, Ps.119:19, Je.14:8. Paroikos generally better fits the sense. Ex.18:3 the name of Moses’ son Gershom commemorated Moses’ long temporary stay (semi-naturalized?) in Midian (Ac.7:29), before he returned to Egypt prior to the exodus.
In the NT, paroikos/sojourner g3941 occurs 4 times: Ac.7:29, 7:6; Ep.2:19. 1Pe.2:11 Christians metaphorically are as paroikos/temporary residents in the world. Paroikos also occurs in the apocrypha.
3. Nokrée h5237 adjective, MT 44 occurrences.
4. Nekár h5236 noun, MT 35 occurrences.
Two Greek terms used for nokree and nekar are: (1) Allótrios g245 adjective/noun, occurs in the LXX 118 times, in the NT 13 times (in Mt.17:25-26; Lk.16:12; Jn.10:5; Ac.7:6; Ro.14:4, 15:20; 2Co.10:15-16; 1Ti.5:22; He.9:25, 11:9, 34). Allotrios means other, belonging to another, or foreign. (2) Allogenés g241 adj/noun, occurs in the LXX 27 times, in the NT only in Lk.17:18. Allogenes means of another race or nation (or tribe). Nokree was translated in the LXX as: allotrios 37 times, allogenes 2 times, xénos (g3581) 4 times. Nekar was translated in the LXX as: allotrios 25 times, allogenes 9 times.
These four similar terms refer to everything alien or foreign, regardless of place of residence. Can refer to a permanent resident alien who once was a resident of another land. Or a person of a different race. The KJV usually rendered these terms, and also the terms ger and paroikos…simply as “strange(r).”
3. Nokree: De.15:3 there’s no release of debts for a nokree/allotrios, and he paid interest (De.23:20). De.14:21 a nokree/allotrios (and a paroikos) could have an animal that died of itself (was unbled). De.17:15 no nokree/allotrios was allowed to be king in Israel. De.29:22 nokree is foreign. Nokrees weren’t native Israelites; e.g. Jg.19:12, Ru.2:10, 1Ki.11:1. A nokree/allotrios could be from a far country, 1Ki.8:41. Ex.18:3 “In a foreign [nokree/allotrios] land.”
During the time of Ezra, in Ezr.9:1-2 & 10:2 the returnees from captivity were to put away their nokree/allotrios wives then. Yet earlier, marriages were allowed with some nokree peoples; again Ru.2:10 & 4:13, Jg.14:3. 2Ch.6:32 some nokree/allotrios were friendly, others weren’t. Solomon had numerous foreign wives, and wrote about nokree/allotrios adulteresses in Proverbs; Pr.2:16, 5:20, 6:24-26, 7:5-ff, etc. Barnes Notes Pr.2:16 “One who by birth is outside the covenant of Israel.” Ellicott Commentary “Belonging to another nation.”
Jesus ben Sírach wrote the book of Ecclesiásticus in Judaea in 180 BC. His grandson translated it from Hebrew into Greek, 132 BC. Sir.8:18 “Do nothing confidential in the presence of a stranger [allotrios].” 1 Maccabees was written in 104 BC, relating events of 175-164 BC during the reign of Antíochus Epíphanes. 1Mc.1:38 “Jerusalem became a dwelling place of strangers [allotrios].”
4. Nekar: Ex.12:43 “The Lord said to Moses, ‘This ordinance of the Passover, no nekar [allogenes] is to eat of it.” The nekar was uncircumcised, so he couldn’t eat the Passover. He didn’t enjoy privileges of the native born Israelite or the proselyte. Ge.17:12, 27 a nekar is of a different seed. Ne.9:2 the seed of Israel then was separated from all nekar. It seems nekar was a stronger term than nokree.
In several verses, nekar refers to strange/allotrios gods. e.g. Ps.81:9; De.32:12; Da.11:39; Mal.2:11. Some nekar were hostile. Ps.137:1-4 Babylon was a foreign/nekar/allotrios hostile land. David wrote of foreign foes in Ps.144:11. “Deliver me from the grasp of strangers [nekar/allotrios], who speak lies.”
Allogenes g241 meant of another race or nation. From intertestamental books: 1Esdras/Ezra 8:83 “The Land is polluted with the pollutions of strangers [allogenes].” People from other nations were dwelling in Judaea when Ezra returned from Babylonian exile. 1Mc.3:45 “Jerusalem was like a desert. Foreigners [allogenes] were in the citadel; the heathen inhabited that place.”
5. Zoor h2114 verb or noun, MT 77 occurrences. Zoor takes its meaning from the context. The LXX used a few terms for the MT term zoor: allotrios 33 times, allogenes 15 times, xenos 2 times. (The LXX allotrios 118 occurrences is for the MT terms: nokree 37 times, nekar 25 times, zoor 33 times, etc. Allotrios also can mean ‘other’.) The LXX allogenes also can mean one from another local tribe of Israel, such as a non-Levite layman. The MT zoor can mean a stranger to the family, clan or tribe.
De.25:5 an Israelite widow wasn’t to remarry outside the family into a different/zoor tribe. Nu.16:40 “No stranger [zoor] who is not a descendant of Aaron shall burn incense before the Lord.” Non-Aaronide laymen weren’t authorized to perform this priestly function. Nu.1:51 non-Levite zoor/allogenes/laymen weren’t to set up or take down God’s tabernacle. cf. Nu.18:4-7.
Le.10:1 “Nadáb and Abihú, the sons of Aaron, offered strange [zoor] fire.” Zoor can refer to profane or unholy. In Pr.2:16, 5:3, 20 zoor too referred to the strange foreign/nokree woman. Je.3:13 refers to strangers/zoor/allotrios. Is.43:12 strange/zoor/allotrios gods. Ho.7:9, Ezk.11:9, 28:10 zoor/foreigners.
Depending on the context, zoor can mean: unusual, uncustomary, different, strange, estranged, outsider. Zoor is a term closely related to nokree & nekar (less so to ger/proselyte, toshab/paroikos). There’s some overlap of terms across the centuries. In the KJV, zoor too is rendered “strange(r)”.
6. Xénos g3581 adjective/noun, LXX 8 occurrences, NT 14. This Greek term didn’t have an exclusive counterpart in the MT. Ruth said in Ru.2:10, “I am a foreigner [nokree/xenos]”. La.5:2 nokree/xenos. In the KJV NT, xenos is the most common word for “stranger”, often meaning guest. Mt.25:38 “I was a stranger [xenos] and you took me in.” Ep.2:12 they’d been strangers/xenos from the covenants.
7. Parepídemos g3927. This Greek adjective/noun appears 2 times in the LXX (Ge.23:4 & Ps.39:12 for toshab), and 3 times in the NT (He.11:13, 1Pe.1:1, 2:11). It means immigrant (or pilgrim). It’s the compound of the verb epideméo g1927 (seen only in Ac.2:10, 17:21), meaning ‘to be among people’.
With the passing of time, languages change. Some terms become synonymous, or may take on added meanings. Many become obsolete. And over the centuries, the meaning of proselyte/ger changed, as Jews spread their religion to other nations. They began to call converts outside the Land…proselytes!
ISBE “It did not belong to the economy of Old Testament religion to spread the knowledge of God directly among the Gentiles (Jonah is an exception to this). There was certainly no active propagandism. Though we read in Nehemiah 10:28 of those who ‘separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God’, the spirit of exclusiveness prevailed; the doubtful elements were separated (Ezra 4:3); mixed marriages were prohibited by the chiefs, and were afterward disapproved of by the people (Ezra 9; Ezra 10; Nehemiah 13:23). Direct proselytism did not begin till about a century later.”
Then proselytism grew. By the 1st century AD, “proselyte” had come to mean a religious convert to Judaism in the Land…or outside! The rabbis called him a Proselyte of Righteousness, ger tzedék. He had four basic requirements; physical circumcision, immersion, bring a sacrifice to the temple, accept all the written and oral law…the whole law (Ga.5:3)! Ac.13:43 Paul was in Galatia (not in the Land). “Many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas.” Expositor’s Greek NT “προσήλυτοι means those who became circumcised and were full proselytes.” Mt.23:15 Jesus opposed this unscriptural practice outside Israel! Also many women in the Roman Empire converted to Judaism.
And in the 1st century AD, the term toshab referred to righteous gentiles. Rabbis called these gentiles a Proselyte of the Gate, ger toshab (not tsedek toshab/righteous ‘gentiles’). They were (resident) limited proselytes, or ‘half-proselytes’. The terms ger & toshab appear in the same MT verse 7 times: Ge.23:4; Le.25:23, 35, 47; Nu.35:15; 1Ch.29:15 (not in the LXX); Ps.39:12. In NT times he obeyed the so-called Noahide laws. He believed the God of the Jews is God, frequented (fringes of) synagogues, and many abstained from eating unclean creatures. (also see the topic “Gentiles in the Bible”.)
Easton’s Bible Dictionary “They were bound only to conform to the so-called seven precepts of Noah, viz., to abstain from idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, uncleanness, the eating of blood, theft, and to yield obedience to the authorities. Besides these laws, they were required to abstain from work on the sabbath, and to refrain from leavened bread during the time of the Passover [cf. 1Co.5:8?].”
‘God-fearers’ had similar traits elsewhere. e.g. Ac.10:2, 13:16, 26; 1Pe.2:17. Revised English Version Commentary Ac.10:2 “Cornelius was what the Jews referred to as a proselyte of the gate.” In Caesárea. A.T. Robertson on Ac.16:14, “Lydia was a God-fearer or proselyte of the gate”. In Phílippi.
This topic has highlighted five Hebrew MT and six (corresponding) Greek LXX & NT terms related to “stranger(s)”. Other Hebrew & Greek terms had trace usage. As this survey shows, the various terms in ancient Bible languages are more explicit than the general English term “stranger(s)” as they’re rendered in the KJV!
The only NT occurrence of allogenes g241 (often used for nekar in the Hebrew OT) is Lk.17:18. The stranger here is a Samaritan (v.16). There was historic hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans.
In the Hebrew MT, the most profane or hostile “strange(r)” to God’s people was perhaps the nekar h5236. Yet in the everlasting New Covenant (He.13:20, Is.55:3), even the nekar will be grafted-in, converted to the Lord! Is.56:1-8 “Thus saith the Lord, ‘The strangers [nekar/allogenes] who commit themselves to the Lord, to be His servants and keep the sabbath from polluting it, and hold fast My covenant; even those will I bring to My holy mountain. For My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Benson Commentary Is.56:6 “There can be no doubt this verse alludes particularly to the conversion of the Gentiles.” Pulpit Commentary “A foretaste of their position in the Christian church, where there will be neither Jew nor Gentile.” Jews & gentiles as one, with equal access to God.
Ps.98:3 All the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God! Salvation is universal! He.8:10-11 “Saith the Lord, ‘For all shall know Me.” As the future unfolds, hostile “strangers” no more…not to God or His people. Praise the Lord!
Bible Topic Exposition 