Meaning of FOREIGN

Any person who, not being an Israelite, belonged "to the nations" (gentile, which comes from the Latin "gentilis", from "gens", nation), being subject to other authorities and another religion than that of Israel.

They receive the name of foreigners in a way, e.g. e.g., the following nations: the Midianites and the Egyptians (Ex. 2:22), the Jebusites (Judges 19:12), the Philistines (2 Sam. 15:19), the Moabites, Ammonites, Sidonians, Hittites ( 1 Kings 11:1).

The following were not counted among the foreigners: (a) slaves bought for money, nor prisoners of war; these were in the power of their owners, and subject to Israelite laws (Gen. 17:12; Ex. 21:20-21);

(b) the proselytes, that is, the foreigners who had adopted the religion of the Israelites (Gen. 34:14-17; Is. 56:6-8; Acts 2:10).

The Law of Moses and the OT distinguish between foreigners established among the Israelites, but not of their race, and temporary, non-Israelite visitors (Ex. 20:10; Lev. 16:29; 17:8; 2 James 1:13; Ez. 14:7).

The foreigner, considered almost as a citizen, had his rights and duties well defined. God commanded the Israelites that the stranger be treated kindly (Lev. 19:33, 34; Deut. 10:18, 19).

The Law safeguarded their interests (Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Deut. 24:19, 20). The prohibitions imposed on the Israelites also affected the foreigner (Ex. 12:19; 20:10; Lev. 16:29; 17:10; 18:26; 20:2; 24:16).

Regarding Lv. 17:15, this ordinance was later modified by Deut. 14:21. The foreigner was not obligated to all the religious duties that concerned the Israelites.

If he was a free man, he could abstain from circumcision and the Passover (Ex. 12:43-46). The law exhorted Israel to invite the foreigner to the solemn sacrificial meals (Deut. 16:11, 14).

He had the right to offer sacrifices to Jehovah; If he fell into an involuntary sin, he benefited from the forgiveness granted to the individual or the community; the cities of refuge protected him against the avenger of blood (Lk. 17:8; Num. 15:14, 26, 29; 35:15).

When he became defiled, he had to undergo the rites of purification (Lev. 17:15; Num. 19:10). If the stranger and the men of his house were circumcised, they could participate in the Passover (Ex. 12:48, 49).

But the Jubilee year did not bring freedom to the foreigner who had fallen into slavery. He could be sold and become, by inheritance, the property of the children of his owner (Lev. 25:45, 46).

The unassimilated foreigner encountered some negative prescriptions, because Israel was to remain the holy people, set apart for God (Deut. 14:2).

Mixed marriages were prohibited (Ex. 34:16; Deut. 7:3; Josh. 23:12). No foreigner could be permitted to ascend the throne (Deut. 17:15), nor to enter the sanctuary (Ez. 44:9; Acts 21:28; cp. Deut. 23:3, 7-8).

In a later era, strictly observant Jews neither ate nor drank with Gentiles (Acts 11:3; Gal. 2:12). The latter, however, could, at any time, access Judaism (Gen. 17:27; 34:14-17; Mt. 23:15).

Israel awaited the day when they would be integrated into the kingdom. (See PROSELYTE.) The Ammonites and Moabites were subject to a special clause: they could not become part of the Israelite community even if they were circumcised (Deut. 23:3).

But the son of an Israelite and a Moabite woman was admitted (cp. Jesse, Rehoboam). When the Israelites took over Canaan, they were strictly prohibited from allying themselves by marriage with its idolatrous inhabitants (Deut. 7:3).

Most of the Canaanites who survived the conquest became proselytes. Under Solomon, the kingdom numbered 153,600 foreigners (2 Chron. 2:17).

In the NT, the term foreign does not have the precise meaning it exhibits in the OT; can refer to: a stranger (John 10:5), a traveler (Lk. 17:16, 18), a visitor (Lk. 24:18), a Jew belonging to the Diaspora (Acts 2:10; 1 P. 1:1).

Both the OT and NT saints were and are strangers on the earth. David said:

"I am a stranger to you, and a stranger, like all my fathers" (Ps. 39:12). They confessed “that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

The same is true of the saints today (1 Pet. 2:11). Their citizenship is in heaven, and this earth is no longer their home or rest (Phil. 3:20).