“The Alien in Your Midst”

The biblical term ger, or its compound form ger toshav, is generally rendered “resident alien.” Hence one might think that it always refers to a non-Israelite. However, this is not its meaning in Genesis and Exodus. Abraham declares to the residents of Hebron, “I am resident alien among you” (Genesis 23:4). Moses in Egypt also admits, “I have been a ger in a strange land” (Exodus 2:22; see Genesis 15:13). Indeed, from a divine perspective the people of Israel has the status of a ger on its own land: “For the land is Mine, and you are but aliens resident with Me” (Leviticus 25:23). Moreover, according to the testimony of the Psalmist, “I am only an alien in the land” (Psalm 119:19): all human beings are but tenants on the earth, charged with the responsibility “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15).