The Welcome Mat

The stranger has not spent the night outside, for I have opened my doors to the traveler.  Job 31:32  NASB

Stranger – The Jewish rabbis provide a special application of this verse, one that we Gentiles need to know.  The application begins with a proper understanding of “stranger,” the Hebrew word gēr.  Our English Bibles often translate gēr as “stranger” or “alien,” but by doing so they obscure what the rabbis taught.  You see, gēr is not just some foreigner.  gēr is properly a sojourner.  What’s the difference?  A foreigner, stranger, alien is usually a temporary occupant, much like the illegal aliens that have affected so many nations of the West.  They don’t belong.  Their affiliations are with another country, another home.  They may be temporarily displaced but they are not a part of the normal, accepted community.  A sojourner, on the other hand, is someone who is part of the community, although without ethnic connections.  Stigers notes:

The root means to live among people who are not blood relatives; thus, rather than enjoying native civil rights, the gēr was dependent on the hospitality that played an important role in the ancient near east. When the people of Israel lived with their neighbors they were usually treated as protected citizens; foreigners in Israel were largely regarded as proselytes.^[1]

The gēr in Israel was largely regarded as a proselyte. He was to be present for the solemn reading of the Law (Deut 31:12) showing that he was exposed to its demands.^[2]

In this verse, Job establishes the model behavior of the righteous man.  He welcomes those who are not ethnically connected but, nevertheless, have become residents of the community—permanent residents.  In other words, even though they are not Jewish, they have assimilated into the Jewish community.  They might not keep all the same regulations of Torah in the same way an orthodox Jew would, but they are not opposed.  They do the best they can to honor and follow Torah.  They have an adopted Judaism.  Steigers makes the critical claim: “He also enjoyed many of the same rights as the native and was not to be oppressed (Ex 22:21 [H 20]; Lev 19:33; Jer 7:6; 22:3).”^[3]

Notice that verse also speaks of the “traveler.”  That word in Hebrew is ʾōraḥ, that is, the way, the path.  Hamilton writes:

Most often ʾōraḥ is used in a figurative way, describing the way to life or to death. It often is parallel with the word derek, meaning “way, lifestyle.”^[4]

When Jesus contrasts the two ways, the two doors and the two destinations in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 7:13–14), he is basically repeating the concept of ʾōraḥ and derek, as taught in Hebrew wisdom literature. Our Lord’s reference to himself as “the way, the truth, the life” means that Jesus is the way to the truth about life. He is not the answer. That would be an oversimplification. He is the way that leads to the answer. Only after one steps out on the way does he discover that Jesus is the truth about life. Wisdom literature too challenges us to step out on the right way, the way of life, the way that leads to life.^[5]

Isn’t it interesting that the oft-cited verse in John might actually be a rabbi pointing to Job’s wisdom?

Now we see that the “traveler/ ʾōraḥ” is also one on the way to Jewish wisdom, and Jewish wisdom is, of course, not just rational thinking.  It’s doing.  It’s practice.  So, both the gēr and the ʾōraḥ are connected to the Jewish community.  They might not be converts, but they are certainly not foreigners.

Why do we need to know this?  Because rabbinic instruction about “outsiders” today is based on this verse.  How should the Jewish community treat the gēr and the ʾōraḥ?  With open arms.  Welcoming.  Celebrating.  These are people who, despite not being Jewish, love the God of Israel and wish to serve him.  They are precisely the ones that James, Peter, and Paul discussed in the Acts 15 council.  They are the grafted in.  They are us.  Those who are Jewish by birth have Job as their guide.

Topical Index: gēr, sojourner, ʾōraḥ, the way, traveler, alien, stranger, Job 31:32

^[1] Stigers, H. G. (1999). 330 גּוּר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 155). Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 161 אָרַח. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 71). Moody Press.

^[5] Ibid.