Immigration Crisis by Hoffmeier James K.;

Author:Hoffmeier, James K.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

RELIGIOUS INCLUSION

From the foregoing discussions, it is clear that the alien was to receive certain legal protections and social benefits. But it does not stop there. References in the Torah demonstrate that aliens could be integrated into the religious life of Israel.

Surely the most important religious observance in the Jewish faith was and remains Passover, the annual observance of the exodus from Egypt. When Passover was instituted in the book of Exodus, we learn that aliens could participate in this most enduring ritual:

An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. (Exod.12:48)

It is evident from this passage that once a male alien was circumcised, he was fully included in the religious life of ancient Israel. Circumcision was introduced as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 17:

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. (vv. 10–13)

Here circumcision applied to all Abraham’s household and any servants, including the foreigners among them. This same inclusive spirit apparently stands behind the exodus passage that provided for the inclusion of aliens. Consequently, when the alien through circumcision demonstrated that he worshiped the God with whom the covenant had been made, “then he may take part [in the Passover] like one born in the land” (Exod. 12:13).

When a ger was circumcised, the Greek (Septuagint) translates the Hebrew ger as “proselyte” in the Law when the context is religious, whereas xenos or paroikos is used in other settings.18 This translation reflects the later equation of ger or alien with a convert to Judaism, a proselyte.

The religious inclusion was not unconditional in the Law. If the alien violated the religious laws of Passover, the following prescription is given:

For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. (Exod. 12:19)

The expression “be cut off” derives from a somewhat obscure form of the word “cut” (karat) that suggests the individual would be excluded from religious observances,19 something akin to excommunication in the Christian tradition. In the rabbinic tradition, however, this punishment is interpreted to be a more severe form of divine judgment of some sort.20 Regardless of the precise meaning, it is

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