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Gēr: the Resident Outsider in Hebrew Texts

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

A person living within an Israelite community; neither every foreigner nor a modern legal refugee category.

Contemporary conceptual illustration of sheaves left in a harvested field, inspired by Deuteronomy’s harvest rules. Not a record of an identified ancient village or evidence that the rules were enforced; IL Archive / CC0
Contemporary conceptual illustration of sheaves left in a harvested field, inspired by Deuteronomy’s harvest rules. Not a record of an identified ancient village or evidence that the rules were enforced; IL Archive / CC0Contemporary conceptual illustration: IL Archive / CC0 · CC0

Text

HebrewHebrewA Northwest Semitic language in the Canaanite group, with ancient and modern forms.Glossary · Click to read the explanation *gēr* denotes a person residing in the local community. Deuteronomy places such residents beside the fatherless and widow in rules on justice, harvests, tithes and festivals. Renderings vary from “sojourner” to “resident alien”; the word alone does not establish one legal status for every period. It cannot simply be equated with “refugee” in a modern translation of the Sumerian Nanshe hymn. [7][8][9][15]

References and notes

  1. Deuteronomy 10:17–19, Hebrew text and JPS Deuteronomy 10:17–19, Hebrew/JPS Return to the text ↑
  2. Deuteronomy 24:14–22, Hebrew text and JPS Deuteronomy 24:14–22, Hebrew/JPS Return to the text ↑
  3. Deuteronomy 14:27–29, third-year tithe Deuteronomy 14:27–29, Hebrew/JPS Return to the text ↑
  4. Mark Glanville, “Stranger, Fatherless, and Widow” chapter; abstract/record only, not the full chapter Mark R. Glanville, The Stranger, Fatherless, and Widow in Deuteronomy, Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy, 2020, pp. 233–251 Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 3 · 12 October 2026 · aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

  2. Edition 2 · 12 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Gēr: the Resident Outsider in Hebrew Texts», Edition 3, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/ger-resident-outsider