A Nation of Immigrants
Sojourners in Biblical Israel’s Tradition and Law
Foreword by David P. Gushee
Imprint: Resource Publications
Biblical Israelites were sojourners--immigrants, refugees, and resident aliens in lands other than their own--for the greater part of two thousand years. Experiences as sojourners shaped their attitudes toward foreigners who sojourned with them, and came to expression in laws providing immigrants equal rights along with various "safety net" measures intended to secure their well-being. Biblical laws did not bar immigrants of any age, nation, race, or class. Nor did they require prospective immigrants to prove they were unlikely to become "public charges."
These biblical laws reflected core beliefs, values, and hopes emphasized in other biblical traditions, such as genealogies linking all peoples and nations as kin and prophetic texts affirming all humankind as the LORD's people.
Familiarity with biblical law may have influenced those who formulated our country's constitutional assurances that any person within our borders is entitled to due process and the equal protection of the laws. Since colonial times, America has been "open to receive . . . the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions" (George Washington).
These biblical texts challenge us all to recognize overt and latent bigotry not only in others and in our history, but also in ourselves.
Richard H. Hiers has an RBA, BD, and PhD from Yale and a JD from the University of Florida. He is professor of religion emeritus and emeritus affiliate professor of law at the University of Florida and former president of the American Academy of Religion, SE Section, and the Society of Biblical Literature, SE Section. Recent publications include Justice and Compassion in Biblical Law and Women’s Rights and the Bible.
“This is a gem of a short book written by a renowned scholar of biblical ethics but readable by all Christians. The experience and teaching of Israel, God’s people who lived as sojourners and immigrants for most of their long history, is most appropriate for us today.”
—Charles E. Curran, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
“This lucid eighty-four-page book effectively retells the biblical story of God’s people as aliens, refugees, and deportees who were greeted with xenophobia, persecution, and violence where they journeyed. Responding to this experience, they adopted laws providing equal protection and social welfare for aliens in Israelite lands. Emphasizing the biblical record of the intermarriage and kinship of all nations, Hiers thoughtfully reflects on how this story informs modern-day debates over immigration policy.”
—Marie Failinger, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
“This is a marvelous book—clear, concise, and penetrating. Hiers demonstrates that the Bible’s sojourner was not some ‘other’ but was core both to the construction of Israel and to Israel’s protection of sojourners.”
—Jonathan R. Cohen, University of Florida
“Marshalling years of serious study, Hiers condenses centuries of civilization into a coherent bundle of positive impressions from ages past. Then and now, strangers are not so strange after all. All are strangers facing strange circumstances. . . . As Heirs rightly concludes, the legacy of biblical life and law is to diminish the stigma of foreignness.”
—John W. Welch, Brigham Young University
Related Titles
