ger · resident alien

What it means

ger (גֵּר) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “resident alien”.

Foreigner who lives in a land that is not his own, without the rights of those who belong to the place.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Someone living in a land that is not their own.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Resident alien: one who lives in a land that is not his own, without the land or the rights of those born there, but protected by the law. It comes from גּוּר, “reside as an alien” (H1481). BDB: a guest, a foreigner who sojourns.

• Abraham: “I am a resident alien and a guest” Genesis 23:4Exodus 2:22
• “You shall not oppress a resident alien” Exodus 22:21Exodus 23:9Deuteronomy 24:17
• “You shall love him as yourself” Leviticus 19:34Deuteronomy 10:19
• The one praying, a resident alien before God Psalms 39:12

Historical and cultural background

The law gives the resident alien the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10), the share of the poor in the harvest (Leviticus 19:10) and the protection of justice (Deuteronomy 24:17), and gives the reason: “for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21).

How we translate it

“Resident alien” 73 times and “resident aliens” 19. This edition's glossary sets גֵּר = “resident alien”, also in the laws, to set it apart from נָכְרִי = “foreigner” and תּוֹשָׁב = “temporary resident” (Psalm 39:12), and over against אֶזְרָח = “native” (Leviticus 19:34).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• resident alien ×73
• resident aliens ×19

Where it appears

• Genesis×2
• Exodus×12
• Leviticus×21
• Numbers×11
• Deuteronomy×22
• Joshua×3
• 2 Samuel×1
• 1 Chronicles×2
• 2 Chronicles×2
• Job×1
• Psalms×4
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×3
• Ezekiel×5
• Zechariah×1
• Malachi×1

• Genesis 15:13

  Then he said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be resident aliens in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

• Genesis 23:4

  “I am a resident alien and a guest among you. Give me a possession for a grave among you, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

• Exodus 2:22

  She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land.”

• Exodus 12:19

  For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened, that person shall be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a resident alien or a native of the land.

• Exodus 12:48

  If a resident alien resides with you and would keep the Passover to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised; then he may come near to keep it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man shall eat of it.

• Exodus 12:49

  There shall be one law for the native and for the resident alien who resides among you.”

• Exodus 18:3

  and her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gershom, for he said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land”;

• Exodus 20:10

  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your Elohim. You shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave, or your female slave, or your livestock, or your resident alien who is within your gates.

• Exodus 22:21

  You shall not mistreat a resident alien or oppress him, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

• Exodus 23:9

  You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the soul of the resident alien, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

• Exodus 23:12

  Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave and the resident alien may be refreshed.

• Leviticus 16:29

  And this shall be for you a statute forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work the native or the resident alien who resides among you.

• Leviticus 17:8

  And you shall say to them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the resident aliens who reside among them, who offers up a burnt offering or a sacrifice,

• Leviticus 17:10

  And any man of the house of Israel or of the resident aliens who reside among them, who eats any blood, I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut that person off from among their people.

• Leviticus 17:12

  Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, and the resident alien who resides among you shall not eat blood.

• Leviticus 17:13

  And any man of the sons of Israel or of the resident aliens who reside among them, who hunts game, an animal or a bird that may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.

• Leviticus 17:15

  And any person who eats an animal that died or one torn by beasts, whether native or resident alien, shall wash his garments and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean.

• Leviticus 18:26

  But you shall keep my statutes and my rules, and you shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the resident alien who resides among you

• Leviticus 19:10

  And your vineyard you shall not strip bare, and the fallen grapes of your vineyard you shall not gather; for the poor and for the resident alien you shall leave them. I am YHWH your Elohim.

• Leviticus 19:33

  And when a resident alien resides with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.

• Leviticus 19:34

  As the native among you shall be to you the resident alien who resides with you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.

• Leviticus 20:2

  “And you shall say to the sons of Israel: Any man of the sons of Israel or of the resident aliens who reside in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

• Leviticus 22:18

  “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the resident aliens in Israel who presents his offering, for any of their vows or for any of their freewill offerings that they present to YHWH as a burnt offering,

• Leviticus 23:22

  And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not finish reaping the edge of your field, and the gleanings of your harvest you shall not gather; for the poor and for the resident alien you shall leave them. I am YHWH your Elohim.”

• Leviticus 24:16

  And whoever blasphemes the name of YHWH shall surely be put to death; all the community shall surely stone him; the resident alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

• Leviticus 24:22

  You shall have one rule: the resident alien shall be like the native; for I am YHWH your Elohim.”

• Leviticus 25:23

  And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are resident aliens and temporary residents with me.

• Leviticus 25:35

  And if your brother becomes poor and his hand fails with you, you shall support him; as a resident alien and a temporary resident he shall live with you.

• Leviticus 25:47

  And if the hand of a resident alien or a temporary resident with you prospers, and your brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the resident alien, the temporary resident with you, or to a descendant of the clan of a resident alien,

• Numbers 9:14

  And if a resident alien resides among you and keeps the Passover to YHWH, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so he shall keep it; you shall have one statute, both for the resident alien and for the native of the land.’”

• Numbers 15:14

  And if a resident alien lives with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and he offers a fire offering of pleasing aroma to YHWH, just as you do, so he shall do.

• Numbers 15:15

  As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the resident alien who resides among you, a statute forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the resident alien be before YHWH.

• Numbers 15:16

  One instruction and one rule shall be for you and for the resident alien who resides with you.’”

• Numbers 15:26

  And all the community of the sons of Israel shall be forgiven, and the resident alien who resides among them, for all the people acted by oversight.

• Numbers 15:29

  For the native-born among the sons of Israel and for the resident alien who resides among them there shall be one instruction for you for the one who acts by oversight.

• Numbers 15:30

  But the person who acts with a raised hand, whether native-born or resident alien, he reviles YHWH, and that person shall be cut off from among their people.

• Numbers 19:10

  And the one who gathers the ash of the cow shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be for the sons of Israel and for the resident alien who resides among them a statute forever.

• Numbers 35:15

  For the sons of Israel and for the resident alien and for the temporary resident among them these six cities shall be for refuge, for anyone who strikes down a person inadvertently to flee there.

• Deuteronomy 1:16

  I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or his resident alien.

• Deuteronomy 5:14

  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your Elohim. You shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male slave, or your female slave, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or your resident alien who is within your gates, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest like you.

And 52 more times.