What Does Leviticus 19:33 Mean?
And if a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not bow him down.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.THE KEY
“Stranger” and “sojourn” come from the same Hebrew root: the outsider is named by the very act of dwelling among you.
THE MEANING
When someone lives among you as an outsider, that status does not make them fair game for pressure or mistreatment. Their dwelling among you places their safety within your responsibility.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An outsider’s unfamiliarity makes them less deserving of protection.
THE ROOT
גֵּר
gēr
GROWS FROM
גּוּר
g-w-r
To reside as a sojourner; to dwell among others.
“sojourner” in this verse is gēr. Hebrew uses the same root for the person called a stranger and the act of sojourning. English separates the newcomer from the act of dwelling, while the Hebrew keeps them connected: this stranger is someone living among you.
ALSO GROWS
gēr: A resident stranger or sojourner.
גֵּר
This is the person named “stranger” in the verse: someone whose dwelling among you shapes their status.
gūr: To dwell or reside as a sojourner.
גּוּר
This is the verb behind “sojourn,” sharing its root with the noun for the person who dwells among you.
megurim: Sojournings or places of residence.
מְגוּרִים
This related form carries the same root into the experience of dwelling, further joining the person and their residence.
THE PATTERN
A person living among you as an outsider remains within the circle of protection and neighbor-love.
But the sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as one who springs up among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.So love the sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.Do not let slip the opening of your home to strangers, for by it some have sheltered messengers without knowing it.THE THREAD
But the sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as one who springs up among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.The next verse repeats the same root in “stranger” and “dwelleth,” then extends the prohibition into belonging: the one dwelling among you is counted as one born among you and loved as yourself. The repeated root joins residence to relationship.
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