Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Henry Churchyard <churchyh AT ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>]

> Subject: Meaning of ger
> From: "Matthew Anstey" <manstey AT portal.ca>
> Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 17:04:00 -0700

> Just wondering what people thought was a good word to use for ger
> for its usual meanings.  We want to try to avoid "resident aliens,"
> "aliens," or "strangers" if possible.  What does NJPS use? The
> current revisors of the NIV are removing the word "alien" from the
> translation altogether, and we too are looking a better word. What
> do people think of these possibilities:

> 1. immigrant  2. outsider  3. foreigner  4. refugee  5. person in
> exile  6. migrant

NJPS at Deuteronomy 5:14 is "stranger".

Actually, I'm not sure I like any of the words so far mentioned, since
the connotations of "outsider", "foreigner", "alien", and "stranger"
all seem to place emphasis on perceived cultural differences (which
may have in fact been minimal) -- and the Hebrew word which has such
connotations is actually zar, not ger.  And "migrant" and "immigrant"
are bloodless technical legal terms which don't convey the specifics
of the situation (someone outside their own "home" territory as a kind
of tolerated guest in someone else's home territory), while "refugee"
and "person in exile" may be a bit too specific, and also the
connotations of these words (unlike those of ger) emphasize where
poeple have come from, not their status where they are now (a "person
in exile" might well be a naturalized citizen of the country he's
residing in, with full civic rights).  How about the good old word
"sojourner"?  (Though KJV actually seems to use "sojourner" to
translate toshav, and "stranger" to translate both ger and zar.)
Hmmm... glad I'm not a translator ;-)

--
Henry Churchyard   churchyh AT ccwf.cc.utexas.edu   http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/