Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lewis Reich" <lbr AT sprynet.com>]

On 8 Jul 99, at 22:37, Peter JKirk wrote:

> I would think that the nearest modern equivalent may well be
> migrant workers such as the Turks in Germany. Or can anyone suggest
> any better analogies? 

Sounds like a good analogy as to situation, except that the Turkish 
workers in Germany, to the best of my knowledge,  aren't migrants -  
they're settled for the long term but barred from full rights of 
citizenship.  I think the term used is *gastarbeiter* - guest worker.

Even so, the analogy is imperfect, as the gastarbeiter is specifically 
barred from full rights of citizenship, whereas the Torah's legislation 
regarding the ger emphasizes granting a fuller array of rights than 
might normally be expected.

Lewis Reich
lbr AT sprynet.com