גֵּר92 H1616
A sojourner or resident alien dwelling in a land without inherited rights, often under divine legal protection
The gēr denotes a person living outside their homeland, residing among a people not their own and lacking the hereditary land rights of native citizens. Abraham calls himself a gēr at Hebron (Gen 23:4), and Moses names his son Gershom as a wordplay on this status (Exod 2:22). The Torah repeatedly pairs the sojourner with the orphan and widow as vulnerable members of society whom God commands Israel to protect, love, and include in festivals and sabbath rest. Across translations the term maps consistently to 'sojourner,' 'extranjero,' 'étranger-résident,' and 'Fremdling,' underscoring the universal recognition of this social category.
Senses
1. sojourner, resident alien — A non-native resident dwelling among the Israelites without ancestral land inheritance, dependent on the community's hospitality and subject to specific Torah protections. Abraham at Hebron (Gen 23:4) and Moses in Midian (Exod 2:22) exemplify this status. The multilingual glosses — Spanish 'extranjero,' French 'étranger-résident,' German 'Fremdling' — all converge on the idea of a protected outsider living within but not fully belonging to the host society. 92×
AR["ال-غَرِيبُ", "ال-غَرِيبِ", "الْ-غَرِيبُ", "الْ-غَرِيبِ", "الْغَرِيبَ", "الْغَرِيبُ", "الْغَرِيبِ", "وَ-لِ-ال-غَرِيبِ", "وَ-لِ-لْغَرِيبِ", "وَ-لِلْ-غَرِيبِ", "وَ-لِلْغَرِيبِ", "وَلِ-لْغَرِيبِ"]·ben["-বিদেশী", "এবং-প্রতি-বিদেশী", "এবং-প্রবাসীর-কাছে", "এবং-বিদেশীর-জন্য", "প্রবাসী", "বিদেশি", "বিদেশী", "বিদেশীকে", "বিদেশীর", "সেই-বিদেশী"]·DE["Fremdling", "[הגר]", "der-Fremdling", "und-fuer-der-Fremdling", "und-fuer-der-sojourner"]·EN["and-for-the-sojourner", "the-sojourner"]·FR["[הגר]", "et-pour-le-étranger", "et-pour-le-étranger-résident", "le-étranger-résident", "étranger"]·heb["גר", "ה-גר", "ו-ל-גר", "ו-ל-ה-ולגר"]·HI["और-के-लिए-परदेशी", "और-परदेशी-के-लिए", "और-परदेशी-को", "परदेशी", "परदेशी-से"]·ID["-orang-asing", "Orang-asing", "dan-bagi-orang-asing", "orang-asing", "orang-asing-itu"]·IT["[הגר]", "e-per-il-forestiero", "il-forestiero", "straniero"]·jav["Tiyang-manca-punika", "lan-dhateng-tiyang-neneka", "lan-kanggè-wong-manca", "lan-kanggé-tiyang-manca", "lan-kanggé-tiyang-neneka", "lan-kanggé-wong-manca", "tiyang-manca", "tiyang-neneka", "wong-manca |"]·KO["그-거류민", "그-나그네가", "그-나그네를", "그리고-나그네에게", "그리고-에게-그-거류민", "그리고-에게-나그네", "나그네", "나그네가", "나그네를"]·PT["e-a-o-estrangeiro", "e-para-o-estrangeiro", "estrangeiro", "o-estrangeiro"]·RU["-пришельца", "Пришелец", "и-для-пришельца", "и-пришельцу", "притесняли", "пришелец", "пришельца", "пришельцев"]·ES["El-extranjero", "al-extranjero", "el-extranjero", "extranjero", "y-al-extranjero", "y-para-el-extranjero"]·SW["mgeni", "na-kwa-mgeni"]·TR["ve-yabancı-için", "ve-yabancıya", "yabancı", "yabancıdan", "yabancıyı"]·urd["اجنبی", "اجنبی-کا", "اور-اجنبی-کے-لیے", "اور-پردیسی-کو", "اور-پردیسی-کے-لیے", "مسافر", "پردیسی", "پردیسی-", "پردیسی-سے"]
Gen 23:4, Exod 2:22, Exod 12:48, Exod 12:49, Exod 18:3, Exod 22:21, Exod 23:9, Exod 23:12, Lev 16:29, Lev 17:8, Lev 17:10, Lev 17:12 (+38 more)
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H5608b 1. scribe, royal secretary (48×)H3162a 1. together, all together, alike (44×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
גֵּר92 n.m. Ex 12:48 sojourner (Arabic جَارٌ, Ethiopic ግዩር, ጎር Aramaic ܓܝܻܘܽܪ, גִּיּוֹר, proselyte, גַּיֵּר proselytize, Ph. גר in n.pr., & pl. גרם)—גֵּר Gn 15:13 + 74 times; sf. גֵּרְךָ Ex 20:10 + 4 times, גֵּרוֹ Dt 1:16; pl. גֵּרִים Ex 22:20 + 9 times, גֵּירִים 2 Ch 2:16;— 1. sojourner, temporary dweller, new-comer (no inherited rights), cf. Ex 12:19 Lv 24:16 Nu 15:30 Jos 8:33 (opp. homeborn);…