Second Temple Jewish Understanding of the "Stranger"

 

The LXX Pentateuch translates גֵּ֖ר as προσήλυτος sixty-three times out of the seventy occurrences of the word in the Pentateuch. The word "proselyte" should be familiar to most students of the New Testament since it refers to a Gentile convert to Judaism. 

"The first definition of προσήλυτος in ancient literature occurs in the writings of Philo. Because he was writing for a Gentile audience, he did not assume knowledge of this unfamiliar word. He described proselytes as people who had left country, friends and relatives, and patriarchal customs, and set themselves under the Jewish constitution. (Spec. Leg. 1.51, 52). The term applies to the Gentile who has adopted the Jewish laws and become circumcised" (Christiana van Houten, The Alien in Israelite Law 182).

The גֵּ֖ר was therefore seen as a convert to Israelite religion and not a pagan in the land as is often claimed by laymen.