Texts in Conversation
Abraham calls himself a resident alien and sojourner among the Hittites while arranging Sarah's burial. 1 Peter echoes the same pair of Greek terms to urge believers, as foreigners and exiles, to live apart from worldly desires.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Genesis 23:4
Septuagint
2 And Sarah died in the city of Arba, which is in the valley, this is Hebron in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to lament for Sarah and to mourn. 3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead; and Abraham spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 I am a temporary resident and a stranger among you, give me therefore possession of a burying-place among you, and I will bury my dead away from me. 5 And the sons of Heth answered to Abraham, saying,
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Peter 2:11
New Testament
10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, 12 and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.
Date: 80–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... parepidēmos is derived from dēmos (people) and is found only twice in the Septuagint (Genesis 23:4; Psalm 38[39]:12). It means someone who lives for a short while in a foreign place as a stranger or alien. It occurs in the New Testament 3 times. In 1 Peter 1:1 and 2:11 believers are called parepidēmoi ("exiles", RSV). The word stands in parallel to paroikoi ("aliens", RSV), pointing back to Genesis 23:4 and Psalm 39:13. Because their true home is in heaven (compare Philippians 3:20), God's election has drawn them out of all their natural ties and relations. They now live on earth as exiles. This call and vocation gives rise to the warning to abstain from the lusts of the flesh (1 Peter 2:11). They are to live according to the decrees and laws of their true homeland. Hebrews 11:13 depicts Abraham and the patriarchs as patterns for the Christian. Abraham looked towards the future city (11:10). Hence he and the fathers lived as strangers and exiles on the earth. ...
Hans Bietenhard, “Foreign,” in The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 1, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 690.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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