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 Sarra died in the city of Arbok that is in the lowland (this is Chebron) in the land of Chanaan. And Abraam went to mourn for Sarra and to grieve. 3 And Abraam rose up from his dead and spoke to the sons of Chet, saying, 4 “I am a resident alien and a sojourner among you; therefore give me possession of a burying place among you, and I shall bury my dead away from me.” 5 And the sons of Chet replied to Abraam, saying,
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.
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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. ...
Bietenhard, Hans
"Foreign" in Brown, Colin (ed.) The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 1
(p. 690) Zondervan, 1975
* 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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