I think it's important to note that during the time that the Israelites were in Egypt, being a "stranger" in someone's land often meant that you had to observe their religious practices and worship their gods. "Stranger"/"sojourner" (I prefer sojourner) and "convert" were little different in meaning at that time, and it took many plagues before Pharaoh was even willing to let the Israelites wander off for a few days to worship the sky man of their choosing rather than his selection. There's also support for this in the way the word "ger" is used to describe some of the non-Jews living in Jerusalem at the time of Absalom's coup.
Now, whether the meaning of the verse was meant to evolve the way you think it was meant to evolve is another matter, but it's important to recognize that sojourners often had religious obligations in foreign nations at the time that the verse was written. It's not as if the idea that these people had to be converts popped into Judaism in the Middle Ages while we were being oppressed and even more insular, unlike a great many other things that I object to in our religion.
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Date: 2011-08-23 03:00 pm (UTC)Now, whether the meaning of the verse was meant to evolve the way you think it was meant to evolve is another matter, but it's important to recognize that sojourners often had religious obligations in foreign nations at the time that the verse was written. It's not as if the idea that these people had to be converts popped into Judaism in the Middle Ages while we were being oppressed and even more insular, unlike a great many other things that I object to in our religion.