Leviticus 19:33-34
God’s people must love the sojourner as themselves because they too were once strangers.
33 “ ‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
God’s people must love the sojourner as themselves because they too were once strangers.
This passage commands Israel to treat the foreigner residing among them with justice and love, grounding this ethic in their own history and God’s covenant identity.
Leviticus 19 unfolds holiness in practical covenant life, moving from worship and parental honor to justice, truthfulness, neighbor-love, bodily and ritual boundaries, reverence, and social righteousness. Verses 33-34 extend the command to love one's neighbor beyond native Israelites to the foreigner residing in the land.
In the ancient Near Eastern world, resident foreigners could be economically, legally, and socially vulnerable because they lacked the kinship networks and inherited land security enjoyed by native households. Israel's law repeatedly commands concern for such persons because Israel itself lived as foreigners in Egypt and was delivered by the LORD.
Be Holy Because I Am Holy: Covenant Life Before God and Neighbor
Because the LORD is holy, His redeemed people must embody holiness in worship, family, justice, mercy, speech, sexuality, work, land, neighbor-love, foreigner-love, and honest daily life.