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Very clearly states they are not citizens but should be treated as such.
no, it doesn't. ancient hebrew may not have a word for "citizen" but greek sure does, and it isn't used here. it says that strangers (i.e., foreigners or aliens) must be treated the same as native born people.
what does that mean? how about we look to the verse immediately preceding it? remember the original text had no punctuation or verses anyway.
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When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not afflict them. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
this isn't about citizenship, it is about justice and not oppressing people. how do i know? because that is literally what it says. this isn't about parsing, this is about not making things up for the sake of a political argument.
and this isn't by far the only place this idea is put forward in the torah or the old testament as a whole. here are a handful of verses that talks about foreigners.
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If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it. The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
The LORD watches over the foreigners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.
I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the foreigner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.
And if a foreigner lives among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner and for the native.
If a foreigner is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he shall do as you do. For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.
So what does it mean?
There is one torah, one way of life given to the Israelites. And this Torah has commandments, some to the sons of Israel, some to everyone. There is no partiality to be shown to Israelites over foreigners. The Israelites are not to have one standard for themselves, and one standard for foreigners. They are not to oppress foreigners, but are to treat them as they would treat each other. They are not to mistreat them or afflict them or enslave them. The foreigners can celebrate with them, even make offerings, but they
do not become part of Israel unless they decide to be circumcised.
In other words, the "plain text" says that "citizenship" (if there were such an idea) is contingent on being a part of Israel, i.e., being circumcised, and is the
exact distinction made in the Torah. As long as person is
not part of Israel, they are a
foreigner. They may live in the land. They may offer some sacrifices. They must not be mistreated or given a second standard of justice. But they are still
foreigners.
Even so,
citizen is not in view here, because a citizen is a member of the body politic - a person who has the right to participate in the administration of the state. The foreigner has no such right, and the Torah upholds this.
Quote:
Very clearly states they are not citizens but should be treated as such.
No, they are to be treated as foreigners, but shown the same love and justice as one would show to the native.
If you're arguing that people should be shown kindness, love, mercy - I don't think anyone will disagree with you.
If you're arguing that the scriptures mean we have to support certain legal approaches, you'll need to show your work beyond one random scripture pulled out of context and then paraphrased into different words (ie citizen).
Again, hope that helps.
