What Is a Refugee?
Before we dive into what the Bible says about refugees, it’s important to understand what a refugee is.
A refugee is someone forced to flee their home country to find refuge (or safety) in another country. Refugees might be fleeing armed conflict, violence or even persecution based on their race, religion or nationality.
Refugees must cross international borders to find safety and are unable to return home because of danger.
What Does the Bible Say About Refugees?
The Bible doesn’t use “refugee.” It also doesn’t use “migrant,” “asylum seeker,” “internally displaced persons” or other similar terms to describe those who are displaced. Instead, the Bible uses terms like “foreigners,” “sojourners” or “strangers” to describe those we may not know or those from other places.
In Hebrew, the word for “foreigner” or “sojourner” is ger. And it’s used in the Old Testament to describe those who were living among the Israelites but weren’t native to Israel.
In Greek, used in the New Testament, there are two common words: xenos and paroikos. Xenos simply translates to “stranger,” while paroikos has a bit of a deeper meaning.
This word, which translates to “dwelling near,” was used to describe those who lived in a community without citizenship. It was often used to describe how, as Christians, we’re foreigners here on earth with citizenship in heaven.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. — Philippians 3:20, NIV
Biblical Examples of Refugees
Although the term “refugee” isn’t in the Bible, are there refugees within its pages? Yes. For example, when Jacob and his family faced a severe, life-threatening famine in the land of Canaan, they went to Egypt (Genesis 46). Once there, they were granted refuge and settled in the land of Goshen.
In the book of Ruth, Naomi and Elimelek also faced a severe famine in Judah. They left their home in Bethlehem and fled to the neighboring country of Moab (Ruth 1:1-2).
By definition, Mary, Joseph and Jesus were also considered to be refugees. When King Herod ordered the execution of all male babies under 2, the family fled from Bethlehem to Egypt after being warned by an angel of the Lord (Matthew 2:13). They lived in Egypt until Herod died, saving Jesus’ life.
12 Bible Verses About Refugees
Whether refugee, stranger, sojourner or foreigner, one thing is for certain: God loves and cares for all. And these Bible verses about refugees prove it. Many times in the Bible, God calls us to love and care for the strangers and foreigners among us.
All Bible verses written in NIV.
1. Exodus 23:9
Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
2. Leviticus 19:9-10
“When you reap the harvest of the land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.”
3. Leviticus 19:33-34
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
4. Deuteronomy 10:18-19
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
5. Psalm 146:9
The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
6. Zechariah 7:10
“Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.”
7. Jeremiah 7:5-7
“If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.”
8. Matthew 5:47
“And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
9. Matthew 25:35
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
10. Romans 12:13
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
11. Ephesians 2:19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.
12. Hebrews 13:1-2
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Although the Bible doesn’t use the term “refugee,” God’s Word is still clear: We must love and care for the foreigners, strangers or sojourners among us, regardless of who they are, where they came from or where they’re going.