Not in God’s name:
What the Bible actually says about the foreigner
By Imraahn Ismail-Mukaddam
Deuteronomy 28 is often quoted in anti‑immigrant arguments: “The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher… you will sink lower and lower.” On the surface, it appears to frame the presence of foreigners as a divine punishment.
But reading the passage in its original context changes the picture entirely. Deuteronomy 28 is part of a covenant document. Chapters 27 and 28 list blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The verses about foreigners are not a general statement about migrants. They are a predicted consequence of Israel’s own persistent unfaithfulness to God. The foreigners rising to prominence is a symptom of Israel’s failure, not an indictment of the foreigner’s existence.
More importantly, the same book of Deuteronomy contains explicit commands that run directly counter to a xenophobic reading. Chapter 10 states that God “loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing” (10:18). The following verse commands, “You are to love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (10:19). Leviticus 19:34, written from the same legal tradition, makes it even more explicit: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native‑born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
The prophetic literature reinforces this. In Jeremiah 7, God rejects the worship of people who oppress the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow (7:5‑7). Oppression of the vulnerable is presented as a reason for exile, not a justification for exclusion.
In the New Testament, the theme continues. Matthew 25 records Jesus describing the final judgment. The criterion for inclusion or exclusion is how one treated “the least of these,” which explicitly includes “the stranger” (25:35‑43). Welcoming the stranger is equated with welcoming Christ himself. Hebrews 13:2 gives a practical command: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Paul writes to the Ephesians that Gentile believers “are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints” (2:19).
The theological centre of Christianity is summarised in 1 John 4:8: “God is love.” Jesus himself, when asked about the greatest commandment, replied that the entire law and prophets depend on loving God and loving one’s neighbour as oneself (Matthew 22:37‑40). In John 13:34‑35, he gave a new command: “Love one another as I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
If a biblical verse is used to justify hostility toward foreigners, it is being read in isolation from the rest of Scripture and from the central ethical command of love. The Bible as a whole, properly understood, does not endorse xenophobia. It consistently commands protection and welcome for the stranger.
