The Reception of the Foreigner in Medieval Exegesis of the Pentateuch

Among the verses of the Pentateuch that govern conduct towards strangers, we study the medieval commentaries of Ex 22, 21 and 23, 9, Lv 19, 33-34 and 25, 23, Dt 10, 19. Lexicons (Papias, Huguccio of Pisa, John of Genoa) make it possible to specify the meaning of words designating the foreigner in the Vulgate, advena and peregrinus. Commentators (from Raban Maur to Dominique Grima) develop the reasons for this requirement for hospitality : compassion, love of neighbor, the fact that the Hebrews themselves were foreigners in Egypt, the land belongs to the Lord. Spiritual exegesis equates strangers with repentant sinners.