A common misinterpretation twists this verse into a blanket endorsement of unrestricted modern immigration or the abolition of national borders, ignoring its original context within Israel's covenant law that balanced hospitality with communal boundaries and protections for vulnerable Israelites; others might dismiss it as outdated or culturally relative, overlooking its timeless echo in New Testament teachings on loving the neighbor and welcoming the stranger, or conversely, use it selectively to vilify any immigration enforcement as oppression without considering the full scriptural emphasis on ordered justice and self-protection.
Exodus 22:21
King James Version (1769)
21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 22:21 commands God's people not to mistreat or oppress foreigners living among them, grounding this ethic in Israel's own historical experience as vulnerable strangers and slaves in Egypt; it underscores a core biblical principle of justice, empathy, and hospitality toward the outsider, reminding believers that their identity and deliverance by God compel them to extend compassion rather than exploitation to immigrants or sojourners in their midst.