>Arizona adopted the toughest illegal-immigration law in the country at the end of April. The new law has created intense controversy about the situation of millions of undocumented aliens in the country. The laws of the United States declare that in order for a person from another country to enter the United States, that person must have a document declaring that he or she is allowed to enter the country legally.
Have you ever wondered where the concept of closed borders originated? The fact is that from ancient times, travel restrictions were common among nations. It was common for kings to grant permission for people to enter or leave their territory.
A recent article on travel restrictions made the following statement:
The historical equivalent of travel documents were the passport-type letters issued to the messengers of kings confirming their loyalty to a particular king and requesting a safe passage to the destination. The earliest known reference is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
King Artaxerxes I of Persia issued a letter to his official travelling to Judea, requesting the governors of the adjoining lands to provide him safe passage.
The is the letter of King Artaxerxes:
From Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the teacher of the law of the God of heaven. I decree that any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may volunteer to return to Jerusalem with you. I and my council of seven hereby instruct you to conduct an inquiry into the situation in Judah and Jerusalem, based on your God’s law, which is in your hand. We also commission you to take with you silver and gold, which we are freely presenting as an offering to the God of Israel who lives in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, you are to take any silver and gold that you may obtain from the province of Babylon, as well as the voluntary offerings of the people and the priests that are presented for the Temple of their God in Jerusalem. These donations are to be used specifically for the purchase of bulls, rams, male lambs, and the appropriate grain offerings and liquid offerings, all of which will be offered on the altar of the Temple of your God in Jerusalem. Any silver and gold that is left over may be used in whatever way you and your colleagues feel is the will of your God. But as for the cups we are entrusting to you for the service of the Temple of your God, deliver them all to the God of Jerusalem. If you need anything else for your God’s Temple or for any similar needs, you may take it from the royal treasury.
I, Artaxerxes the king, hereby send this decree to all the treasurers in the province west of the Euphrates River: You are to give Ezra, the priest and teacher of the law of the God of heaven, whatever he requests of you. You are to give him up to 7,500 pounds1 of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and an unlimited supply of salt” (Ezra 7:12-22).
With this royal document, Ezra and the group traveling with him had safe passage to leave Babylon and travel to Judea. Without this permission from the king, Ezra would be unable to leave Babylon and would probably be unable to enter the province of Judea.
Another example of people from one nation asking permission of people from another nation to cross their land in found in the book of Numbers. The occasion for this request came at the time Israel asked the king of Edom for permission to cross his land. The following is the dialogue between the people of Israel and the king of Edom:
The Request:
While Moses was at Kadesh, he sent ambassadors to the king of Edom with this message: “This is what your relatives, the people of Israel, say: ‘You know all the hardships we have been through. Our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived there a long time, and we and our ancestors were brutally mistreated by the Egyptians. But when we cried out to the LORD, he heard us and sent an angel who brought us out of Egypt. Now we are camped at Kadesh, a town on the border of your land. Please let us travel through your land. We will be careful not to go through your fields and vineyards. We won’t even drink water from your wells. We will stay on the king’s road and never leave it until we have passed through your territory’” (Numbers 20:14-17).
The Response:
But the king of Edom said, “Stay out of my land, or I will meet you with an army!” The Israelites answered, “We will stay on the main road. If our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. Just let us pass through your country. That’s all we ask.” But the king of Edom replied, “Stay out! You may not pass through our land.” With that he mobilized his army and marched out against them with an imposing force. Because Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their country, Israel was forced to turn around (Numbers 20:18-21).
From this incident between Israel and Moan we learn that even in antiquity, people could not cross the borders of a country without the permission of the leaders of that country.
People may disagree with the moral implications of the Arizona law, but there is a Biblical precedent for what they have done.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
If you enjoyed reading this post, subscribe to my posts here.
Tags: Immigration, Illegal Aliens, Arizona Law
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt." Exodus 23:9 — is more to the point here. We all agree that there are borders and that there are reasons to enforce them. The issue in Arizona is whether the enforcement violates the biblical precept — it does.
LikeLike
>Tzvee,Israel entered Egypt legally. They were invited by Pharaoh to live there. The law in Arizona deals with people who have broken the laws of this country. I believe that we should not oppress the gerim. However, people who break the laws of the United States should not have the same rights as the immigrants who entered this country legally. Even Moses and the Israelite did not dare to enter the land of Edom without being invited.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
>Claude,While I think the Arizona law wrong, I do not think this on Biblical grounds. It risks unduly violating the civil rights of both citizens and legal aligns. But more to the point of your post, it is hard to know if the texts you cite really amount to a Biblical perspective or are just elements of shared culture. There is a fascinating letter found at Amarna (EA 30), almost certainly from the king of Mitanni, that reads in Moran’s 1987 translation, "To the kings of Canaan, servants of my brother: Thus the king. I herewith send Akiya, my messenger, to speed posthaste to the king of Egypt, my brother. No one is to hold him up. Provide him with safe entry into Egypt and hand (him) over to the fortress commander of Egypt. Let [him] go on immediately, and as far as his pre(sence) are concerned, he is to owe nothing."There are several fascinating things about this letter. For example, the “kings of Canaan” are to provide for Akiya and not only allow him safe passage. But then, he is an ambassador of some sort and not an immigrant.
LikeLike
>Duane,I am also concerned with the rights of citizens and legal aliens. Since I was born in another country, I feel the pain that such a law can cause in the lives of people like me.The reference to the right to travel in the Amarna Letters is fascinating. It is clear that in antiquity the borders of a nation were not completely open to foreigners. There must be some kind of limit imposed on travel, otherwise a nation could be overflowing with uninvited guests.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike