Migration and displacement from the heart of the Holy Scriptures

Abstract

To speak of human mobility is to speak of a fact that can be addressed from two points of view: the causes—or situations that motivate the departure from one’s own territory; and the consequences—the situations that migrants encounter in the places of destination. While some individuals understand such mobility as a resource for solving problems in the places of origin, others perceive it as a threat and a social burden that shakes cultural and social relationships.
The books of the Bible describe such situations intertwined with salvation history, in which God makes himself present. In some parts, these books describe the circumstances that motivated entire populations to go out in search of better lands; and in others, they describe how were these people received, and the challenges they faced in building a new story in the places where they arrived.
The Bible assigns an important position to the migrant, either to guide the way in which she or he should be received, or to tell migrants what to do when arriving in a foreign place; this, because the people of Israel will consider themselves as foreigners as long as they can return to God’s promised land. Thus, begins the so-called historical creed in the book of Deuteronomy: “My father was a wandering Aramean” (Dt 26:5). The Old Testament offers many stories of characters who have left their homeland, seeking for a better destiny, while God guarantees them protection as migrants. In the New Testament, Jesus presents himself as a migrant, relates to strangers in a foreign land, and proposes—to those who want to follow him—an itinerant uprooting movement. These are the topics that we will address in the following pages, in an attempt to understand migration from the very heart of the Scriptures.