Strong’s Greek 3927 portrays believers as “sojourners” or “temporary residents”—people who reside in a land that is not their true home. It underscores a transitory earthly status and a permanent heavenly citizenship.

Old Testament Roots

The Septuagint frequently rendered Hebrew terms such as gēr (“resident alien”) and tôshāv (“sojourner”) with cognate words, preparing readers for the New Testament’s spiritual use (Genesis 23:4; Leviticus 25:23). Patriarchs lived in Canaan “as foreigners,” anticipating promises yet unseen. This background frames the New Testament occurrences.

Hebrews 11:13—Pilgrims of Faith

“ All these people died in faith, without having received the things promised. Yet they saw them and welcomed them from afar, and they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

Here the writer collects Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah into a single testimony. Their designation as “strangers and exiles” emphasizes:

• Forward gaze: They embraced promises at a distance.
• Detachment: None treated earth as final possession.
• Confession: Their speech (“acknowledged”) matched their lifestyle, modeling verbal witness amid a pagan environment.

The verse links directly to Genesis 23:4 where Abraham calls himself “a stranger and a sojourner among you,” giving the term covenantal significance: the people of faith live between promise and fulfillment.

1 Peter—Exilic Identity of the Church

1 Peter 1:1 addresses the “elect, exiles of the Dispersion” scattered through Asia Minor. By 1 Peter 2:11 the apostle returns, “Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

Key elements:

1. Election and exile coexist. Divine choice does not negate hardship; it explains it.
2. Ethical separation: Holiness flows from pilgrim status (1 Peter 1:14-17).
3. Missional visibility: By conducting themselves honorably, believers “silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15).

The label intentionally recalls Israel’s Babylonian exile, yet broadens it: Gentile believers are equally “resident aliens” in a world system at odds with God.

Theological Threads

Heavenly Citizenship: Philippians 3:20 states, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” Strong’s 3927 supplies the complementary metaphor; we are residents elsewhere.

Tension and Hope: Pilgrims suffer yet hope (Romans 8:18-25). Their eyes remain fixed “on the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

Holiness in Context: Because sojourners do not assimilate fully, they resist cultural sins while engaging culture with good works (Matthew 5:14-16; Titus 2:11-14).

Historical Reception

Early Christian writers cherished the motif. The Epistle to Diognetus (second century) describes believers who “live in their own countries, but only as aliens.” Augustine built on the theme in The City of God, contrasting the earthly and heavenly cities.

During medieval pilgrimages the vocabulary of peregrinus connected physical journeys with inner detachment. Reformers reapplied it: John Calvin opened his Institutes with the assertion that life is “a transient lodging.”

Pastoral Ministry Significance

1. Persecution Consolation: Identifying as sojourners reframes loss; nothing truly ultimate is at stake (Hebrews 10:34).
2. Stewardship: Temporary residence encourages wise but non-idolatrous use of resources (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).
3. Evangelism: Outsider status provokes questions (1 Peter 3:15), creating gospel opportunities.
4. Unity: Shared exile transcends ethnic or social divides (Ephesians 2:19).

Practical Applications

• Cultivate pilgrim disciplines—prayer, Scripture, fasting—to guard against worldly assimilation.
• Practice hospitality; sojourners understand the need for welcome (Romans 12:13).
• Teach eschatology not as speculation but as orientation: “Set your minds on things above” (Colossians 3:1-4).

Devotional Reflection

Believers traverse a land that is both gift and proving ground. Earthly tents will fold; the prepared place remains (John 14:2). Until then, every act of faith, holiness, and witness signals allegiance to a kingdom “that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28). The vocabulary of Strong’s 3927 quietly but firmly calls the church to live like travelers whose destination is sure and whose journey itself becomes a testimony to the grace of God.