You asked

how do other old testament prophets or writings speak to the inclusion of outsiders?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Ruth 1:16-17

“Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you; for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God; where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.””

The book of Ruth tells the story of a Moabite woman who chooses to stay with her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, after both their husbands die. This passage captures Ruth's powerful declaration of loyalty and commitment to Naomi and her people, even though it means leaving her own homeland and gods.

What does this passage challenge in how we define 'insider' and 'outsider' in our own communities today?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Isaiah 56:3-7
This prophetic passage speaks of foreigners joining the Lord and finding a place in God's house of prayer.
Jonah 4:10-11
This book highlights God's compassion even for the people of Nineveh, a foreign enemy city, challenging Jonah's narrow view.
Numbers 15:15-16
These laws establish a single statute and rule for both native-born Israelites and foreigners residing among them.

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