In the Mosaic Law, the treatment and inclusion of strangers, or foreigners, within the Israelite community is a topic of significant importance. The term "stranger" refers to non-Israelites who lived among the Israelites, often as sojourners or temporary residents. The Law provided specific guidelines regarding their participation in religious practices, including the consumption of sacrificial offerings.

The Mosaic Law delineated clear boundaries concerning who could partake in the sacred meals associated with sacrifices. In Leviticus 22:10, it is stated, "No outsider shall eat the sacred offering, nor shall the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it." This verse underscores the exclusivity of certain sacrificial meals, restricting them to those who were part of the covenant community, specifically the priestly families.

However, the Law also made provisions for the inclusion of strangers in certain communal religious activities, provided they adhered to specific requirements. In Exodus 12:48-49, regarding the Passover, it is written: "If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in his household must be circumcised, and then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you." This passage indicates that strangers could participate in the Passover meal if they fully embraced the covenant signified by circumcision, thus becoming part of the religious community.

The inclusion of strangers in certain sacrificial meals was not merely a matter of ritual purity but also a reflection of the broader theological theme of Israel as a light to the nations. The Law's provisions for strangers highlighted the potential for inclusion and the extension of God's covenant blessings beyond ethnic Israel, provided that the strangers adhered to the covenantal stipulations.

Moreover, Deuteronomy 14:21 provides another perspective on the consumption of certain foods by strangers: "You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God." This verse illustrates a distinction in dietary laws between Israelites and foreigners, allowing the latter to consume meat that was not permissible for the Israelites themselves.

In summary, the Mosaic Law established a framework that both protected the sanctity of Israel's religious practices and allowed for the inclusion of strangers under specific conditions. The laws concerning the eating of things offered in sacrifice reflect a balance between maintaining the distinctiveness of the covenant community and extending hospitality and potential inclusion to those outside of it.Exodus 29:33
And they shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.
Nave's Topical Index

Leviticus 22:10,12,25
There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
Nave's Topical Index

1 Cor. v. 11-Sep
... the angels, in contradistinction to "things relating to this ... if news get abroad among
strangers of what ... he saith these things about the Mosaic Law, much more ...
/.../homilies on the epistles of paul to the corinthians/homily xvi 1 cor v.htm

Interpretation of Prophecy.
... Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through ... Did the law of Moses
prescribe a literal priesthood with ... 1; 1:Pet.2:5. Did the Mosaic economy have ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/chapter xxxviii interpretation of prophecy.htm

Period iii. The Dissolution of the Imperial State Church and the ...
... we decree to all by this present law that they who ... where now my meanness appears
to be among strangers. ... creed of Constantinople, with the words relating to the ...
/.../ayer/a source book for ancient church history/period iii the dissolution of.htm

Against Jovinianus.
... on the first proposition of Jovinianus, that relating to marriage ... die, she is free
from the law, so that ... he and his sons were separated from their wives; but ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/against jovinianus.htm

[Endnotes]
... We may infer, therefore, that he "heard" of the strangers on his ... he aspired to be
the son-in-law of the ... Their work is one of the most valuable contributions to ...
//christianbookshelf.org/killen/the ancient church/endnotes.htm

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