Abstract:
The study is a response to the call for papers that focuses on African issues and, I
chose to discuss the issue of migration. Though not a historical document, the Bible records
various journeys that the ancient people travelled;1 it narrates people’s relocations from one
geographic place to the other. However, migration has never been the main focus of several
biblical interpreters who seem to perceive the Bible mostly from a theological lens. Largely,
this study is informed by current challenges associated with immigration, highlighting comparative
migration experiences that seem embellished under theological themes. For examples,
each day we hear about stories of migrants who drown in the sea while trying to cross to Europe
or of foreigners, due to xenophobic conflicts over few economic resources, die in numbers
in South Africa. This study explores two biblical characters—Abraham and Jesus from a migration
perspective, focusing on the pushed or pulled factors embedded under their stories.
