PILGRIM, PILGRIMAGE. Terms used in KJV to tr. Heb. and Gr. words that normally have a different connotation.

1. In the OT, מָגﯴר֮, H4472, (tr. “pilgrimage” Gen 47:9; Ps 119:54) derives from the root גור, “reside temporarily,” and was applied particularly to residence in a foreign land. The noun גֵּר, H1731, is best tr. “sojourner” or “resident alien,” as in ASV and RSV. Such a person could be a pilgrim also in the sense that he visits a place that has become sacred by reason of its association with some manifestation of God’s power. Normally, in the OT, however, the reference is simply to a temporary residence (Exod 6:4; Ps 119:54), or to the length of a man’s life on earth (Gen 47:9).

2. In the NT the term “pilgrim” (KJV) trs. παρεπίδημος, G4215, one who stays in a place as a stranger or visitor, to describe Christians whose final citizenship is in heaven and who are regarded as temporary dwellers on earth (Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11).

In the OT, pilgrimage was important in the life of Israel. In later times, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was an ambition, if not an obligation, for the faithful Jew of the Dispersion. A whole group of Psalms, the so-called “Songs of Ascent” or “Pilgrim Songs” (Pss 120-134), may have been used by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. In the NT are references to Jews going to Jerusalem for Passover or Pentecost (Luke 2:41; John 5:1; 7:2; Acts 2:1-11 etc.), after “the manner of pilgrims.” The requirement that Israel should “appear before the Lord God” three times annually—at the three major festivals of Passover and unleavened bread, of Weeks, and of Tents—was an ancient one (Exod 23:17; 34:23; Lev 23 etc.). The gathering of Israelites to Jerusalem or to some other center, in earlier times was in the nature of a pilgrimage. Some writers suggest that there were other important festivals. Since the basis of Israel’s early political life was a tribal federation, it has been argued that periodical gatherings at the central sanctuary for the renewal of the Covenant with Yahweh became regular pilgrimages in the course of time; thus at each New Year there was a festival of Covenant Renewal. This, however, cannot be proved from the Biblical data.

In addition to regular and legitimate pilgrimages, the prophets make it clear that some in Israel frequented pagan shrines where the local rites all but obliterated the worship of Yahweh (Amos 4:4, 5; 5:5, 6). The reforms of Josiah (2 Kings 23:1-25) sought to do away with much of this worship at ancient pilgrim centers and to concentrate legitimate worship at the central sanctuary in Jerusalem. The burden of Deuteronomy is along this line.

Bibliography R. Brinker, The Influence of Sanctuaries in Early Israel (1946); R. de Vaux, AIs (1962), 484-517.