foreign

Everyday

1. Foreign means from or belonging to another country, not your own. tree →
2. Foreign means strange or unknown to you. tree →
3. A foreign object or body is something that is in a place where it should not be, like dirt in an eye. tree →

In the lessons

In geography and languages lessons: foreign countries, foreign languages, foreign money. In first aid: "a foreign body in the eye". In stories it shows something new or strange. Phrases: foreign language, foreign country, foreign currency, foreign object, foreign to (strange to).

Examples

• French is a foreign language for me. tree →
• We changed our money into foreign currency. tree →
• He has never been to a foreign country. tree →
• The doctor took a foreign body out of her eye. tree →
• The idea of a lie-in was foreign to my dad. tree →
• Foreign visitors came to our school. tree →
• Don't put foreign objects in your ears. tree →
• The museum has coins from many foreign lands. tree →
• Ah, how delightful it is to travel into foreign lands!" tree →

Note

Spelling trap: f-o-r-e-i-g-n (silent g; "ei" breaks the "i before e" rule). Person: foreigner, which can sound unkind; "visitor" or "people from other countries" is kinder.

In Jewish tradition

The "foreign gods" are idols from other peoples. A master could not sell a Hebrew maidservant to a foreign people.

Interpretation. Jacob burying the idols is read by tradition as a clean break from idol worship before going up to Bethel. The law protecting the maidservant is read as showing care for the weak.

Examples

• And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem. (Torah GEN.35.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• If she please not her master, who hath espoused her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed; to sell her unto a foreign people he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. (Torah EXO.21.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land? (Writings PSA.137.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any foreign god. (Writings PSA.81.10, JPS 1917) tree →
• And so did he for all his foreign wives, who offered and sacrificed unto their gods. (Prophets 1KI.11.8, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Spelling trap: f-o-r-e-i-g-n (silent g; "ei" breaks the "i before e" rule). Person: foreigner, which can sound unkind; "visitor" or "people from other countries" is kinder.