Ger Does Not Mean Convert

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1616&t=ESV
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1481&t=ESV

In Rabbinical Judaism, the term "ger"(גָּר) is generally used to designate a convert to Judaism. This is why those who want to convert to Orthodox Judaism. However, a simple word study of how the term was used in the Hebrew Bible shows that the word means no such thing. It is a derivative of "gur" (גּוּר) which means to sojourn. It is a term to designate foreigners who live in the land. It is never used for conversion. Here is a list of references where the word clearly does not mean convert. Even the Artscroll translation does not use the term "convert" or "proselyte" in these verses. I have highlighted in bold all instances of "ger" in these verses.

    Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
(Genesis 15:13 ESV)

    “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
(Genesis 23:4 ESV)

    She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”   
(Exodus 2:22 ESV)

    “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 22:21 ESV)

    “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 23:9 ESV)

    These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.
(Joshua 20:9 ESV)

    (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
        I have opened my doors to the traveler),
(Job 31:32 ESV)

    “Hear my prayer, O LORD,
        and give ear to my cry;
        hold not your peace at my tears!
    For I am a sojourner with you,
        a guest, like all my fathers.
(Psalm 39:12 ESV, verse 13 in the Artscroll)

    They kill the widow and the sojourner,
        and murder the fatherless;
(Psalm 94:6 ESV)

    I am a sojourner on the earth;
        hide not your commandments from me!
(Psalm 119:19 ESV)

    The LORD watches over the sojourners;
        he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
        but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
(Psalm 146:9 ESV)

    O you hope of Israel,
        its savior in time of trouble,
    why should you be like a stranger in the land,
        like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
(Jeremiah 14:8 ESV)

    For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the LORD will answer him myself.
(Ezekiel 14:7 ESV)

    You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord GOD.
(Ezekiel 47:22-23 ESV)

    “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
(Malachi 3:5 ESV)

Furthermore, there are many verses where the term "ger" is contrasted with a native of the land. It makes more sense to translate the term "stranger" and not "convert" even though Artscroll insists on using "convert."

    For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.
(Exodus 12:19 ESV)

    There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
(Exodus 12:49 ESV)

    but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
(Exodus 20:10 ESV)

    “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
(Exodus 23:12 ESV)

    “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.   
(Leviticus 16:29 ESV)

    “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man shall be cut off from his people.
(Leviticus 17:8-9 ESV)

Why is this important? Ezekiel has already established that sojourners get an inheritance of the land. They are not converts, and they are not of Israelite blood. Furthermore, the Israelites were "gerim" in the land of Egypt. I hope this does not mean that they were converts. Abraham was a "ger"and the word "Gershon" means not convert but stranger.

There will be one law for both the born Israelite and for the stranger. This stranger does not need to convert in order to be bound by the law. Strangers who live in Israel are as bound by the Sabbath laws as anyone else. They must observe the festivals, and can offer sacrifices.

The system of the rabbis denies this. They believe that even in Israel a non-Jew has to convert to be bound by the law. This is why there is such a thing as a "Shabbos Goy" a non-Jew who can do forbidden activities on the Sabbath and on holidays. The Bible provides no such support for such a system.

This simply provides further evidence that Rabbinical Judaism is not the system of Moses, but is an unbiblical, man-made system that violates the Law of Moses and dishonors God.