I. Early Judaism
The Septuagint uses προσήλυτοι/prosḗlytoi, literally “those who have come over,” to translate Hebrew גֵּר/gēr (“resident alien” [Stranger: II] in the land of Israel, enjoying a special legal status). Toward the end of the ¶ second temple period, proselyte came to denote primarily a convert to Judaism (e.g. Jos. Apion. II 28), with almost the same rights in the Jewish community as someone born a Jew. In ea…