Heathen: 1. (Heb. plural goyum). At first the word goyim denoted generally all
the nations of the world
(Genesis 18:18) comp.
(Galatians 3:8) The Jews
afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner from the
other goyim. They were a separate people
(Leviticus 20:23; 26:14-45)
(Deuteronomy 28:1)ff and the other nations, the Amorites, Hittites, etc.,
were the goyim, the heathen, with whom the Jews were forbidden to
be associated in any way
(Joshua 23:7; 1 Kings 11:2) The practice of idolatry
was the characteristic of these nations, and hence the word came to
designate idolaters
(Psalms 106:47; Jeremiah 46:28; Lamentations 1:3; Isaiah 36:18) the
wicked
(Psalms 9:5,15,17)
2. The corresponding Greek word in the New Testament, ethne, has
similar shades of meaning. In
(Acts 22:21)
(Galatians 3:14) it denotes the
people of the earth generally; and in
(Matthew 6:7) an idolater. In modern
usage the word denotes all nations that are strangers to revealed
religion.
