What does the word…
heathen mean in the Bible
Hebrew: goyum
At first the word goyim denoted generally all the nations of the world (Genesis 18:18; compare 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), 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 (Psalm 106:47; Jeremiah 46:28; Lam. 1:3; Isaiah 36:18), the wicked (Psalm 9:5, 15, 17).
Greek: ἔθνος —transliteration: ethnos —occurrences: 163 (in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Cornithians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, 1 Peter, Revelation)
Greek: ἔθνη —transliteration: ethne
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.
More information
- foreigner
- stranger
- Gentiles
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