גּוֹי561 H1471a
Nation, people-group; in the plural often 'the nations' (i.e., non-Israelite peoples, Gentiles).
Hebrew גּוֹי denotes a nation or people understood as a political and ethnic unit. In the singular it can refer to any nation including Israel itself—God promises Abraham 'I will make you a great nation' (Gen 12:2). But in the plural גּוֹיִם, it overwhelmingly designates 'the nations,' meaning the surrounding foreign peoples, and eventually becomes a near-synonym for 'Gentiles.' German distinguishes 'Völker' (peoples) from 'Nationen' (nation-states); Arabic uses أُمَم (communities) for the plural collective. The Phoenician cognate גו ('community') preserves the root sense of a bounded social body.
Senses
1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) — The plural or collective sense: 'nations, peoples'—the dominant usage (466 occurrences), typically referring to multiple foreign peoples or all the nations of the earth. Often carries a contrastive force against Israel: 'all the nations which the LORD your God is giving before you' (Deut 7:1). The consistent rendering as 'las-naciones' (Spanish), 'les-nations' (French), and 'die-Völker' (German) confirms the collective-political reading. Includes contexts of judgment on nations (Isa 2:4), blessing through Abraham's seed (Gen 18:18), and the scope of divine sovereignty (Ps 82:8). 466×
AR["ال-أُمَمُ", "الأُمَمُ", "الأُمَمِ", "الْ-أُمَمُ", "الْ-أُمَمِ", "الْأُمَمَ", "الْأُمَمُ", "الْأُمَمِ"]·ben["জাতিগুলি", "জাতিগুলি-যে", "জাতিগুলিকে-যে", "জাতিগুলির", "জাতিগুলো", "জাতিদের", "জাতিদের,", "জাতিদের-মধ্যে", "জাতিরা", "সেই-জাতিগুলি", "সেই-জাতিগুলিকে", "সেই-জাতিগুলির"]·DE["der-Nationen", "der-Völker", "die-Völker"]·EN["the-nations"]·FR["le-nations", "les-nations"]·heb["ה-גוי", "ה-גויים", "ה-גוים"]·HI["जातियाँ", "जातियां", "जातियान", "जातियों", "जातियों-की", "जातियों-के", "जातियों-ने", "जातियों-से", "जातियोन-के"]·ID["-bangsa-bangsa", "bangsa-bangsa", "bangsa-bangsa-itu"]·IT["il-nazioni"]·jav["bangsa-bangsa", "bangsa-bangsa-punika", "bangsa-bangsa;", "ing-bangsa-bangsa", "para-bangsa"]·KO["그-나라들을", "그-나라들이", "그-민족들", "그-민족들을", "그-민족들의", "그-민족들이", "민족들", "민족들을", "민족들의", "민족들이"]·PT["as-nações"]·RU["-народов", "-народы", "народов", "народы"]·ES["las-naciones", "naciones", "son-las-naciones"]·SW["mataifa", "yote"]·TR["-milletler", "-milletlerde", "-milletlerin", "milletler", "milletlerden", "milletleri", "milletlerin", "uluslar", "ulusları", "ulusların"]·urd["-قوموں", "-قوموں-نے", "-قومیں", "اِن-قوموں-کی", "قوموں", "قوموں-سے", "قوموں-کے", "قومیں", "قومیں-"]
2. nation, people-group (singular) — The singular sense: 'a nation, people-group'—a single political or ethnic entity (98 occurrences). May designate Israel itself ('a great nation,' Gen 12:2; 'a holy nation,' Exod 19:6) or any other people ('a nation you do not know,' Deut 28:36). Spanish and German both use the singular 'nación/Nation' or 'Volk' here, distinct from the plural collective. Key theological passages include God's promise to make Abraham into a nation (Gen 35:11) and rhetorical questions about Israel's uniqueness (Deut 4:7–8). 98×
AR["أُمَّةً", "أُمَّةٌ", "أُمَّةٌ-", "أُمَّةٍ"]·ben["-কাছে", "জাতি", "জাতিকে", "জাতিতে", "জাতির", "দেবতা"]·DE["Nation", "Volk", "ein-Nation", "ein-Volk"]·EN["a-nation", "nation", "nation-"]·FR["nation", "un-nation"]·heb["גוי", "ל-גוי"]·HI["जाति", "जाति-"]·ID["Bangsa", "bangsa", "demi-bangsa"]·IT["nazione", "un-nazione"]·jav["Bangsa", "bangsa", "bangsa-", "dados-bangsa", "nagari", "saben-bangsa"]·KO["나라", "나라가", "나라로", "나라를", "나라의", "민족", "민족(접)", "민족을", "민족이", "민족이-"]·PT["nação"]·RU["-народ", "Народ", "народ", "народ-", "народа", "народом", "народу"]·ES["Nación", "nación", "nación-"]·SW["taifa", "taifa-"]·TR["millet", "millet-", "millete", "ulus"]·urd["قوم", "قوم-", "قوم-میں", "میں"]
Gen 35:11, Exod 9:24, Deut 4:7, Deut 4:8, Deut 4:34, Deut 4:34, Deut 28:36, Deut 28:49, Deut 28:49, Deut 28:50, Deut 32:28, 2 Sam 7:23 (+38 more)
3. sense 3 — A problematic occurrence at Joshua 12:23 where 'Goiim' appears to function as a proper noun or geographic designation—'the king of Goiim in Gilgal'—rather than the common noun 'nations.' The multilingual evidence is split: English and French render 'nations,' but Spanish transliterates as 'Goyim,' treating it as a place name or ethnic label. This likely refers to the same entity as 'Goiim' in Genesis 14:1 (Tidal king of Goiim), a specific people-group or territory rather than the generic 'nations.' 1×
AR["جوييمَ"]·ben["জাতিদের"]·DE["Nationen"]·EN["nations"]·FR["nations"]·heb["גוים"]·HI["जातियों"]·ID["Goyim"]·IT["nazioni"]·jav["bangsa-asing"]·KO["민족들"]·PT["Goyim"]·RU["народов"]·ES["Goyim"]·SW["mataifa"]·TR["milletlerin"]·urd["قوموں-کا"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H1616 1. sojourner, resident alien (92×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H5608b 1. scribe, royal secretary (48×)H3162a 1. together, all together, alike (44×)H0376 2. husband (42×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
גּוֹי561 n.m. Gn 12:2 nation, people (NH id. Gentiles, Ph. גו community, ܓܰܘܳܐ, Sab. גו id., DHMZMG 1883, 348)—ג׳ Gn 12:2 + 121 times; sf. i s. גּוֹיִ Zp 2:9, גּוֹיֶ֑ךָ ψ 106:5, גּוֹיֵךְ Kt Ez 36:13, 14, 15 (Qr wrongly גּוֹיַיִךְ cf. Co, who del. v 15); pl. גּוֹיִם Gn 10:5 + 410 times + Qr Gn 25:23 ψ 79:10 (Kt גיים) + 6 times Ez (var. emend. Co); cstr. גּוֹיֵי Gn 18:18 + 8 times, גּוֹיֵ 2 Ch…