H5971a H5971a
People, nation, community — a collective body of persons, especially Israel or the nations
The noun עַם is the Hebrew Bible's primary term for a collective body of people, whether Israel ('my people'), a foreign nation, or humanity in general. It appears nearly 1,840 times, deeply woven into covenantal language: God calls Israel עַמִּי ('my people,' Exod 3:7) and the nations are עַמִּים ('peoples'). The word's root likely connotes kinship or connectedness, distinguishing it from גּוֹי, which emphasizes political or territorial nationhood. Every major language mirrors this collective meaning — 'pueblo,' 'peuple,' 'Volk.'
3. sense 3 — An occurrence at Song 6:12 where עַמִּי appears in a notoriously difficult verse — 'I did not know; my desire set me among the chariots of my noble people' (or 'of Amminadib'). The possessive 'my people' is clear from the glosses ('my people,' 'mi pueblo,' 'de mon peuple,' 'mein Volk'), but whether עַמִּי־נָדִיב is a compound proper name or 'my noble people' remains one of the most debated textual questions in the Song of Solomon. 1×
AR["عَمِّي-"]·ben["আমার-জনগণের-"]·DE["mein-Volk"]·EN["my-people-"]·FR["de-mon-peuple"]·heb["עמי-נדיב"]·HI["अपने-लोगों-के-"]·ID["bangsaku-yang"]·IT["popolo-mio"]·jav["umat-kula-kang-"]·KO["내-백성-의"]·PT["meu-povo"]·RU["народа-моего-"]·ES["mi-pueblo-"]·SW["ya-watu-wangu-"]·TR["halkimin"]·urd["لوگوں-کے"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. people, nation — The dominant and nearly exclusive sense: a collective body of people, whether Israel as God's covenant people, a foreign nation, or nations in general. It encompasses singular and plural uses, with or without article, prepositions, and possessive suffixes. Glosses across all target languages converge on collective nouns — 'el pueblo,' 'le peuple,' 'das Volk' — affirming a single core meaning. From Gen 19:4 ('all the people') through the prophets, this sense carries covenantal, ethnic, and national weight. 1836×
AR["الشَّعبِ","الشَّعْبَ","الشَّعْبُ","الشَّعْبِ"]·ben["-লোকদের","-লোকেরা","-সেই-লোক","জনগণ","জনগণের","জাতি-","প্রজা","লোকদের","লোকদের।","লোকেদের","লোকেরা"]·DE["Volk","das-Volk","dem-Volk"]·EN["the-people"]·FR["le-peuple"]·heb["ה-עם"]·HI["जनता-से","प्रजा","लोग","लोगõ","लोगों","लोगों-के","लोगों-के-लिए","लोगों-को","लोगों-ने"]·ID["bangsa","bangsa-ini","bangsa-itu","orang-banyak-itu","orang-orang","rakyat","rakyat-itu"]·IT["il-popolo"]·jav["bangsa","rakyat","tiyang","tiyang-tiyang","umat"]·KO["그-백성","그-백성과","그-백성에게","그-백성을","그-백성의","그-백성이","백성이"]·PT["o-povo","o-povo,","o-povo.","o-povo:","o-povo;"]·RU["-народ","народ","народа","народом","народу"]·ES["el-pueblo"]·SW["watu"]·TR["-halk","-halka","-halkı","halk","halka","halkı","halkın"]·urd["قوم","قوم-کے","لوگ","لوگوں","لوگوں-نے","لوگوں-کو","لوگوں-کے-لیے"]
2. sense 2 — An occurrence at 2 Sam 13:34 where the sense is contextually unclear or disputed. The passage describes the watchman seeing people coming, and the word may function in its standard collective sense but with an ambiguous referent. The gloss evidence ('people,' 'pueblo,' 'peuple,' 'Volk') is identical to sense 1, suggesting this may be a marginal or textually difficult instance rather than a distinct semantic category. 1×
AR["جَماعَةٌ-"]·ben["মানুষ-"]·DE["Volk"]·EN["people"]·FR["peuple"]·heb["עם-"]·HI["भीड़"]·ID["orang-banyak"]·IT["popolo"]·jav["tiyang-kathah-"]·KO["무리-"]·PT["povo"]·RU["народ-"]·ES["pueblo"]·SW["watu"]·TR["halk-"]·urd["لوگ"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
I. עַם, עָם n.m. Gn 11:6 (v. infr.) people (NH id., plebeian, common man; 𝔗 עַמָּא people, pl. peoples, tribes, etc.; Syriac ܥܰܡܳܐ; Arabic عَمٌّ v. supr.; orig. meaning prob. those united, connected, related, cf. WeGGN 1893, 480);—abs. עַם Gn 11:6 +, עַם Ju 9:36 +, הָעָם Jos 8:11 +; cstr. עַם Nu 21:29 +; sf. עַמִּי Ex 3:7 +, עַמְּךָ 22:27 +, etc.; pl. עַמִּים Is 2:3 +, עֲמָמִים (cf. Biblical…