Reference: Heathen
Easton
(Heb plural goyum). At first the word goyim denoted generally all the nations of the world (Ge 18:18; comp. Ga 3:8). The Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner from the other goyim. They were a separate people (Le 20:23; 26:14-45; De 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 (Jos 23:7; 1Ki 11:2). The practice of idolatry was the characteristic of these nations, and hence the word came to designate idolaters (Ps 106:47; Jer 46:28; La 1:3; Isa 36:18), the wicked (Ps 9:5,15,17).
The corresponding Greek word in the New Testament, ethne, has similar shades of meaning. In Ac 22:21; Ga 3:14, it denotes the people of the earth generally; and in Mt 6:7, an idolater. In modern usage the word denotes all nations that are strangers to revealed religion.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Abraham will definitely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him.
The nations I am chasing out did these disgusting things. I hated them for it! So do not follow their example.
If you will not listen to me and obey all these commandments, if you reject my laws and look at my rules with disgust, if you reject my promise by disobeying my commandments, read more. then this is what I will do to you: I will terrorize you with disease and fever. You will suffer from eye problems and depression. You will plant your crops and get nothing because your enemies will eat them. I will condemn you so that you will go down in defeat in front of your enemies. Those who hate you will be your rulers. You will run away even when no one is chasing you. If you still will not listen to me, I will discipline you seven times for your sins. I will crush your arrogance. You will have no rain, and your land will be as hard as cement. Your strength will be spent uselessly. Your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit. If you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey me I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. I will send wild animals among you. They will rob you of your children. They will destroy your cattle, and make you so few that your roads will be deserted. If this discipline does not help and you still resist, I will resist you. I will punish you seven times for your sins. I will bring war on you to get revenge for my promise you rejected. When you gather in your cities, I will send plagues on you and you will fall under the control of your enemy. I will destroy your food supply. Ten women will need only one oven to prepare your food. You will eat and go away hungry. If in spite of this you do not listen to me and still resist me, I will resist you with great fury. I will discipline you seven times for your sins. You will eat the bodies of your sons and daughters. I will destroy your worship sites. I will cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on top of your dead idols. I will view you with disgust. I will make your cities deserted and ruin your sacred places. I will no longer accept the soothing aroma from your sacrifices. I will make your land so deserted that your enemies will be shocked as they settle in it. I will scatter you among the nations. War will follow you. Your country will be in ruins. Your cities will be deserted. Then the land will enjoy its time to honor Jehovah while it lies deserted. You will be in your enemies' land. Then the land will joyfully celebrate its time to honor Jehovah. All the days it lies deserted, it will celebrate the time to honor Jehovah it never celebrated while you lived there. I will fill those who are left in the land of their enemies with despair. The sound of a windblown leaf will make them run. They will run away and fall, but no one will be chasing them. They will stumble over each other. Yet no one will be after them. They will not be able to stand up to their enemies. They will be destroyed among the nations. The land of their enemies will devour them. Those who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors. However if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors and the treacherous things they did to oppose me, I will oppose them and bring them into the lands of their enemies. Then, if they humble their uncircumcised hearts and accept their guilt, I will remember my promise to Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. I will also remember the land. The land, abandoned by them, will enjoy its time to honor Jehovah while it lies deserted without them. They must accept their guilt because they rejected my rules and looked at my laws with disgust. Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or look at them with disgust. I will not reject or cancel my promise to them, because I am Jehovah their God. For their well being, I will remember the promise to their ancestors. I brought them out of Egypt to be their God while nations looked on. I am Jehovah!'
You will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them.
You condemned nations. You destroyed wicked people. You erased their names forever and ever.
The nations have dug a pit and fallen in. They have been caught in their own trap.
The grave is the destiny of all the wicked, of all those who reject God.
Rescue us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from the nations so that we may give thanks to your holy name and make your praise our glory.
Do not let Hezekiah mislead you by saying to you: 'Jehovah will rescue us. Did any of the gods of the nations rescue their countries from the king of Assyria?
Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, declares Jehovah. I am with you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will correct you with justice. I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'
Judah has been taken away as a prisoner because of trouble and hard work. She dwells among the nations. There is no rest for her. Her attackers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
Large quantities of meaningless words and repetition are not acceptable in prayer. The pagans think their gods will hear long and repetitious prayers.
The Lord said: 'Go! I will send you far away to the people of the nations.'
The Scripture revealed ahead of time, that God justified the people of the nations by faith. He preached the good news beforehand to Abraham. He said: In you will all the nations be blessed.
This way the blessing of Abraham might come upon the nations through Christ Jesus and we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Fausets
(See GENTILES .)
Hastings
Morish
The Hebrew word goi is also translated 'Gentiles,' and 'people,' and very often 'nations:' it is used in contrast to Israel irrespective of those designated being civilised or not. All the nations were idolaters, but this is not implied in the word goi, nor in the qno" -->????? of the N.T., which is more frequently translated 'nations' and 'Gentiles.' In Mt 18:17 ??????? has a peculiar application: if an offending brother will not bear the church, the injunction is "let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican," that is, as an outsider, the heathen being outside the privileges of Israel, as one to be avoided: cf. Ro 16:17; 2Th 3:6,14.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If he will not listen to them, let it come to the attention of the congregation. If he will not listen to the congregation, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax collector.
Now I beseech you, brothers, mark those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine you have learned and avoid them.
Smith
Hea'then.
[GENTILES]
See Gentiles