Reference: People
Hastings
This is the translation used in AV for a large number of Hebrew and Greek terms. In some cases ambiguity occurs, as the pl. 'peoples' is not used in AV except in Re 10:11; 17:15. Thus 'people' is used sometimes of the people of Israel, and often of heathen nations. RV uses 'peoples' freely, and this makes the meaning much clearer in such passages as Ps 67:4; Isa 55:4; 60:2 etc. (see art. Nations, also preface to RV).
A special phrase 'the people of the land' occurs frequently in the OT, especially in Jeremiah, Ezeklel, 2Kings., and 2 Ch. In most of these cases it means the general body of the people, the common people as opposed to the courtiers or the ruling class. In Ge 23:7,12-13; Nu 14:9 the term is applied to non-Israelites. In the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah the 'people of the land' are the half-heathen, half-Jewish population with whom the less scrupulous Jews intermarried, but who were avoided by the stricter party represented by Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezr 10:2,11; Ne 10:30-31; cf. Ne 9:1,30). The same phrase was used by the Rabbis to describe the common people, who were lax in observing the Mosaic law (Joh 7:49).
W. F. Boyd.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, Only if you would hear me. I will give you silver for the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.
Only do not rebel against Jehovah, neither fear the people of the land. For they are bread for us. Their protection has moved from them, and Jehovah is with us. Do not fear them.
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have sinned against our God and have taken strange women from the people of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
And now confess to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure. And separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange women.
And in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were gathered with fasting and with sackcloth, and with earth upon them.
And many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit, by Your prophets, but they would not give ear. And You gave them into the hand of the people of the lands.
And we swore that we would not give our daughters to the people of the land nor take their daughters for our sons. And if the people of the land should bring goods or any food on the Sabbath day to sell it, that we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath or on the holy day, and that we would leave the seventh year, and the interest of every debt.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You shall judge the peoples righteously and govern the nations on earth. Selah.
Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a Leader and Commander of peoples.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.
But this crowd, not knowing the Law, is cursed.
And he said to me, You must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues,