Bible Dictionaries
Heathen

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. plural 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; Lamentations 1:3; Isaiah 36:18 ), the wicked (Psalm 9:5,15,17 ).

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.