This word in the Auth. Ver. generally represents the Heb. גּוֹי, i.e., the nation as a body politic; in plur. גּוֹיַם, esp. of foreign nations, the GENTILES (See GENTILES) (q.v.); usually in the Sept. ἔθνος, ἔθνη, Vulg. gens, gentes. Sometimes it represents the Heb. עָם, which means esp. the PEOPLE (See PEOPLE) (q.v.), Sept. λαός; in poetry, לְאֹם
לְאֻמַּים; and in Chald. אֻמָּה . It means sometimes all the inhabitants of a particular country (Deuteronomy 4:34), the country or kingdom itself (Exodus 34:10; Revelation 7:9); sometimes countrymen, natives of the same stock (Acts 26:4); sometimes the father, head, or original of a people (Genesis 25:23). In the prophets the term "nations" is often used as a general name for the heathen or Gentiles (Isaiah 9:2; comp. Matthew 4:15). (See ETHNOLOGY).