| Translation | Verse | Text |
| Strong Concordance | Ne 6:6 | Wherein was written [03789], It is reported [08085] among the heathen [01471], and Gashmu [01654] saith [0559] it, that thou and the Jews [03064] think [02803] to rebel [04775]: for which cause [03651] thou buildest [01129] the wall [02346], that thou mayest be [01933] their king [04428], according to these words [01697]. |
| Word | Easton Dictionary - Definition |
| HEATHEN | (Heb. plural goyum). At first the word goyim denoted generally all the nations of the world (Gen. 18:18; comp. Gal. 3:8). The Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner from the other goyim. They were a separate people (Lev. 20:23; 26:14-45; Deut. 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 (Josh. 23:7; 1 Kings 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; Lam. 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 Acts 22:21, Gal. 3:14, it denotes the people of the earth generally; and in Matt. 6:7, an idolater. In modern usage the word denotes all nations that are strangers to revealed religion. |