Goy 142684 219019788 2008-06-13T05:40:17Z Mukadderat 747735 rv deletion '''Goy''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: '''גוי''', regular plural '''goyim''' '''גויים''' in Western languages) is a transliterated [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word which translates as "[[nation]]" or "[[person|people]]". Historically and up to modern times it is a synonym for [[Gentile]] or non-Jew. ==Etymology== [[Image:Page from Yiddish-Hebrew-Latin-German dictionary by Elijah Levita.jpg|thumb|250px|A page from [[Elia Levita]]'s [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]-[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]-[[Latin language|Latin]]-[[German language|German]] dictionary (16th century) contains a list of nations, including word "גוי", translated to Latin as "Ethnicus"]] In the [[Torah]]/[[Hebrew Bible]], ''goy'' and its variants appear over 550 times in reference to [[Israelite]]s and to [[Gentile]] nations. The first recorded usage of ''goy'' occurs in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 10:5 and applies innocuously to non-Israelite nations. The first mention in relation to the Israelites comes in Genesis 12:2, when God promises [[Abraham]] that his descendants will form a ''goy gadol'' ("great nation"). While the earlier books of the Hebrew Bible often use ''goy'' to describe the Israelites, the later ones tend to apply the term to other nations. Some Bible translations leave the word ''Goyim'' untranslated and treat it as the proper name of a country in [[Genesis]] 14:1. Bible commentaries suggest that the term may refer to [[Gutium]].<ref>[http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T3864 Goiim] in the [[International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]]</ref> The "King of Goyim" was [[Tidal (Bible King)|Tidal]]. ==In Rabbinic Judaism== One of the more poetic descriptions of the chosen people in the Old Testament, and popular among Jewish scholarship, as the highest description of themselves: when God proclaims in the holy writ, 'Goy Ehad B'Aretz', or 'a unique nation upon the earth!'. The [[Rabbinic literature]] conceives of the nations (''goyim'') of the world as numbering seventy, each with a discrete language. On the verse, “He [God] set the borders of peoples according to the number of the [[Children of Israel]],”<ref>Deut., 32:8</ref> [[Rashi]] explains: “Because of the number of the Children of Israel who were destined to come forth from the children of [[Shem]], and to the number of the seventy souls of the Children of Israel who went down to [[Egypt]], He set the ‘borders of peoples’ [to be characterized by] seventy languages.” The [[Chaim ibn Attar|Ohr Hachayim]]<ref>On Numbers, 8:2</ref> maintains that this is the symbolism behind the [[Menorah (Temple)|Menorah]]: “The seven candles of the Menorah [in the [[Holy Temple]]] correspond to the world's nations, which number seventy. Each [candle] alludes to ten [nations]. This alludes to the fact that they all shine opposite the western [candle], which corresponds to the Jewish people.” ==Modern usage== As noted, in the above-quoted Rabbinical literature the meaning of the word "goy" shifted the Biblical meaning of "a people" which could be applied to the Hebrews/Jews as to others into meaning "a people other than the Jews". In later generations, a further shift left the word as meaning an individual person who belongs to such a non-Jewish people. In modern [[Hebrew]] and [[Yiddish]] the word ''goy'' is the standard term for a [[gentile]]. In English the use of the word ''goy'' can be controversial. Like other common (and otherwise innocent) terms, it may be assigned pejoratively to non-Jews.<ref>[[American Heritage Dictionary|The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition]]</ref><ref>"There is nothing inherently insulting about the word 'goy.' In fact, the Torah occasionally refers to the Jewish people using the term 'goy.' Most notably, in Exodus 19:6, G-d says that the Children of Israel will be 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,' that is, a goy kadosh. Because Jews have had so many bad experiences with anti-Semitic non-Jews over the centuries, the term 'goy' has taken on some negative connotations, but in general the term is no more insulting than the word 'gentile.' [http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm#Goyim Jewish Attitudes Toward Non-Jews], Jewfaq.org. Retrieved January 30, 2007.</ref><ref>"The word goy means literally "nation", but has come to mean "Gentile", sometimes with a derogatory connotation." Diane Wolfthal. ''Picturing Yiddish: gender, identity, and memory in the illustrated Yiddish books of Renaissance'', Brill Academic Publishers, 2004, ISBN 9004117423, p. 59 footnote 60.</ref> To avoid any perceived offensive connotations, writers may use the English terms "Gentile" or "non-Jew". In Yiddish it is the only proper term for Gentile, and many bilingual English and Yiddish speakers do use it dispassionately. A stereotype of a goy, as expressed in [[Jewish humor]], bears derogatory elements, e.g., as [[Hillel Halkin]] writes: ''"A stereotypical goy acts blindly; a stereotypical Jew thinks before acting,"'' <ref>[http://www.hagshama.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=2180 "Why Jews Laugh at Themselves"], an essay by [[Hillel Halkin]], ''[[Commentary Magazine]]'', Vol 121, April 2006, No 4, pp. 47-54 </ref> when commenting on skit of [[Jack Benny]]: ''when a mugger comes upon him: "your money or your life", and prods him with the gun, he protests "I'm thinking it over!''" The term ''[[shabbos goy]]'' refers to a non-Jew who performs duties that [[Halakha|Jewish law]] forbids a Jew from performing on the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]]; typically, lighting a fire to warm a house. In [[Israel]], secularists rarely use the term, preferring to either refer to foreign countries and nations by their specific names or use such terms as "Ha-Olam Ha-Lo Yehudi" (העולם הלא-יהודי), "The Non-Jewish World". ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== {{wiktionary}} *[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=398&letter=G&search=goy Goy] from [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] *[http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=255&o=125 What does the word "goy" mean?] from AskMoses.com *[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/11-Miscellaneous/section-6.html Is "goyim" offensive?] from soc.culture.jewish FAQ *[http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=01471&version=kjv Goy] from The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon *[http://www.onelook.com/?w=goy&ls=a Goy from One look dictionary.] [[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]] [[Category:Yiddish]] [[Category:Ethnic and religious slurs]] [[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]] [[de:Goi (Nichtjude)]] [[es:Goy]] [[eo:Gojo]] [[fr:Goy]] [[it:Gentili]] [[he:גוי]] [[hu:Gój]] [[nl:Goj]] [[no:Goy]] [[pl:Goj]] [[pt:Goy]] [[ru:Гой]] [[sl:Goy]] [[sv:Goj]] [[uk:Гой]] [[yi:גוי]]