Goy
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Goy (Hebrew: גוי, plural goyim גוים) is a transliterated Hebrew word which translates as "nation" or "people", but often used to describe one who is not a Jew.
In modern Hebrew and Yiddish, the word goy may be used to refer to members of the Gentile nations. In English however, the dispassionate use of the word goy is controversial. It is instead typically assigned pejoratively to non-Jews as well as to Jews who are perceived by other Jews to lack religious commitment to Judaism. To avoid any offensive connotations that have been attached to the word, writers typically prefer the neutral terms "Gentile" or "non-Jew".
Etymology
In the Hebrew Bible, goy and its variants appear over 550 times in reference to Israelites and to Gentile peoples. The first recorded usage of goy occurs in Genesis 10:5 and applies 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.
False claims
Claims that the word goy literally means "cattle" in Hebrew and it has consequently been appropriated to denigrate Gentiles because of these alleged etymological beginnings are false: no linguistic basis supports either of these assertions. As explained above, goy had its origins in the Bible to mean "nation" or "people" and applied to Jews and Gentiles alike.
See also
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