{"id":89322,"date":"2021-02-23T09:16:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T07:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=89322"},"modified":"2021-02-23T09:16:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T07:16:16","slug":"all-nations-and-peoples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/all-nations-and-peoples\/","title":{"rendered":"All Nations and Peoples"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, but has a very wide scope. The psalmist calls for all of the world to praise God:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPraise the LORD, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples\u201d (Psalms 117:1)<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Hebrew, the word for \u201cnations\u201d is <\/span>goyim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and \u201cpeoples\u201d is <\/span>umim<\/span><\/em>. As Radak points out, there isn\u2019t a difference in meaning in their use in this verse \u2013 the repetition is for poetic effect. But the words do have different backgrounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Bible there are actually four different words that can mean \u201cnation.\u201d Let\u2019s take a look at them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most common biblical word (not found in our verse) is ‘<\/span>am<\/span><\/em>. It primarily means \u201cnation,\u201d although there are examples where it means \u201ccrowd\u201d or \u201cgroup.\u201d It derives from a root meaning \u201cto join, connect,\u201d which also gives us ‘<\/span>im<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 the Hebrew word for \u201cwith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Modern Hebrew, ‘<\/span>am<\/span>\u00a0has more of an ethnic, and less of a political sense. ‘<\/em><\/span>Am Yisrael<\/span><\/em>, the nation or people of Israel, is not limited to citizens of a particular nation-state.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next most common word is <\/span>goy<\/span><\/em>, which appears in the plural in our verse. It almost always means \u201cnation.\u201d Frequently in the Bible it refers to the nation of Israel, but in post-Biblical Hebrew it took on the meaning of \u201cnon-Jew.\u201d One explanation for why <\/span>goy<\/span><\/em>\u00a0became the term for a non-Jew was because in Talmudic times it was unclear which Biblical nation non-Jewish individuals originated from, so the generic <\/span>goy<\/span><\/em>, nation, was used.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next word, <\/span>leom<\/span><\/em>, appears far less frequently in the Bible than the previous two terms. Since it did not have the frequency and weight of <\/span>am<\/span><\/em>\u00a0or <\/span>goy<\/span><\/em>, it was available in modern Hebrew for the new terms related to the modern nation-state and nationalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Modern Hebrew we find the word used most frequently in the adjectival form \u2013 <\/span>leumi<\/span><\/em>\u00a0– “national”: Bank Leumi, Sherut Leumi (national service), Bituach Leumi (national insurance), etc. The noun has migrated to the meaning “nationality”, as can be found on identity cards.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last word for nation, <\/span>uma<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is the most infrequent of the four. Besides in our verse, it only appears in two other verses (Genesis 25:16 and Numbers 24:15). All three appearances are in the plural. It is cognate with the Arabic <\/span>ummah<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ccommunity\u201d (usually with a common religious background.)<\/span><\/p>\n

In Modern Hebrew, <\/span>uma<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is used for nation in cases where neither <\/span>medina<\/span><\/em>\u00a0(\u201cstate\u201d) or ‘<\/span>am<\/span><\/em>\u00a0are appropriate. So an address to the nation is a <\/span>neum leuma<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and the United Nations are the <\/span>umot meuchadot<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, in the United Nations Plaza, a quote from the Bible (Isaiah 2:4) is proudly displayed. So perhaps that is a fulfillment of the psalmist\u2019s plea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":89323,"id":89323,"title":"ps117-nations","filename":"ps117-nations.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps117-nations.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/all-nations-and-peoples\/ps117-nations\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps117-nations","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":89322,"date":"2021-02-23 07:15:57","modified":"2021-07-26 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