Here the word is the Hebrew goi, and this word is used again and again

of the nation of Israel, the first occurrence being Genesis 12:2 'I will make

of thee a great nation'; Israel were 'a great goi'.  Israel most surely knew

and gloried in the fact that they were a 'goi', yet here we have Israel

glorying also in the opposite fact that they were not a 'goi'!  It is

therefore abundantly clear that the word goi in the prayer must refer to the

Gentile nations, as distinct from the nation of Israel, for according to the

Old Testament Scriptures, every individual on earth must belong to a nation,

a goi, and are classed under the plural goyim.

We have said above that the Authorized Version appears to have indulged

in an anachronism, using the differentiate word 'Gentile' before its time,

for when Genesis 10 was a record of 'present truth', Israel was unknown:

'By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every

one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations' (Gen.

In this verse the word goyim is translated once 'Gentiles' and once

'nations'.  There can be no thought of forgetfulness or lack of intention

here, especially when we read the full preface written by the translators and

perceive their methods and purpose.

The book of Genesis is 'The book of the generations of Adam' (Gen.

5:1), which embraces the seventy nations set forth in Genesis 10, and the

descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, namely the nation of Israel,

represented by the twelve sons, the fathers of the twelve tribes named after

them.  While the order given in Genesis 10:1 of the three sons of Noah, is

'Shem, Ham and Japheth', the opening generation is not that of Shem, but of

Japheth, who is called 'the elder' in Genesis 10:21.  The prominence given to

Shem is because of the place which his descendants were to occupy in the

redemptive purpose.  While the descendants of Ham, and many of the

descendants of Abraham (outside the line through Isaac and Jacob) were

'Gentiles' or 'nations' as distinct from Israel, the Authorized Version

places the emphasis upon the descendants of Japheth probably because some of

these nations occupied Europe at the time of Christ, and to these nations in

particular, the ministry of Paul was originally directed:

'From Jerusalem, and round about Illyricum' (Rom. 15:19).

(Illyricum including Albania, Dalmatia, etc., and later Rome, and possibly

Spain, Rom. 15:24).

The Hebrew word goi is used, sometimes generically, and refers to all

'nations', and sometimes specifically, when goi in the singular may refer to

Israel, as distinct from goyim in the plural that may refer to 'the nations

of the earth other than Israel'.  This is a feature in language that is

everywhere in use and acceptance.  The Authorized Version has translated

goyim 'Gentile' fifteen times, 'heathen' once and 'nations' about thirty

times.  The apostle Paul places the word 'Gentiles' over against the

Circumcision (Rom. 15:8 -12), those nations that 'have not the law' (Rom.

2:14) and over against 'The Jews' (Rom. 3:29).  The Gentile believers during

Paul's early ministry are likened to a 'wild olive graft' contrary to nature,

Israel being the true olive.