Is the word goyim a precursor/result/both of antisemitism?

by [deleted]
ragingrage

#Nope.

The term Goyim, Hebrew גּוֹיִם, appears fairly commonly in the Tanakh (the fundemental collection of Jewish texts, consisting of the Torah/Old Testament, the Nevi'im/Prophets, and the Ketuvim). The word just means "nations" in Hebrew (goy = nation, -im pluralizing). As explained by Redditt (the name is a coincidence!) in the context of Isaiah 25:3, for example, it refers to "foreign nations." This is its common use, and in Yiddish is used to refer to Gentiles (non-Jews).

The term also appears throughout Ezekiel, and Klein has given us a wonderful list characterizing these "86 [appearances] in the first 39 chapters" [2]. I've added some of the passages he references as well, so you can see the frequent appearance of "nations".

1. A neutral designation for other countries in the world

  • 5:5: Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.

  • 16:14: And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

2. A term that designates Israel either positively [...] or negatively.

  • 25:8: "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because Moab and Seir said, "Look, Judah has become like all the other nations,"

  • 2:3: He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.

3. The place where the punishment of Israel is carried out (that is, exile).

  • 4:13: The LORD said, "In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them."

  • 6:8: "'But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.

4. "The agents who defeat Israel or other countries"

  • 19:4: The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

That's not to say such a term hasn't been used in antisemitic contexts, but the term per se does not at all carry that implication. Indeed, it had wide-spread use in Yiddish (for some immigrants, it might be the only Yiddish term regularly used) [3].

Certainly any demarcation of an "us" and an "other," as the term vaguely supports, can be dangerous. It's also been mistranslated at times by anti-Semites misinterpreting the Tanakh to support their bigotry. I can't find many explicit examples of this, but Haim has one (from 1955, alas) [4]. She describes one such case:

Misinterpretations and falsifications abound, one such appearing as an epigraph to the book: "It is in your power," the author falsely quotes the Talmud, "indeed it is your duty to kill the best of the Christians." It is not the first time in the history of antisemitism that the word goyim is translated exclusively to mean Christians, and that this sentence has been quoted out of its context to confound the Jews.

(The missing context: "This is a mistranslation of a saying attributed to Simon ben Yohai, "The best among Gentiles deserve to be killed." [...] This rabbi was known for his hostility to the Romans.")

  1. Redditt PL. Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27.

  2. Klein RW. The Nations in the Book of Ezekiel.

  3. Weiss B. Reilly and I. Commentary. 1963 Apr 1;35(4):302.

  4. Haim SG. Arabic Antisemitic Literature: Some Preliminary Notes. Jewish Social Studies. 1955 Oct 1:307-12.