Who is a "Goy"?

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We are all God’s children

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• All the Nations Together
  
  In the days of the Bible, the Hebrew word goy גוֹי was simply the way of saying "nation." Each of the great peoples of the world (the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians) is called a goy in the Bible. The people of Israel are also called a goy (Genesis 12:2). The prophet Isaiah imagines a wonderful messianic future where, “nation (goy) shall not lift up sword against nation (goy)” (Isa. 2:4).
  
  The Chosen People Alone
  
  If the nations of the world are all goyim (plural of goy), there is no inherent difference between Jews and Gentiles. So why are the Jews the “chosen people”? The Bible says explicitly that Israel did nothing to deserve being chosen (Deut. 7:6-8). Rather God decided to give Israel the weighty responsibly of being his "special treasure" (segula) so they could be the channel of blessing to all people on earth.
  
  Come to Zion with Hebrew
  From Abraham’s family tree, came Israel, from whom eventually the Messiah was born. Now is the time to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah that “all the nations (goyim) shall stream to Jerusalem” to worship the Lord in perfect harmony (Isa. 2:2). Now is the time to unlock the Scriptures in Hebrew. Enroll in our live online Biblical Hebrew class today.