Neighbor or Stranger

And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.  Joshua 3:17  NASB

Nation – Gringo.  WASP.  Chink.  Gook.  Cracker.  Dego.  There’s a long list of racial slurs in English.  If you’ve studied the apostolic writings, you may have encountered a certain animosity toward Gentiles.  In fact, in Greek “gentile” is ethnos, as opposed to God’s people, Israel, with the Greek term laos.  That might lead us to conclude that the word “Gentile” was also used as a racial slur.  But a careful look at the Hebrew background makes this quite impossible.  Hebrew also seems to have terms for those who are not part of the congregation (goy) and those who are (am).  The problem is this: both terms are used for Israel.

In Joshua 3:17, the translation “nation” is from the Hebrew goyim.  But in Joshua 4:1, the same group of people is referred to with the Hebrew word am.  Why?  Something happens to the people when they cross the Jordan.  On the wilderness side, they are goyim, but on the Canaan side they are am.  How can we explain this?

The rabbi of Parma remarked that goy describes people who are primarily self-interested.  They are individuals who work toward their own agendas.  This is not necessarily wrong, as self-interest is a powerful motivator in humanity.  But the focus is on my (our) needs, such as food, shelter, protection, or survival.  The people in the wilderness experienced this orientation.  However, when they cross into the Promised Land, things change.  They become am.

Accordingly, am is a community with a higher level of ethical consciousness.  Their focus is not exclusively on their needs.  They embrace a larger purpose, a commitment toward others, outsiders, who are now part of the communal consciousness.  When the people of God cross into His land, their basic needs are met.  They can now embrace the higher purpose of becoming a light to the world, to those outside their group.  They are effectively there for the benefit of others.  This, of course, was the divine intention and program of God’s choice of Israel in the first place, as He makes clear in the announcement at Sinai.

Joshua 3:17 uses the term goy of Israel while they are crossing the Jordan.  They are transitioning from self-interest to divine representative, from what is good for them to what is good for the world.  Their focus changes from their own needs and desires to the larger plan of God, that they should be His agents to the world.  The text reads, “until all the goy had finished”

כָּל-הַגּוֹי

and continues in 4:1 with the same characterization  כָל-הַגּוֹי

but when all the people actually cross (4:11), the phrase is כָּל-הָעָם and also כָּל-הָעָם in 4:10 when the designation is the way God views them (“that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people”).  In other words, Jews can be either goy or am.  It doesn’t depend on ethnicity.  It depends on purpose.  Jew and Gentile don’t designate birthright.  They designate priority.

Topical Index:  Jew, Gentile, goy, am, nation, people, Joshua 3:17