Goiim
Goiim is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Galilee. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Goiim, meaning "nations" or "gentiles" in Hebrew, appears in Genesis 14:1 as the kingdom ruled by Tidal, one of four kings who formed a coalition against the cities of the plain. Tidal king of Goiim allied with Chedorlaomer of Elam, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar to wage war against Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar). This confederation defeated the cities of the plain in the Valley of Siddim and carried off captives including Lot, Abraham's nephew. Abraham's subsequent pursuit and rescue of Lot with 318 trained men represents one of the earliest military campaigns in the patriarchal narratives and demonstrates Abraham's capacity for decisive action beyond mere pastoral life. The association of Goiim with the Galilee region reflects attempts by ancient geographers to locate Tidal's kingdom in northern Canaan. Tidal king of Goiim has been tentatively linked by some scholars with Hittite or Anatolian rulers, though the identification remains uncertain. The episode in Genesis 14 is significant for the encounter with Melchizedek king of Salem that follows Abraham's victory.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Goiim as a kingdom associated with Galilee remains archaeologically unidentified with certainty. The Hebrew word goiim simply means "nations," making it difficult to pinpoint as a specific geographic entity. Some scholars have proposed identifying Tidal king of Goiim with a Hittite ruler, given the phonetic similarity of Tidal to the Hittite royal name Tudhaliya. The Galilee region itself contains numerous Bronze Age sites, including Tel Hazor, which dominates the archaeological landscape as the largest Bronze Age city in Canaan. Extensive excavations at Hazor and other northern Israelite sites have illuminated the political complexity of early Canaan but have not produced inscriptional evidence directly identifying a kingdom of Goiim in the region.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]