{
  "id": "dict_004344",
  "term": "People",
  "slug": "people",
  "letter": "P",
  "entry_type": "theological_term",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "A collective term for human beings or a defined group, especially God's covenant people.",
  "simple_one_line": "In the Bible, people can mean human beings generally or, in a special sense, those who belong to God.",
  "tooltip_text": "A broad biblical term for human beings collectively, especially God's covenant people.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "People of God",
    "Israel",
    "Church",
    "Covenant",
    "Gentiles",
    "Nation"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Chosen",
    "Holy Nation",
    "Remnant",
    "Redemption",
    "Assembly"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Scripture uses \"people\" in a general sense for humanity or a nation, and in a special covenant sense for those God has claimed as his own.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "A collective noun for humans; often used for Israel and, in the New Testament, for believers as God's people.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "1) It can mean people in general",
    "2) It can describe a nation or ethnic group",
    "3) It often carries covenant meaning when Scripture speaks of Israel or the church as God's people",
    "4) Context determines the sense."
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "In the Bible, \"people\" is a broad term for human beings as individuals gathered into communities, nations, or social groups. The phrase often carries covenant significance when Scripture speaks of Israel as God's people and, in the New Testament, of believers as a people belonging to God through Christ. Because the term is so general, its meaning depends heavily on context.",
  "description_academic_full": "\"People\" is a broad biblical term that can refer simply to human beings in general, to a nation or ethnic group, or to a community defined by covenant relationship. In the Old Testament, the language of \"my people\" is especially important for Israel, the nation God chose and redeemed under the old covenant. In the New Testament, this covenant language is applied to the church as those who belong to God through faith in Christ. The safest conclusion is that Scripture uses \"people\" both in an ordinary human sense and in a special theological sense for those whom God claims as his own.",
  "background_biblical_context": "In Scripture, \"people\" may refer to humanity at large, a political or ethnic group, or God's covenant community. The Old Testament frequently speaks of Israel as God's people, highlighting election, redemption, obedience, and covenant belonging. The New Testament extends the same covenant language to believers in Christ, stressing mercy, identity, holiness, and unity.",
  "background_historical_context": "In the ancient world, peoples were commonly understood as kinship-based or nation-based communities with shared identity, land, and allegiance. Biblical language reflects that world while also sharpening it theologically: a people is not only a social group but, when God is involved, a community defined by covenant and redemption.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "In the Old Testament and Second Temple Jewish context, Israel understood itself as a distinct people set apart by God's covenant, law, and saving acts. Phrases such as \"my people\" express both belonging and obligation. This background helps explain why New Testament writers use similar language for the people formed by God's saving work in Christ.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "Exod 6:7",
    "Deut 7:6",
    "Hos 2:23",
    "Matt 1:21",
    "1 Pet 2:9-10",
    "Rev 21:3"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Luke 1:68, 77",
    "Titus 2:14",
    "John 11:50-52",
    "Acts 15:14"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "Hebrew often uses עַם (ʿam) for \"people\" and related forms for a people or nation; Greek commonly uses λαός (laos) for a people, especially in covenant contexts, and ἔθνος (ethnos) for nation or Gentile people groups.",
  "theological_significance": "The term highlights communal identity, covenant belonging, and divine ownership. It shows that God's saving work forms a people for his name, not merely isolated individuals. In the New Testament, it also underscores the inclusion of believers in Christ as a redeemed people called to holiness and witness.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "The concept of \"people\" reminds readers that human identity is relational and communal, not merely individual. Scripture presents belonging as something morally and covenantally meaningful: to be God's people is to live under his rule and within his promises.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not assume every use of \"people\" has the same meaning. Context may indicate humanity in general, an ethnic group, a political nation, or God's covenant people. Avoid flattening Old Testament Israel and New Testament church language into a simplistic equation without considering the biblical storyline.",
  "major_views_note": "Christians differ on how the New Testament's \"people of God\" language relates to ethnic Israel and the church, especially in relation to God's ongoing purposes for Israel. All orthodox views agree, however, that God redeems a people for himself through his saving work and that believers belong to him through Christ.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "Use covenant language carefully and in line with Scripture. The entry should not erase the distinction between ordinary human groups and God's redeemed people, nor should it deny the biblical importance of Israel by collapsing all references into a single undifferentiated category.",
  "practical_significance": "This entry encourages believers to think corporately as well as individually. God's people are called to holiness, unity, obedience, compassion, and public witness. It also helps readers read biblical passages more carefully by asking whether \"people\" means humanity, a nation, or the covenant community.",
  "meta_description": "A biblical dictionary entry on \"People,\" explaining its ordinary and covenant uses in Scripture.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/people/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/people.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}