AM HÂ-ÂREŞ. - A Hebrew expression (“people of the land”), which in the earliest documents simply denotes the population of a given region or the country people (Gen. 42:6; II Reg. 24:14), but already in Ezra (4:4) and Nehemiah (10:31) designates the pagans who had intermarried with the Israelites. The derogatory sense, foreign to the original meaning, became increasingly pronounced; the expression became almost synonymous with “ignorant” and “impious.” The learned Pharisees and scribes used this term to designate those who did not know the Law. The zealous Pharisees reproached the am hâ-âreş for ignorance of the Law (cf. Deut. 27:26) and for neglect of the obligations declared fundamental by their zeal, such as the payment of tithes and all practices concerning legal purity (Mt. 23:1-36). The rabbinical doctors prescribed the strictest separation from the abject “people of the land.” The hatred between the two opposing parties, which also emerges in the Gospel (Io. 7:49: “accursed”), had deep roots and manifested itself in drastic forms, as may be seen in the Mišnah, especially in the treatise Pěšahm. Christianity, with its doctrine of universal love and brotherhood, found greater acceptance among the “people of the land,” to whom it offered understanding and charity, than among the proud scribes and Pharisees.
Lukas und Johannes und die Apostelgeschichte erläutert aus Talmud und Midrasch, II, Monaco 1924, pp. 484-519; E. Würthwein, Der 'amm ha'ares im Alten Testament, Stoccarda 1936.