Reference: Gentiles
American
A name given by the Hebrews to all those that had not received the Law of Moses. Foreigners who embraced Judaism, they called proselytes. Since the promulgation of the gospel, the true religion has been extended to all nations; God, who had promised by his prophets to call the Gentiles to the faith, with a superabundance of grace, having fulfilled his promise; so that the Christian church is composed principally of Gentile converts, the Jews being too proud of their privileges to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Redeemer. In the writings of Paul, the Gentiles are generally called Greeks, Ro 1:14,16; 1Co 1:22,24; Ga 3:28. So also in those of Luke, in the Ac 6:1; 11:20; 18:4. Paul is commonly called the apostle of the Gentiles, Ga 2:8; 1Ti 2:7, because he preached Christ principally to them; whereas Peter, etc., preached generally to the Jews, and are called apostles of the circumcision, Ga 2:8.
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Now in those days, the disciples being multiplied, there developed a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily assistance.
And some of them were men, Cyprians and Cyrenians, who, having come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching good-news, the Lord Jesus.
And he was discoursing in the synagogue every Sabbath, and was persuading Jews and Greeks.
I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
For I am not ashamed of the good-news of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to every man who believes, both to the Jew first, and to the Greek.
(for he who was working in Peter for the apostleship for men of circumcision was also working in me for the Gentiles),
(for he who was working in Peter for the apostleship for men of circumcision was also working in me for the Gentiles),
There is no Jew nor Greek, there is no bondman nor freeman, there is no male and female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblemished and unblameable before him.
I now rejoice in sufferings for you, and make complete in my flesh things lacking of the afflictions of the Christ for his body, which is the church.
Concerning all things presenting thyself a pattern of good works in the doctrine: incorruption, dignity, incorruptibility,
Easton
(Heb, usually in plural, goyim), meaning in general all nations except the Jews. In course of time, as the Jews began more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges, it acquired unpleasant associations, and was used as a term of contempt.
In the New Testament the Greek word Hellenes, meaning literally Greek (as in Ac 16:1,3; 18:17; Ro 1:14), generally denotes any non-Jewish nation.
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And he came to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain faithful Jewish woman, but of a Greek father,
Paul wanted this man to go forth with him. And having taken him, he circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those regions, for they had all seen that his father was a Greek.
But all the Greeks, having taken Sosthenes the synagogue ruler, were beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not going to judge, even of these things.
I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Fausets
Hebrew Gowy, "the nations" (or "pagan," derived from the Greek ethnee), as opposed to Israel (Ne 5:8). In Ge 10:5, "isles of the Gentiles," the term is used geographically in no invidious sense. In Ge 14:1, Tidal "king of nations" was probably chief of several nomadic wandering tribes of western Asia. In Jos 12:23 we read, "the king of the nations (the gentile foreigners) of Gilgal," the modern Moslem village Jiljule, six Roman miles N. of Antipatris. Goim is especially used of Galilee, bordering on and, even in Israelite times, much peopled with the Gilgal (Jg 4:2; Isa 9:1.) (See GALILEE.) "Greeks" in New Testament is used for Gentiles (Ac 14:1; 17:4; Ro 1:16; 10:12; 2:9-10; 1Co 10:32 margin).
With all the superiority of the gentile great world kingdoms, in military prowess, commerce, luxury, and the fine arts, Israel stood on an immense moral elevation above them, in the one point, nearness to God, and possession of His revealed will and word (Ex 19:5-6; Ps 147:19-20; 148:14; Ro 3:1-2). But this superiority was in order that Israel, as priests unto God, might be mediator of blessings unto all nations (Isa 61:6). The covenant from the first with Abraham contemplated that "in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed" (Ge 22:18). The Jews in national pride failed to see this, and despised the Gentiles Rejecting Messiah, they were "broken oft" from the olive, that the Gentiles might be" grafted in" (Ro 11:11-35).
The times of the Gentiles began with Judah's depression and captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God delegated the world empire (Jer 27:6-7), from whence Jeremiah's counsel to the Jews to submit to hint was true patriotism, not cowardice. Jerusalem has more or less been ever since "trodden down of the Gentiles," and shall be so "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Lu 21:24). Then shall the times of Israel begin with a glory eclipsing her past glory. "All Israel shall be saved." "The receiving of them shall be life from the dead" to the whole world (Mic 5:7; Isa 2:2-4; Re 11:2-15). The theocracy shall be restored with unparalleled splendor at the coming of Him "whose right it is" (Eze 21:27). The times of the gentile monarchies answer to Israel's seven times punishment (Le 26:18,21-24).
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From these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, every man according to his tongue, according to their families, in their nations.
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou have obeyed my voice.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be my own possession from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shall speak to the sons of Israel.
And if for these things ye will not yet hearken to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.
And if ye walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. And I will send the beast of the field among you, which shall rob you of your sons, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number, and your ways shall become desolate. read more. And if by these things ye will not be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.
And LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose army was Sisera who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers the Jews, who were sold to the nations, and would ye even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us? Then they were silent, and found not a word.
He shows his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt so with any nation. And as for his ordinances, they have not known them. Praise ye LORD.
And he has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his sanctified, even of the sons of Israel, a people near to him. Praise ye LORD.
And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and th read more. And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall the
But there shall be no gloom to her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jord
But ye shall be named the priests of LORD. Men shall call you the ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory ye shall boast yourselves.
And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. And the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes. And then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman.
I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. This also shall be no more, until he comes whose right it is. And I will give it.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from LORD, as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
And they will fall by the jaw of the sword, and will be led away captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
And it came to pass in Iconium according to the same thing, for them to enter into the synagogue of the Jews, and to speak so as for a great quantity to believe, both of Jews and of Greeks.
And some of them were persuaded, and joined with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great quantity, and of the prominent women not a few.
For I am not ashamed of the good-news of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to every man who believes, both to the Jew first, and to the Greek.
pressure and restriction, upon every soul of man who produces evil, both of the Jew first, and of the Greek, but glory and esteem and peace to every man who works good, both to the Jew first, and to the Greek.
What then is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Much every way. First, because they were indeed entrusted with the oracles of God.
For there is no distinction of a Jew and also of a Greek, for the same Lord is of all men, being rich toward all those who call upon him.
I say then, did they stumble so that they would fall? May it not happen! But in their transgression, salvation is to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. Now if their transgression is wealth of the world, and their failure is wealth of Gentiles, how much more their fullness? read more. For I speak to you the Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am indeed an apostle of Gentiles, I enhance my ministry, if somehow I may provoke my flesh to jealousy and may save some of them. For if the casting away of them is reconciliation of the world, what is the acceptance except life from the dead? And if the first fruit is holy, the branch is also. And if the root is holy, the branches are also. And if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and became a joint partaker of the root of the fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if thou boast, thou do not bear the root, but the root thee. Thou will therefore say, Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Correct! They were broken off for their unbelief, and thou stand by thy faith. Be not high-minded but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches, perhaps neither will he spare thee. Behold therefore the goodness and the severity of God. Indeed toward those who fell, severity, but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou too will be cut off. And also those, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural ones, be grafted into their own olive tree. For I do not want you, brothers, to be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise according to yourselves, that a callousness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The man who delivers will come from Zion, and will turn away impiety from Jacob. And this is the covenant from me to them when I will take away their sins. They are indeed enemies toward the good-news for your sake, but toward selection, they are beloved for the fathers' sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as ye once were also disobedient to God, but now have received mercy at the disobedience of these, so also now these have been disobedient for thy mercy, so that they also may receive mercy. For God has confined all men in disobedience, so that he might be merciful to all. O the depth of wealth, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways beyond finding out! For who has known the mind of Lord? Or who became his counselor? Or who first gave to him, and it will be repaid to him?
And leave out the court outside the temple, and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months. And I will give to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth. read more. These men are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, having stood before the Lord of the earth. And if any man wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if any man wants to harm them, he must be killed this way. These men have authority to shut the sky, so that it may not rain the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they may desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them, and he will overcome them and kill them. And their corpses are in the thoroughfare of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And out of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations they see their corpses three and a half days. And they will not allow their corpses to be put in a sepulcher. And those who dwell upon the earth rejoice over them, and will celebrate, and will give gifts to each other, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And after the three and a half days a spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those who watched them. And I heard a great voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they ascended up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that day a great earthquake occurred, and the tenth part of the city fell. And seven thousand names of men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest became afraid, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe departed. Behold, the third woe comes quickly. And the seventh agent sounded, and great voices occurred in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he will reign into the ages of the ages.
Hastings
Morish
A name commonly used in scripture to denote any and every nation except Israel. At times, when Israel as a people is referred to, the same words are used for them. Thus
1. goi, qno" -->???, ?????, is translated 'nation,' and refers to the Jewish nation. De 26:5; Lu 7:5; Joh 11:48. In the plural the same words refer to the nations generally in distinction from Israel, and are translated 'nations,' 'Gentiles,' and 'heathen.' De 18:9; 32:43; Isa 60:3; 62:2; Joe 2:19; Ac 11:1,18; Acts:13:19; Ac 28:28; etc.
2. ????? (in plural) is translated 'Gentiles' in Joh 7:35; Ro 2:9-10; 3:9; 1Co 10:32; 12:13, in contrast to the Jews; but would be better translated 'Greeks,' as it is in most places.
God had raised a wall between the Jews and the Gentiles, which in Christ's death was broken down for believers, "to make in himself of twain one new man." Eph 2:14. "There is neither Jew nor Greek . . . . for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Ga 3:28. This does not touch unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, who are kept separate in God's present and future dealings.
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When thou have come into the land, which LORD thy God gives thee, thou shall not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.
And thou shall answer and say before LORD thy God, My father was a Syrian ready to perish, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number. And he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Rejoice, O ye Gentiles, [with] his people. For he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will recompense those who hate him, and will make expiation for his land, for his people.
And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory. And thou shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of LORD shall name.
And LORD answered and said to his people, Behold, I will send you grain, and new wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith. And I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
The Jews therefore said among themselves, Where is this man going to go that we will not find him? Is he going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
If we allow him this way, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and the nation.
Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also received the word of God.
And when they heard these things, they relaxed and glorified God, saying, Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.
Be it known to you therefore, that the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear.
pressure and restriction, upon every soul of man who produces evil, both of the Jew first, and of the Greek, but glory and esteem and peace to every man who works good, both to the Jew first, and to the Greek.
What then? Are we better? Not at all. For we already charged both Jews and Greeks to all be under sin,
There is no Jew nor Greek, there is no bondman nor freeman, there is no male and female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the dividing wall of partition,
Smith
Gen'tiles
(nations). All the people who were not Jews were so called by them, being aliens from the worship, rites and privileges of Israel. The word was used contemptuously by them. In the New Testament it is used as equivalent to Greek. This use of the word seems to have arisen from the almost universal adaption of the Greek language.
Watsons
GENTILES, COURT OF THE. Josephus says there was, in the court of the temple, a wall, or balustrade, breast-high, with pillars at particular distances, and inscriptions on them in Greek and Latin, importing that strangers were forbidden from entering farther; here their offerings were received, and sacrifices were offered for them, they standing at the barrier; but they were not allowed to approach to the altar. Pompey, nevertheless, went even into the sanctuary, but behaved with strict decorum; and the next day he commanded the temple to be purified, and the customary sacrifices to be offered. A little before the last rebellion of the Jews, some mutineers would have persuaded the priests to accept no victim not presented by a Jew; and obliged them to reject those which were offered by command of the emperor, for the Roman people. The wisest in vain remonstrated with them on the danger this would bring on their country; urged that their ancestors had never rejected the presents of Gentiles; and that the temple was mostly adorned with the offerings of such people; at the same time, the most learned priests, who had spent their whole lives in the study of the law, testified that their forefathers had always received the sacrifices of strangers.
From the above particulars, we learn the meaning of what the Apostle Paul calls "the middle wall of partition," between Jews and Gentiles, broken down by the Gospel.