Nations
If there is a word in the Bible that has caused more confusion than almost any other, it is Gentile. Any Scripture containing the word also proved difficult for editors. For example in the Old Testament, the plural: e.guim’ (guim guim) was given as “Gentiles” 30 times and “Nations” 299 times in the KJV. On every occasion Gentile was rendered it was a mistake, the word did not exist in Old Testament times.
Four Greek words also caused problems: Ioudaios, Ioudaia, ethnos and hellEn, yet the biggest test were the Latin, gen and gentelisis, which produced Gentiles as a personal noun. In thinking Ioudaios and Ioudaia were transposable; redactors of the New Testament managed to mix-up a people and their homeland. They also misread ethnos and hellEn making the same mistakes we see in the Old Testament, but on a grander scale. So, this Gentile problem sits not in the Old, but with the New. In hindsight these mistakes might seem understandable, but there is another side to these errors.
It’s clear; the Bible was transcribed by men unaware of the locations of Ephraim growing in the West.
They reasoned, the nations visited by the Apostles were not related to the scattered tribes but were different peoples they named Gentiles. Also, by confusing Ioudaios and Ioudaia editors created a group known as Judeans (Jews) believing anyone who was not a Judean was by default a Gentile.
Right understanding can only come from correct definitions. For instance, anyone who followed the Jews’ religion (Gal 1:13-14) was a Talmudist. It did not mean, and never was a race or ethnic group, even if some might demand, believe, or want it so. In his remarkable Holocaust article: Spiritually and Physically Responsible, Rabbi Gedalya Liebermann wrote:
Judaism is a religion. Judaism is not a race nor is it a nationality. That was and still remains the consensus amongst the rabbis.
All reference sources now use the English word, Jew to describe ancient Israel and Israelites, which is completely inaccurate and just plain wrong. Most dictionary definitions also describe Christians as Gentiles and why it is vital to know the difference between Israel, Judah and Jew. Loads of Christians are in fact descended from Ancient Israel, therefore Semites. The absurdity of especially the misuse of Gentile shows how tradition can lead us astray, unless there is another reason for it remaining.
Ethnos
Translators took great liberties rendering the Greek ethnos in a variety of ways in the KJV: Gentiles 99 times, heathen 7 times, nation(s) 68 times, people twice and with the greatest inconsistency, the Greek word hellEn; (Greek or Greek adopter) which they also randomly gave as “Gentile” in the King James; but as “Greek” in the Revised Standard. The Douay gave both “Gentile” and “Greek” in Paul’s letters, and why accuracy is so important in the volume of the Holy Bible.
And don’t for one minute think the latest editions have it all ironed out; when it comes to Gentiles, Greeks and Heathen they’re just as bad as all the others. This word Gentile has certainly caused a few problems for editors over the years, and continues to do so.
Ethnos, from which comes ethnic, means a nation or race; it is not applicable to an individual for the simple reason, a person cannot be addressed as a race or nation. Neither can the Hebrew guim be used to address an individual; the exception is the Latin, gen and its offspring gentelisis, a version of ethnos and guim. The Greek Septuagint was a rendering of the Hebrew Books, which used the Greek words ethnos and ethnOn to denote people from the same stock, race or descent; it was also used as the basis of Jerome’s Latin text.
The Greek ethnos and Hebrew guim both mean a people of the same stock or origin, organized as an independent political state, occupying a defined territory or province.
Had the translators correctly rendered nation, the circumstance would reveal whether ethnos was germane to Israelites, or another nation of non-Israelite origin.
However, the English word Gentile derives not from these, but from gens, gentelisis and the French gentil, which provide no hardship spinning Nation into Gentile. Latin is therefore the root of Gentile found in Jerome’s Vulgate, the Douai-Reims, and all Bibles to come from this source.
Attempting to reconcile Latin with Hebrew and Greek, has contributed much to the discrepancies we see with the use of Gentiles. The word has in fact created a homogeneous group of no fixed abode, and subtext marking Jews as a distinct and particular people. It has produced a misperception Jewry is chosen of God and a separate race. This approach, which began with Jerome in the 4th Century, paved the way for Jewish Enlightenment, Secularism and Zionism, 1,400 years later.
Yet, it had not the slightest impact on the Gospel of Christ or the message of Redemption. What it did achieve was to sow confusion in the skeptic and the faithful pertaining to Gentile and Jew.
Paul
Readers will know the Israelites came through Abraham’s descendants. The line became divided after the birth of Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob, when the LORD changed Jacob’s name to Israel. It is in Jacob’s offspring we see the kingdom and nation of Israel. Esau and Ishmael become the basis of Edom and herein we find a small irony. Herod at the time of the Apostles was descended from Edom, thus by definition a Gentile. As he practiced the Jews religion, he was also a Jew. Therefore, to be a Jew pertains to religion not race as Liebermann confirms.
Paul’s calling: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel.
The King James and Revised Version of Acts: 9:15 both use Gentile, as do most Bibles. Though Young’s translation gives a more accurate reading and where we will look further into Gentile and Nation:
because a choice vessel to me is this one, to bear my name before nations and kings, the sons also of Israel.
Paul’s mission was to go to a people, clan or race of the same stock; and these “nations” consisted of Israelites, not a vague assortment of peoples called Gentiles. The answer to Paul being sent to the Nations is found in the Old Testament. When we read the following from Genesis we will see the ordering of the LORD’S Covenant with Abraham, later repeated in the anointing of Paul.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make “nations” of thee, and “kings” shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee “and thy seed after thee” throughout their generations “for an everlasting covenant” to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. (Gen: 17:6-7)
The ordering of the Covenant is nations, kings and thy seed after thee. The same pattern is found with Paul: “nations,” and “kings” and the “children of Israel.” (Act 9:15) The nations promised to Abraham, are the very same Jesus sent the twelve, and where we find Barnabas and Paul. Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But rather go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. (Matt 10:5-6)
When we see the word Gentile in place of Nations it is for the most part an error, but we do need to be alert to context, especially in the New Testament.
The personalization of Nation by the use of Gentile was to draw a distinction between Jews and non-Jews. In replacing Nation with Gentile, translators since the 4th Century have created a pseudo-racial subtext relating to Jews allowing confusion to enter. Paul’s mission to go to the Gentiles has caused much debate regarding this word. It has not only buried the truth of Ancient Israel in the nations, but caused uncertainty regarding the Israel of God. It has provided for false narratives concerning the Jewish State, and driven a wedge between Judaism and Christianity that will not be removed by men.
Spiritual subtext
The Gentiles and Nations we have been looking into are those of the earth. What we have reviewed concerning Ancient Israel falls under the same: ordinary people, yet with a few notable exceptions the LORD called for His work. Now, the terms Israel and Jew also have “spiritual” implications when it comes to character and bias. And according to context, Gentile can also be used in a variety of ways.
When establishing His Church, Jesus confirmed that He is the rock upon which it is built. Peter and Paul wrote of this foundation. The LORD Jesus Christ instructed the Apostles go to Israel with news of the Kingdom, and history shows where the Apostles went to discharge this command. When we take this and their travels into account, there we will find Ephraim in the nations. Paul, Peter and James each wrote to them. All of their letters (especially Hebrews) were written to Israelites, not to a jumble of peoples like those living in Judea at the time of Christ. The salutation of James was the most revealing and direct: to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. (Jas 1:1)
In the King James New Testament, we find Gentile used in the singular only twice by Paul (Romans 2); but five times in the Douay: two in reference to Timothy and Titus implying they are ‘unworthy Gentiles.’ We find it four times in the ESV: Matt 18:17; Mark 7:26; and Galatians 2:14 and 15; and again used four times in the EMTV with Acts 10:28; Acts 17:17; Romans 2:26 and Galatians 2:14.
In the ISV and EMTV versions of Acts 10:28, Gentile is used when all others prefer “another nation,” the exception is Young’s with “another race.” With variations in almost every translation, the most common mistake was confusing the use of Heathen, Gentile and Greek. When we search “heathen” the majority of sources refer us back to Gentile. So it seems these heathen Gentiles were regarded as the dregs of society, no matter how we slice it.
With Gentile now making its way into the Bible, we see it in several passages to differentiate between the righteous and the sinner: we Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles. (Gal 2:15)
And from Peter in his first letter: for the time past of life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: (1Peter 4:3)
So, it was pretty clear the Jews of New Testament times looked upon all other peoples disdainfully, especially those who did not agree with their ways. From the Pharisee’s viewpoint, foreigners were regarded as unclean, unlawful to engage with, and to be avoided. These “heathen” were seen as the enemies of God and His people, to whom all knowledge of God was denied unless they became proselytes, and even then, they could not be admitted fully.
As Peter, Paul, and the Apostles, now conversed with these unclean degenerates, they were seen as no better. We can indeed begin to appreciate Paul’s demeanor when he said the Jews spake against it: (Acts 28:19) causing him to appeal to Caesar over the spiteful charge against him.
It was this attitude that caused the Jews to be hated by Greeks and Romans, seen in the writings of Cicero, Seneca and Tacitus. Some is reflected in the New Testament witnessed in John 18:28; and Acts 10:28 and 11:3. With this malevolent mindset in play, we can better understand the trials faced by the Apostles and Paul in their ministries, and better see the undertone of Jew and Gentile that has made its way to the present with unfortunate results.
Therefore, the purpose of Gentile in the New Testament was to not depict “other nations” per se, but to show the spiritual failings of the Jews.
While we set out to look briefly at the use of Gentile, we have discovered something else at work. This is about conflict and division, and we could do well to remember its potential for harm by instead setting charity at the head of all we do and say.
In their attempts to separate Jew from non-Jew, Bible editors have painted a picture of the antichrist spirit at work in the world. Deliberate or not, replacing the Greek ethnos and ethnOn with their Latin counterparts has revealed an obvious undercurrent opposing the Gospel of the LORD and His Christ. And, while their use of Gentile in the Old Testament was clearly incorrect; one wonders what other word they could have possibly used in the New.
The LORD be with you always,
James.