BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY

Gentiles

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G1484

ἔθνος

ethnos — Gentiles

ἔθνος, -ους, τό, [in LXX chiefly for עַם ,גּוֹי ;] 1. a multitude, a company, whether of beasts or men (Hom.). 2. a nation, people: Mat.21:43 24:7, Mrk.13:8, Luk.22:25, Act.10:35, al.; in sing., of the Jewish people, Luk.7:5 23:2, Jhn.11:48, 50-53 18:35, Act.10:22 24:3, 10 26:4 28:19. 3. In pl., as in OT, τὰ ἔ. (like Heb. הַגּוֹיִם), the nations, as distinct from Israel, Gentiles: Mat.4:15 6:32, Act.26:17, Rom.3:29 11:11 15:10, Gal.2:8, al.; of Gentile Christians, Rom.11:13 15:27 16:4, Gal.2:12, 14, Eph.3:1. SYN.: λαός (see DCG, ii, 229; Cremer, 226). (AS)

148 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →

GREEK · G1672

Ἕλλην=Ἕλλην

Hellēn — Greek, Gentile

Ἕλλην, -ηνος, ὁ [in LXX: Jol.3:6, Zec.9:13 (יָוָן), etc.; 1Ma.1:19, al. * ;] a Greek; opposite to βάρβαρος, Rom.1:14; usually in ΝΤ of Greek Gentiles, opposite to Ἰουδαῖοι: Jhn.7:35, Act.11:29 14:1 16:1, 3 18:4 19:19, 17 20:21 21:28 Rom.1:16 2:9-10 3:9 10:12, 1Co.1:22 1:24 10:32 12:13, Gal.2:3 3:28, Col.3:11; of proselytes, Jhn.12:29, Act.17:4.† (AS)

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GREEK · G1218

δῆμος

dēmos — people

δῆμος, -ου, ὁ [in LXX chiefly for מִשְׁפָּחָה ;] 1. a district, country. 2. the common people, the people generally; esp. the people assembled: Act.12:22 17:5 19:30 33. † SYN.: λαός, the people at large: δ., the people as a body politic; opposite to δ. is ὄχλος, the unorganized multitude. ἔθνος, in sing., means in NT as in Gk. writers generally, a nation, but in pl. denotes the rest of mankind apart from the Jews: Gentiles. λ. also, rare in cl. (Att... λεώς), is frequently in LXX and NT, and usually limited to the chosen people, Israel (cf. Cl. Rev., i, 42 f.; Cremer, 689). (AS)

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GREEK · G5546

Χριστιανός

Christianos — Christian

Χριστιανός (D, Χρεισ-; on the form Χρησ-, see Bl., § 3, 6; 27, 4 on the ending, -ανος, see Bl., ll. with; Deiss., LAE, 382), -οῦ ὁ, a Christian, the name first given to the disciples by pagan gentiles at Antioch: Act.11:26 26:28, 1Pe.4:16 (see reff. in Thayer, see word; also DB, i, 384).† (AS)

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Historical dictionary entry

(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 Acts 16:1, 3; 18:17; Rom. 1:14), generally denotes any non-Jewish nation.

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Gentiles in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →