The term Gentile (from Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. With the Roman conquest, Latin was spread to countries around the Mediterranean, including a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Aragonese, Corsican, Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Sardinian, Spanish and others, are descended from Latin, while gentilis, by the French "gentil", female: "gentille", meaning of or belonging to a clan or tribe) refers to non-Israelite The term "Israelites" means both a people, the descendants of the patriarch Jacob/Israel, and those who worship the god of the people Israel, regardless of ethnic origin. In the biblical history an Israelite can be: (a) a descendant of the patriarch Jacob; (b) a member of the holy and inclusive community of those who follow the God of tribes or nations in English translations of the Bible The efforts of translating the Bible from its original languages into over 2,000 others have spanned more than two millennia. Partial translations of the Bible into languages of the English people can be traced back to the end of the 7th century, including translations into Old English and Middle English as well as the language we know today. Over, most notably the King James Version The Authorized King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Holy Bible begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 by the Church of England. Printed by the King's Printer, Robert Barker, the first edition included schedules unique to the Church of England; for example, a lectionary for morning and evening prayer. This was the third such.

It serves as the Latin and subsequently English translation of the Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s words גוי (goy Goy is a transliterated Hebrew word which translates as "nation" or "people". Historically and up to modern times it is a synonym for Gentile or non-Jew) and נכרי (nokhri) in the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible is a term referring to the books of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh) as originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew, with some Biblical Aramaic. It is also called the Hebrew Scriptures. The term closely corresponds to contents of the Jewish Tanakh and the Protestant Old Testament (see also Judeo-Christian) and does not include the and the Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of word ἔθνη (éthnē) in the New Testament The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament. Unlike the Old Testament, the contents of the New Testament deal explicitly with Christianity, although both the Old and New Testament are regarded, together, as Sacred Scripture. The New Testament.

Today, the primary meaning of gentile is non-Jew Goy is a transliterated Hebrew word which translates as "nation" or "people". Historically and up to modern times it is a synonym for Gentile or non-Jew.

Latin etymology

Gentile derives from Latin gens In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps (plural stirpes). The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of an (from which, together with forms of the cognate Greek word genos Genos (plural gene (γένη), "clan") was the ancient Greek term for small kinship groups which identified themselves as a unit, referred to by a single name. Most gene seem to have been composed of noble families—Herodotus uses the term to denote noble families—and much of early Greek politics seems to have involved struggles, also derive gene A gene is a unit of heredity in a living organism. It is normally a stretch of DNA that codes for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. All living things depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains. Genes hold the information to build and maintain an organism's cells and pass genetic, general, genus In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank (a taxon) used in the classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender", cognate with Greek: γένος – genos, "race, stock, kin" and genesis). The original meaning of "clan" or "family" was extended in post-Augustan Latin to acquire the wider meaning of belonging to a distinct nation or ethnicity. Later still the word came to mean "foreign", i.e. non-Roman. After the Christianization of the empire In the history of Christianity, the first seven Ecumenical Councils, from the First Council of Nicaea to the Second Council of Nicaea (787), represent an attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and to establish a unified Christendom. The East-West Schism, formally dated to 1054, was still almost three centuries off. Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and it could also be used of pagan or barbarian cultures.

In the Bible

In Saint Jerome Saint Jerome (Formerly Saint Heirom) (Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Greek: Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος) was a Christian priest and apologist best known for translating the Vulgate. He is recognized by the Catholic Church as a canonized saint and Doctor of the Church, and his version of the Bible is still an's Latin version of the Bible, the Vulgate The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin version of the Bible, and largely the result of the labors of Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations. By the 13th century this revision had come to be called the versio vulgata, that is, the "commonly used translation", and ultimately, gentilis was used in this wider sense, along with gentes, to translate Greek and Hebrew words with similar meanings that referred to the non-Israelite peoples.

The most important of such Hebrew words was goyim (singular, goy Goy is a transliterated Hebrew word which translates as "nation" or "people". Historically and up to modern times it is a synonym for Gentile or non-Jew), a term with the broad meaning of "peoples" or "nations" which was sometimes used to refer to Israelites, but most commonly as a generic label for other peoples. Strong's Concordance Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, generally known as Strong's Concordance, is a concordance of the King James Bible that was constructed under the direction of Dr. James Strong (1822–1894) and first published in 1890. Dr. Strong was Professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary at the time. It is an exhaustive cross- defines goy as "nation, people usually of non-Hebrew people, or of descendants of Abraham of Israel, or of a swarm of locusts or other animals (fig.) Goyim = "nations". Strongs #1471^[1]

In the KJV Gentile is only one of several words used to translate goy or goyim. It is translated as "nation" 374 times, "heathen" 143 times, "Gentiles" 30 times, and "people" 11 times. Some of these verses, such as Genesis The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible, and the first of five books of the Torah, called the Pentateuch in the Christian Old Testament 12:2 and Genesis The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible, and the first of five books of the Torah, called the Pentateuch in the Christian Old Testament 25:23 refer to Israelites or descendants of Abraham. Other verses, such as Isaiah Isaiah (Hebrew: יְשַׁעְיָהוּ, Modern Yeshayahu Tiberian Yəšạʻyā́hû ; Greek: Ἠσαΐας, Ēsaïās ; Aramaic/Syriac/Assyrian: ܐܫܥܝܐ , Isha`ya ; Arabic: أشعیاء‎, Ašʿiyāʾ ; "Yahweh is salvation"; pronounced /aɪˈzeɪ.ə/ , /aɪˈzaɪ.ə/ (UK)) lived approximately 2700 years ago and was a prophet in 2:4 and Deuteronomy Deuteronomy or Devarim (Hebrew: דְּבָרִים‎, literally "things" or "words") is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fifth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch 11:23 are generic references to any nation. Typically the KJV restricts the use of Gentile as a translation when the text is specifically referring to non-Israelites. For example, the only use of the word in Genesis is in chapter 10, verse 5, referring to the peopling of the world by descendants of Japheth Japheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible. In Arabic citations, his name is normally given as Yafeth bin Nuh (Japheth son of Noah), "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations."^[2]

In the New Testament The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament. Unlike the Old Testament, the contents of the New Testament deal explicitly with Christianity, although both the Old and New Testament are regarded, together, as Sacred Scripture. The New Testament, the word translates Greek terms for peoples in general, and is used specifically to indicate non-Jewish peoples, as in Jesus's command to the apostles in Matthew chapter 10:

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.^[3]

Here Gentiles becomes a synonym for pagan cultures of the period.

Altogether, the word is used 123 times in the King James Version of the Bible^[4] and 168 times in the New Revised Standard Version.^[5]

Early Christianity

Gentile in the context of Early Christianity Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus (c. 30) and the First Council of Nicaea (325). At first, the Christian church was centered in Jerusalem, and its leaders included James, Peter, and John. The first Christians were all Jewish or Jewish Proselytes, either by meant "non-Jewish". It was a matter of dispute whether proselytization The Biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism. It is a translation of the Biblical Hebrew word גר/ should be extended to the gentiles (that is, the Greco-Roman population of the Roman Empire) or whether it should remain restricted to the Jewish communities throughout the Empire The Jewish diaspora <di-ASP-ora> is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות, or 'exile' that encompassed several forced expulsions of Israelites from what is now the states of Israel, Jordan and parts of Lebanon. The modern Hebrew term of Tefutzot תפוצות, "scattered", was introduced by the American academic Simon.

Attached to this question was the Circumcision controversy in early Christianity The first Christian Church Council in Jerusalem, held in approximately 50 AD decreed that circumcision was not a requirement for Gentile converts. This became known as the "Apostolic Decree" and may be one of the first acts differentiating Early Christianity from Rabbinic Judaism At roughly the same time Rabbinic Judaism made their, i.e., does a Gentile need to follow all of the Mosaic Laws The 613 Mitzvot are statements and principles of law and ethics contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses. These principles of Biblical law are sometimes called commandments (mitzvot) or collectively as the "Law of Moses" (Torat Moshe, תורת משה), "Mosaic Law", or simply "the Law" (though these terms are. The position of the Judaizers Judaizers refers to those who claim the necessity of obedience to the Torah Laws by Christians, which is normally considered a requisite only for the followers of Judaism, the parent religion of Christianity. Similarly, "one who has Judaized" refers to a Christian who has accepted the necessity of adhering to the Torah Laws, see also was that this was a necessity, taking Christianity to remain fully within Judaism, including obedience to the Torah Laws. The opposite position was proposed by Paul of Tarsus Paul of Tarsus, also called Saint Paul, Paul the Apostle, or the Apostle Paul, (Ancient Greek: Σαούλ , Σαῦλος (Saulos), and Παῦλος (Paulos); Latin: Paulus or Paullus; Hebrew: שאול התרסי‎ Šaʾul HaTarsi (Saul of Tarsus) (c. 5 - c. 67), was a Jew who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles". According to who argued against the Judaizers, such as the Incident at Antioch The "Incident at Antioch" is the standard title historians use to refer to the Early Christian dispute between the apostles Paul and Peter which occurred in the city of Antioch around the middle of the first century. The primary source for the incident is Paul's Epistle to the Galatians 2:11-14. Since F.C. Baur, scholars have found. The Council of Jerusalem The Council of Jerusalem is a name applied by historians to an Early Christian council dated to around the year 50. The council decided that Gentile converts to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the Mosaic law, including the rules concerning circumcision of males, however, the Council did retain the prohibitions against eating blood, decided in favour of a liberal compromise, allowing converts to forgo circumcision Male circumcision, when practiced as a religious rite, is found in the Hebrew Bible, in the Abrahamic covenant, such as Genesis 17, and is therefore practiced by Jews and Muslims and some Christians, those who constitute the Abrahamic religions, but requiring that they follow a minimal portion of the Law, called the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:19-29), which may parallel Jewish Noahide Law The Seven Laws of Noah , often referred to as the Noahide Laws, are a set of seven moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God to Noah as a binding set of laws for all mankind. According to Judaism any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as a Righteous Gentile and is assured of a place in the world to come (. This decision may have contributed to the rapid spread of Christianity Early Christianity— commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus (c.30) and the First Council of Nicaea (325)— spread gradually both within the Roman Empire and beyond. At first, this development was closely connected to centres of Hebrew faith. The first followers of Jesus were Jews, just, since it made Christianity a more attractive option for interested pagans than Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the sixth century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. Rabbinic Judaism gained predominance within the Jewish diaspora between the second to sixth centuries CE, with the development of the oral law and the Talmud to control the interpretation of Jewish scripture and which instituted a more stringent circumcision procedure for Jewish boys Brit milah is a religious ceremony within Judaism to welcome infant Jewish boys into a covenant between God and the Children of Israel through ritual circumcision performed by a mohel ("circumciser"). This happens on the eighth day of the child's life unless health reasons force a delay, in the presence of family and friends, followed by, perhaps in response to Christianity or Hellenistic Judaism Hellenistic Judaism was a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora before the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism. The major literary product of the contact of Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint.

Modern usage

As in the King James Bible, from the 17th century onward Gentile was most commonly used to refer to non-Jews. This was in the context of European Christian societies with a Jewish minority. For this reason Gentile commonly meant persons brought up in the Christian faith, as opposed to the adherents of Judaism Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed, and was not typically used to refer to non-Jews in non-Western cultures.

Latter-day Saints Church usage

In the terminology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a restorationist Christian church, and the largest denomination originating from the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. Founded in Upstate New York in 1830, the church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations (called wards or branches) ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon A Mormon is an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement. Most commonly, the term Mormon refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , which is commonly but imprecisely called the Mormon Church. In addition, the term Mormon may refer to any of the) the word Gentile takes on different meanings in different contexts which may confuse some and alienate others. Members of the LDS church regard themselves as regathered Israelites, and so sometimes use the word Gentile to refer to all non-members. According to John L. Needham of Utah State University Utah State University is a public land-grant and research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah. USU was founded in 1888 as the Agricultural College of Utah under the Morrill Act. The college's name was subsequently changed to Utah State Agricultural College and became Utah State University in 1957. USU enrolls 25,065 students as of Fall 2, "Mormons in the American West applied gentile, as an adjective as much as a slur, to nearly everyone and everything that did not adhere to their faith or desert kingdom." Because they had suffered persecution, the word gentile was "a call to circle the wagons socially and politically around the fold".^[6] In such usage Jews may be colloquially referred to as "Gentiles" because they are not members of the LDS Church. However, the traditional meaning is also to be found in the introduction to the Book of Mormon, in the statement that it is written to both "Jew" (literal descendants of the House of Israel) and "Gentile" (those not descended from the House of Israel or those of the tribe of Ephraim scattered among the "Gentiles" throughout the earth). Needham writes that Mormons have "outgrown the term".^[6]

In order to avoid confrontation and pejorative connotations, Latter-day Saints in the 21st century avoid using the word Gentile in everyday matters, preferring "non-member". Gentile is usually reserved for discussions of scriptural passages.

British Israelism

In British Israelism, which claims that the Anglo-Saxon nations are direct descendants of the lost tribes of ancient Israel, the word gentiles is used to refer to all nations which are not of "Israelite" origin. Some schools of British Israelism consider that most nations of western and Northern Europe are tribes of Israel as well, and thus non-gentile nations.

See also

• Shabbos goy
• `Am ha-aretz
• Israelite
• Noahidism
• Ger toshav
• Who is a Jew?

References

1. ^ Searched [1] for goy.
2. ^ Genesis 10:5
3. ^ Matthew chapter 10
4. ^ Did a search for "Gentile" in KJV. Used BibleGateway.com. It returned 123 results of the word "Gentile". Accessed 11-Feb-2007.
5. ^ Kohlenberger, John. The NRSV Concordance Unabridged. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.
6. ^ ^{a b} John L. Needham, The Mormon-Gentile Dichotomy in PMLA, PMLA, Vol. 114, No. 5 (Oct., 1999), pp. 1109-1110

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Gentile
• Torah for non-Jews

Categories: Bible | Judeo-Christian topics | Latter Day Saint doctrines, beliefs, and practices | Ethno-cultural designations | Judaism terms | Latin words and phrases

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