View source for Gentile

{{short description|Term referring to a non-Jew}}
{{Other uses|Gentile (disambiguation)}}{{Italic title}}{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
'''''Gentile''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɛ|n|t|aɪ|l}}) is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish.<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|gentile|access-date=2014-06-06}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Other [[Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites|groups that claim Israelite heritage]], notably [[Mormons]], have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders.<ref name=LDSWebsite /><ref name="jon">{{cite journal |last=Needham |first=John |title=The Mormon-Gentile Dichotomy in PMLA (letter to editor) |journal=Publications of the [[Modern Language Association]] of America |volume=114 |issue=5 |pages=1109–10| doi=10.2307/463472 |date=1999 |jstor=463472 |s2cid=164189324 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=collins>{{cite Collins Dictionary|gentile}}</ref> More rarely, the term is used as a synonym for ''[[pagan]].''<ref name=collins /> As a term used to describe non-members of a religious/ethnic group, ''gentile'' is sometimes compared to other words used to describe the "outgroup" in other cultures<ref name=Magid> See for example a discussion of the similarity to the Japanese term ''[[gaijin]]'' in {{cite journal | last=Magid | first=Shaul | title=Theorizing 'Jew" 'Judaism' and 'Jewishness': Final Reflections |journal=Journal of Jewish Identities |volume=11 |issue=1 |date=2018|pages=205–215 | doi=10.1353/jji.2018.0014 | via=Academia.edu | url=https://www.academia.edu/41218495 | access-date=29 December 2022| doi-access=free }}</ref> (see [[List of terms for ethnic out-groups]]).

In some translations of the [[Quran]], ''gentile'' is used to translate an Arabic word that refers to non-Jews and/or people not versed in or not able to read scripture.<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|3|75|b=y|c=y|t=p}}</ref>

The English word ''gentile'' derives from the [[Latin language|Latin]] word {{wikt-lang|la|gentilis}}, meaning "of or belonging to the same people or nation" ({{etymology|la|{{wikt-lang|la|gēns}}|clan, tribe, people, family}}). Archaic and specialist uses of the word ''gentile'' in English (particularly in linguistics) still carry this meaning of "relating to a people or nation."<ref name=collins />  The development of the word to principally mean "non-Jew" in English is entwined with the history of [[Bible translations]] from Hebrew and Greek into Latin and English. Its meaning has also been shaped by [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinical Jewish]] thought and [[Christian theology]].<ref name="Ophir & Rosen Zvi">{{cite web |url=http://humanities1.tau.ac.il/segel/adiophir/files/2015/08/Rozen-Zvi-and-Ophir-Paul-and-the-invention-of-the-Gentiles.pdf |last2=Ophir |last1=Rosen Zvi |title=Paul and the Invention of the Gentiles |website=tau.ac.il}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{See also|Gens|Goy}}
"Gentile" derives from Latin ''[[wikt:gentilis|gentilis]]'', which itself derives from the Latin ''[[gens]]'', meaning clan or tribe. ''Gens'' derives from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵénh₁tis|''*ǵénh₁tis'']], meaning birth or production.<ref>"Kind"; in: M. Philippa e.a., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands</ref> 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 refer to other nations, 'not a Roman citizen'.<ref name="lyell">{{cite book |title=Paul of Tarsus Apostle to the Gentiles |editor-last=Lyall |editor-first=Ian |publisher=Pedia Press |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5yMsKyqCUgC&dq=vulgate+gentilis&pg=PA48}}</ref>

In [[Saint Jerome]]'s Latin version of the Bible, the ''[[Vulgate]]'', ''gentilis'' was used along with ''gentes'', to translate Greek and Hebrew words with similar meanings when the text referred to the non-Israelite peoples. The most important of such Hebrew words was {{lang|he-Latn|goy}} ({{Script/Hebrew|גוי}}, plural, {{lang|he-Latn|goyim}}), a term with the broad meaning of "people" or "nation" which was sometimes used to refer to Israelites, but with the plural form ''goyim'' tending to be used in the Bible to refer to non-Israelite nations.<ref name="Ophir & Rosen Zvi" /> Other words translated in some contexts to mean "gentile/s" in the modern sense were the Biblical Hebrew word ''nokhri'' ({{Script/Hebrew|[[wikt:נכרי|נכרי]]}} – often otherwise translated as 'stranger') and for the New Testament Greek word ''[[Ethnic group|éthnos]]'' ({{lang|grc|ἔθνος}}). The first English translators followed this approach, using the word "gentile" to refer to the non-Israelite nations (and principally using the word "nation(s)" to translate ''goy/goyim'' in other contexts). See [[#Christianity|the "Christianity" section]].

These developments in Bible translation practice were related to developments in Jewish Rabbinical and Christian thinking<ref name="Ophir & Rosen Zvi" /> which – in the centuries after the Old and New Testament were written – created an increasingly clear binary opposition between "Jew" and "non-Jew".<ref name=Zvi>Online abstract published for {{cite book | last1=Ophir | first1=Adi | last2=Rosen-Zvi | first2=Ishay | title=Goy: Israel's Multiple Others and the Birth of the Gentile | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2018-07-19 | isbn=978-0-19-874490-0 | doi=10.1093/oso/9780198744900.001.0001 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198744900.001.0001/oso-9780198744900}}</ref> The Hebrew word "goy" went through a change in meaning which parallels the journey of "gentilis/gentile" – both words moving from meaning "nation" to "non-Jew" today. The word "Goy" is now also used in English, principally by Jewish people – see [[goy]].

==Judaism==
{{see also |Who is a Jew?}}

===The Hebrew Bible===
In 2006, the academic David Novak wrote, with limited exceptions, "The [[Bible]] can be seen as one long discussion of what differentiates Israel from all the other peoples of the world."<ref name=Novak>{{cite book | last=Novak | first=David |editor-first=S. |editor-last=Katz |title=The Cambridge History of Judaism | chapter=Gentiles in rabbinic thought | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=2006-06-22 | doi=10.1017/chol9780521772488.027 | pages=647–662| isbn=9781139055130 }}</ref>

The [[Hebrew Bible]] does not have a word which directly corresponds to the modern concept of a ''gentile'' (see ''etymology'' above). Instead, the Bible views different groups of gentiles in different ways. Novak states that, "The biblical categories of Gentiles, beginning with those farthest removed from a relationship with Israel and moving up to those closest to a relationship with Israel, seem to be: (1) the Amalekites; (2) the seven Canaanite nations; (3) the nations of the world; (4) the Samaritans; (5) slaves; (6) resident aliens; (7) proselytes."<ref name=Novak />

The Hebrew Bible does not show much concern for non-Israelites except insofar as they interact with the people of Israel. Nonetheless, because the God of Israel is a universal God, there must be some relationship between gentiles and God. Accordingly, Novak observes, gentiles as well as  [[Israelites]] are enjoined in the book of Psalms to "ascribe to the Lord glory and strength" ({{Bibleverse|Psalms|96:7|HE}}).<ref name=Novak />

Christine E. Hayes states that gentiles in the Hebrew Bible were generally ''[[Ger toshav|gerim]]'' (resident aliens). They were not necessarily converts, whether in the modern or rabbinic sense, but were still given many rights and privileges. They were also allowed to keep their distinct ethnic identities. But after [[Ezra-Nehemiah]], many Israelites believed there was an impermeable ritual and genealogical boundary between themselves and gentiles.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Hayes |first=Christine E. |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/12793/chapter/162974770?login=true |title=Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199834273 |pages=19–44}}</ref> However, other scholars argue that the boundary is rooted in religious factors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Venter |first=Pieter M. |date=2018 |title=The dissolving of marriages in Ezra 9-10 and Nehemiah 13 revisited |url=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222018000400001 |journal=HTS Theological Studies |volume=74 |issue=4 |via=Scielo}}</ref>

Saul Oylan argues that gentiles automatically became Israelite when they lived in one of their tribal territories, which was believed to reflect 'early practices' ({{Bibleverse|Ezekiel|47:21-23}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Olyan |first=Saul |title=Rites and Rank: Hierarchy in Biblical Representations of Cult |date=2000 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-02948-1}}</ref>

Troy W. Martin believes Jewishness is defined by adherence to [[Brit milah|covenantal circumcision]], regardless of ancestry ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|17:9-14}}). Thus, even an uncircumcised Jew could be a gentile despite his biological descent from Abraham. He believes this view was extended to the [[New Testament]], where membership in God's chosen people was based on religious adherence rather than ancestry ({{Bibleverse|Galatians|3:28}}).<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=Troy W. |date=2003 |title=The Covenant of Circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) and the Situational Antitheses in Galatians 3:28 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3268093 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=122 |issue=1 |pages=111–125 |doi=10.2307/3268093 |jstor=3268093 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Tannaim ===
{{See also|Tannaim}}
[[Tannaim]] were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the [[Mishnah]], from approximately 10–220 CE.

It was this [[rabbinic literature]] of the first centuries CE that developed the concept of the gentile as we understand it today - as "any individual who is not a Jew, erasing all ethnic and social differences among different others".<ref name=Zvi /> {{blockquote |text="Mishnah-Tosefta makes no clear distinction among the various types of non-Israelites. Romans, Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians, and the like are classified merely as gentiles, ''goyim'' or ''nokrim''" "The rabbis... had one term for all non-Israelites, whether idolaters or farmers, liars or trustworthy, Greek or Roman." |multiline=yes |author=Gary G. Porton, 2020<ref name=Porton>{{cite book |first=Gary G. |last=Porton | title=Goyim: Gentiles and Israelites in Mishnah-Tosefta  | chapter=The Gentiles as Non-Israelites | publisher=Brown Judaic Studies | date=2020 | doi=10.2307/j.ctvzpv4vp.17 | pages=285–308|s2cid=241062166 }}</ref>}}

However, the attitudes of the Rabbis to gentiles were not simple or uniform. Porton argues that the Mishnah-Tosefta discusses gentiles for two quite different reasons: firstly, practically, to guide the relations between Israelites and gentiles who were living alongside each other in Palestine. Secondly, at a theoretical level, gentiles are discussed because, in order to define the people of Israel and its symbols and institutions, it was necessary to define who lay outside that group.<ref name=Porton />

Some Tannaim show a positive attitude towards the gentiles. [[Joshua ben Hananiah]] believed that there are righteous men amongst the gentiles who will enter the world to come. He believed that except for the descendants of the [[Amalek]]s, the rest of the gentiles will adopt [[monotheism]] and the righteous among them will escape [[Gehenna]].<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/>

Other rabbinical writings show more hostility towards gentiles which needs to be understood in the context of frequent persecution of the Jews in this period. The most famous and extreme of the anti-gentile teachers is [[Simeon bar Yochai]]. He is often quoted by [[antisemites]]<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/> in his sayings: "The best among the Gentiles deserves to be killed", "The most pious woman is addicted to sorcery" and "The best of snakes ought to have its head crushed".<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/> Such extreme views can be explained by the sage's life experience: he witnessed his teacher being tortured to death,<ref name="Schwarz2008">{{cite book|author=Sidney Schwarz|title=Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dnUTcPa3YwQC&pg=PA73|year=2008|publisher=Jewish Lights Publishing|isbn=978-1-58023-353-8|page=73}}</ref> and became a fugitive after speaking out against Roman oppression.<ref name="Cohen1987">{{cite book|author=J. Simcha Cohen|title=Intermarriage and Conversion: A Halakhic Solution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pq3tOK5rdYYC&pg=PA77|year=1987|publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc.|isbn=978-0-88125-125-8|page=77}}</ref> Later commentators have limited this teaching to idolators and only at times of war.

[[Eliezer ben Hurcanus]] writes that the mind of every gentile is always intent upon [[idolatry]].<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com">{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6585-gentile|title=GENTILE - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> He believed that gentiles only perform [[animal sacrifice]] to make a name for themselves. He further believed that gentiles have no share in the [[world to come]].

[[Eleazar of Modi'im]] wrote that Jews, when guilty of the same sin as gentiles, will not enter [[Hell#Judaism|hell]] whereas the gentiles will.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/> [[Eleazar ben Azariah]] believed that the rulings performed by a gentile court are not valid for Jews. [[Rabbi Akiva]] believed that Israel's monotheism is far superior to the ever-changing beliefs of the gentiles. [[Jose the Galilean]] criticizes Israel for inconsistency compared to the faithfulness of the gentiles to their ancestral beliefs. He believed the good deeds of the gentiles will be rewarded as well.

=== Later sages ===
[[Rav Ashi]] believed that a Jew who sells a gentile property adjacent to a Jewish property should be [[Herem (censure)|excommunicated]]. The violation of Jewish women by gentile men was so frequent{{cn|date=April 2024}} that the rabbis declared that a woman raped by a gentile should not be divorced from her husband, as Torah says: "The Torah outlawed the issue of a gentile as that of a beast."<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/> A gentile midwife was not to be employed for fear of the poisoning of the baby. The gentiles should be dealt with caution in cases of using them as witness in a criminal or civil suit. The gentile does not honor his promises like that of a Jew. The laws of the Torah were not to be revealed to the gentiles, for the knowledge of these laws might give gentiles an advantage in dealing with Jews. [[Shimon ben Lakish]] wrote that "A gentile who observes Sabbath deserves death".<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/>

=== In modern times ===
Under [[Halakha|rabbinic law]], a modern-day gentile is only required to observe the [[Seven Laws of Noah]], but Jews are required to observe [[Mosaic law]]. During periods of decreased animosity between Jews and gentiles, some of the rabbinic laws against fellowship and fraternization were relaxed; for example, [[Maimonides]] was the personal physician of [[Saladin]]. Even though most contemporary rabbinic schools are not as hostile to Gentiles as Medieval rabbinic schools were{{clarify|date=April 2024}}, some [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] rabbinic schools hold extremely xenophobic views. For example, scholars from the [[Zionism|Zionist]] [[Mercaz HaRav|HaRav Kook]] [[yeshiva]] are schooled in the doctrine that Jews and gentiles have different kinds of souls. One of the yeshiva's scholars, [[David Bar-Hayim]], published a paper in 1989 in which he explained the doctrine, entitled "Yisrael Nikraim Adam" (Israel is called ‘Man’). In his conclusion, Bar-Hayim writes:
{{quote|There is no escaping the facts: the Torah of Israel makes a clear distinction between a Jew, who is defined as "Man," and a Gentile. This distinction is expressed in a long list of [[Halakha|Halachic]] laws, be they monetary laws, the laws of the Temple, capital laws or others. Even one who is not an erudite Torah scholar is obligated to recognize this simple fact; it cannot be erased or obscured ... One who carefully studies the sources cited previously will realize the abysmal difference between the concepts "Jew" and "Gentile" -- and consequently, he will understand why Halacha differentiates between them.<ref>Learned Ignorance: Intellectual Humility Among Jews, Christians and Muslims By James L. Heft, Reuven Firestone, Omid Safi, Oxford University Press, USA, 2011, p. 163.</ref><ref>"Yisrael Nikraim Adam", Tzfiyah, v. 3, 1989, pp. 45-73.</ref>}}

Bar-Chayim further quotes [[Abraham Isaac Kook]] (1865–1935), founder of the yeshiva and the first [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] chief rabbi of British [[Mandatory Palestine]]:
{{quote|The difference between the Jewish soul, in all its independence, inner desires, longings, character and standing, and the soul of all the Gentiles, on all of their levels, is greater and deeper than the difference between the soul of a man and the soul of an animal, for the difference in the latter case is one of quantity, while the difference in the first case is one of essential quality.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Daat Emet: Gentiles in Halacha|url = http://www.daatemet.org.il/daathalacha/en_gentiles1.html|website = www.daatemet.org.il|access-date = 2015-12-25}} citing ''Orot Yisrael'' chapter 5, article 10 (p. 156)</ref>}}

Similar anti-gentile remarks have been expressed by the late chief Sephardi Rabbi [[Ovadia Yosef]], in which he stated in a sermon in 2010 that "The sole purpose of Gentiles is to serve Jews". He said that gentiles served a divine purpose: "Why are Gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why Gentiles were created.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/5-of-ovadia-yosefs-most-controversial-quotations/|title=5 of Ovadia Yosef's most controversial quotations|website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref> These remarks by Yosef were sharply criticized by many Jewish organizations such as the [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) and [[American Jewish Committee]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/adl-slams-shas-spiritual-leader-for-saying-non-jews-were-born-to-serve-jews-1.320235|title=ADL Slams Shas Spiritual Leader for Saying non-Jews 'Were Born to Serve Jews'|first1=Natasha|last1=Mozgovaya|first2=Haaretz|last2=Service|date=20 October 2010|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

Those who hold these views do not necessarily support any sort of harm to non-Jews. Rav Ovadia Yosef, himself, condemned those who vandalized Arab property, as did the vast majority of Orthodox leaders.

Many Orthodox schools have expressed more humanistic views. Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivah of Gush, for example, strongly opposed what he saw as racist attitudes among certain segments of Religious Zionism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-22 |title=The dilemma of modern Orthodoxy & Religious Zionism: A tribute to Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein zt'l |url=https://www.jpost.com/blogs/on-the-front-lines-with-rav-shmuly/the-dilemma-of-modern-orthodoxy-and-religious-zionism-a-tribute-to-rabbi-aharon-lichtenstein-ztl-398934 |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en |issn=0792-822X}}</ref> 

Jewish philosopher and professor [[Menachem Kellner]] criticizes the assumption of some Orthodox Jews that there is an "ontological divide between Jews and Gentiles", which he believes is contrary to what the Torah teaches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishideas.org/article/orthodoxy-and-gentile-problem |title=Orthodoxy and "The Gentile Problem" |last=Kellner |first=Menachem |date=Spring 2016 |website=[[Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals]] |publisher=[[Marc D. Angel]] |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref>

=== In Kabbalah ===
Some [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] writings suggest a distinction between the souls of the gentiles and the souls of the Jews. These writings describe three levels, elements, or qualities of soul:<ref name=":1">''Qabbalistic Magic: Talismans, Psalms, Amulets, and the Practice of High Ritual''. Salomo Baal-Shem, Inner Traditions / Bear & Co, 2013, Chapter 5.</ref>
* ''Nefesh'' (נפש): the lower part, or "animal part", of the soul. It is linked to instincts and bodily cravings. This part of the soul is provided at birth.
* ''Ruach'' (רוח): the middle soul, the "spirit". It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
* ''Neshamah'' (נשמה): the higher soul, or "super-soul". This separates man from all other life-forms. It is related to the intellect and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. It allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God.

Other descriptions of the soul add two more levels Chaya and Yechida.

There has been debate among the [[kabbalist]]s on whether gentiles access the mystical knowledge ([[Daat]]). [[Isaac Luria]], prominent kabbalist, wrote:{{quote|Israel possesses the three levels of soul, nefesh, ruah, neshamah,—from holiness... the gentiles possess only the level of nefesh from the feminine side of the shells... for the souls of the nations (gentiles), come from the [[Qlippoth]], are called evil and not good' since they are created without knowledge (Daat). The animal soul of man is the good and evil inclination. The soul of the gentiles comes from the three shells: wind, cloud and fire, all of them evil.<ref>Judaism and other religions: Model of Understanding, Alan Brill, Springer Books, 2010, p. 165</ref>}}

[[Moses de León]], presumed author of the main kabbalistic work ''[[Sefer Ha-Zohar]]'', agrees with this assumption:{{quote|You know that all of the gentiles (goyim) and all of their matters are in the category of the impure... you must know and discern that the gentiles come from the side of impurity, for the souls of the gentiles derive from the side of impurity <ref>Does Judaism condone violence?Holiness and ethics in the Jewish tradition, Alan L. Mittleman, Princeton University Press, 2018, P. 71</ref>}}

The following passage in the ''[[Zohar]]'' reaffirms this idea:{{quote|Said Rabbi Hiyya: If this is true (that neshamah is acquired through following the Torah) is it so that gentiles have no neshamah, only the living nefesh? Rabbi Yohannan said: That is correct.<ref>''The Mystic Quest: An introduction to Jewish mysticism'', David S. Ariel, Jason Aaronson Inc, 1977, p. 132 {{ISBN?}}</ref>}}

The view that gentiles only possess bestial souls was more popularized by the main kabbalistic text of [[hasidic]] movement, the [[Tanya (Judaism)|Tanya]] (or Likkutei Amarim). Rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]], the founder of the [[Chabad]] [[hasidic]] dynasty, claims that Jews like gentiles possess a vital animal soul, but the animal soul of the Jew comes from the fourth husk (Qlippoth nogah), while the animal soul of the gentiles comes from the three lower impure husks (Qlippoth Tumaot). Thus nothing gentiles do can elevate them to the level of holiness, their soul remains trapped in the unholy world of the impure Qlippoth.<ref>''Does Judaism condone violence?Holiness and ethics in the Jewish tradition'', Alan L. Mittleman, Princeton University Press, 2018, p. 72 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

However, other Kabbalists like [[Abraham Abulafia]] believed that higher levels of soul are to some extent accessible to gentiles.<ref>''The Serpent Kills or the Serpent Gives Life: The Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia's Response to Christianity'', Robert J. Sagerman, Brill, 2011, p. 70 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

==Christianity==
{{Further information|Biblical law in Christianity|Paul the Apostle and Judaism|Christianity and Paganism}}
The Greek ''ethnos'', where it is translated as "gentile" in the context of [[early Christianity]], implies non-Israelite. In the years after the [[ministry of Jesus]], there were questions over the inclusion of non-Jews and the applicability of the [[Law of Moses]], including [[Religious male circumcision|circumcision]]. Over a few centuries, this led to a split between [[Jewish Christians]], who followed Jesus but also Mosaic Law, and [[Pauline Christianity]] (also known as Gentile Christianity) which abandoned Mosaic Law and eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Jewish Christian beliefs died out around the fifth century, after being rejected by both orthodox Judaism and orthodox Christianity.

With the ministry of [[Paul the Apostle]] the [[gospel]] began to be spread among the non-Jewish subjects of the Roman empire. A question existed among the disciples whether receiving the Holy Spirit through [[Proselyte|proselytization]] would be restricted to Israelites or whether it would include the gentiles as in {{bibleref2|Acts|10:34–47}}:
{{quote|And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?}}

Within a few centuries, some Christians used the word "gentiles" to mean non-Christians. The alternative ''pagani'' was felt to be less elegant.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NHgvpINWV_QC&pg=PA16 Alan Cameron, ''The Last Pagans of Rome''] (Oxford University Press 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19978091-4}}), p. 16</ref>

===Fathers of the Church===
[[Saint Gregory]] noted that those who had been redeemed included "some from among the Jews and many among the gentiles".<ref>Pope Gregory I, ''Hom 20 in Ev.'', 591-592, quoted by [[Thomas Aquinas]] in [https://archive.org/details/a6788682p103thomuoft/page/106/mode/2up Catena aurea: commentary on the four Gospels, collected out of the works of the fathers], Luke, Part 1, p. 106, edited by [[John Henry Newman]], Oxford, 1841, accessed on 2 April 2025</ref>

===Terminology in Christian Bibles===
In the [[King James Version]], "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 [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 12:2 ("I will make of thee a great nation") and Genesis 25:23 ("Two nations are in thy womb") refer to Israelites or descendants of [[Abraham]]. Other verses, such as [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 2:4 and [[Deuteronomy]] 11:23 are generic references to any nation. Typically, the KJV restricts the translation to "gentile" when the text is specifically referring to non-Jewish people. For example, the only use of the word in Genesis is in chapter 10, verse 5, referring to the peopling of the world by [[Japhetites|descendants of]] [[Japheth]], "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+10:5;&version=9;|title=Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 10:5 - King James Version|website=Bible Gateway}}</ref>

In the [[New Testament]], the Greek word ''ethnos'' is used for peoples or nations in general, and is typically translated by the word "people", as in John 11:50. ("Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.") The translation "gentiles" is used in some instances, as in Matthew 10:5–6 to indicate non-Israelite peoples:
{{quote|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=10&version=9|title=Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 10 - King James Version|website=Bible Gateway}}</ref>}}

Altogether, the word is used 123 times in the King James Version of the Bible,<ref>Did a [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=gentile&qs_version=9 search for "Gentile" in KJV]. Used [http://www.biblegateway.com/ BibleGateway.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070726031413/http://www.biblegateway.com/ |date=2007-07-26 }}. It returned 123 results of the word "gentile". Retrieved 11 Feb 2007.</ref> and 168 times in the New Revised Standard Version.<ref>Kohlenberger, John. ''The NRSV Concordance Unabridged.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.</ref>

==The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints==
{{main article|Mormonism and Judaism}}
In the terminology of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), the word "gentile" can be used to refer to people who are not members of the LDS Church, since members regard themselves as regathered Israelites. The LDS Church's website states this about the meaning of gentile in Scripture (including the Book of Mormon), "As used in the scriptures, gentiles has several meanings. Sometimes it designates people of non-Israelite lineage, sometimes people of non-Jewish lineage, and sometimes nations that are without the gospel, even though there may be some Israelite blood among the people. This latter usage is especially characteristic of the word as used in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants."<ref name=LDSWebsite>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/gentiles?lang=eng|title=Gentiles|website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org}}</ref>

Thus, in such usage, Jewish people may be gentiles because they are not members of the LDS Church.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Utah.html | title=Utah Jewish History | publisher=Jewish Virtual Library | access-date=24 November 2013}}</ref>

Beyond this Scriptural usage, ''gentile'' was widely used by Mormons in day-to-day life in the nineteenth century, with such usage declining through the twentieth century. As with the binary Jew/gentile distinction, the Mormon/gentile distinction arose as Mormons were socially excluded and ostracised: according to John L. Needham of [[Utah State University]]: {{blockquote |text="Nineteenth century 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. Their xenophobia stood to reason: they were victims of religious discrimination, from ridicule in the press to acts of mob violence. They had been driven from a half dozen eastern states and were denied asylum in all others. Gentile thus served as a call to circle the wagons socially and politically around the fold - a means of naming the other".|source=letter, ''PMLA Journal'' (1999)<ref name="jon"/>}} Needham goes on to say that today Mormons have "outgrown the term".<ref name="jon"/>

==Islam==
Some translations of the [[Quran]], such as the famous [[Marmaduke Pickthall|Pickthall]] translation, employed the word "gentile" in some instances of the translation of the Arabic word [[wikt:أُميين|الْأُمِّيِّينَ]] (''al-ʼummiyyīn''), the definite non-nominative masculine plural of [[wikt:أمي|أُمِّيّ]] (''ʼummiyy''), as in, for example, the following verse:
{{quote|Among the [[People of the Book|People of the Scripture]] there is he who, if thou trust him with a weight of treasure, will return it to thee. And among them there is he who, if thou trust him with a piece of gold, will not return it to thee unless thou keep standing over him. That is because they say: We have no duty to the Gentiles. They speak a lie concerning [[Allah]] knowingly. - {{CiteQuran Ayah|3|75|b=y}}}}
The word ''ummi'' occurs six times in the Quran. [[Pickthall]] only uses the word gentile once in the above passage and translates other occurrences as illiterate. However many other western scholars of the [[Quran]] came to similar conclusion that the word ''ummi'' is equal to the Hebrew word [[Goyim]]. [[Edward Henry Palmer]] used the word gentile in his translation of the [[Quran]] several times including in the following verse:{{quote|He is who sent unto the Gentiles a prophet amongst themselves to recite to them his signs and to purify them the book and wisdom although they were before in obvious error. -Quran 62:2<ref>The Moslem World. (1921). United Kingdom: Nile Mission Press. pp.348-9</ref>}} [[Edward Henry Palmer|Palmer]] like [[Pickthall]] did not translate all instances of the word ''ummi'' as Gentiles, but his comment on chapter 3 verse 19 shows his opinion :{{quote|Mohammad seems to have borrowed the expression from the Jews, ''ummiyyun'' having the same significance as Hebrew Goyim.<ref>The Moslem World. (1921). United Kingdom: Nile Mission Press. P.349</ref>}}
[[John Medows Rodwell]] in his translation of the [[Quran]] comments similarly in a note on chapter 52 verse 157 that the word ''ummi'' is equivalent to the Greek ''[[wikt:ethnos|ethnos]]'' and the [[Hebrew]] ''[[goyim]]'', and was applied by Jews to those who did not know scripture. [[Elwood Morris Wherry]] wrote that almost certainly {{quote|this appellation came originally from the Jews who used it in expressing their contempt for the Gentile prophet.<ref>The Moslem World. (1921). United Kingdom: Nile Mission Press. pp.349-350</ref>}} Some Muslim scholars also agreed with this idea: a French translation of the Quran by [[Muhammad Hamidullah]] uses the expression 'gentile prophet' in Sura 7 verse 157–158.<ref>Moucarry, C. G. (2001). ''Faith to Faith: Christianity & Islam in Dialogue''. United Kingdom: Inter-Varsity.P. 226</ref> [[Muhammad Shahrur]] also believed that ''ummi'' prophet means gentile prophet in his book Al-Kitab wa-L-Quran (The Book and the Quran).<ref>Moucarry, C. G. (2001). Faith to Faith: Christianity & Islam in Dialogue. United Kingdom: Inter-Varsity. p. 229</ref> [[Abul A'la Maududi]] similarly translated the following instance as gentile. {{quote|He it is who has sent to the gentiles a Messenger from among themselves, one who rehearses to them his verses, purifies their lives, and imparts to them the book and the wisdom although before that they were in utter error. -Quran 62:2}} Maududi clarifies in notes on this verse that the reason this verse has been sent is because Jews looked down on Arabs as gentiles and did not believe that a prophet can rise from their kind.<ref>Mawdudi, S. A. A. (2016). ''Towards Understanding the Qur'an: English Only Edition''. United Kingdom: Kube Publishing Limited. p. 852</ref>
However vast majority of Islamic scholars and translations made by Muslims are of the idea that ''ummi'' means illiterate.

==See also==
* ''[[Am ha'aretz]]''
* [[Gaijin]] – a Japanese word similar in concept
* ''[[Ger toshav]]''
* [[Kafir]]
* [[Jewish adjacent]]
* ''[[Mawali]]''
* [[Noahidism]]
* ''[[Shabbos goy]]''
* [[Who is a Jew?]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=142&letter=G&search=Gentile Jewish Encyclopedia: Gentile]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06422a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Gentiles]

[[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]]
[[Category:Judaism terminology]]
[[Category:Religious exonyms]]