Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GENTILE

Simply put, a non-Jewish person (or non-Hebrew in the OT). This dichotomy is made clear in places where all of humanity is referred to with phrases such as “Jews and Gentiles” or “Jews and Greeks” (e.g., Acts 14:1, 5; 19:10, 17; 1 Cor. 1:22-24).

In biblical times, being a Gentile was not merely a matter of ethnicity; it was also a matter of political and territorial affiliations, and often religious faith (Deut. 12:29-30; 2 Sam. 7:23; 2 Kgs. 18:33-35 = Isa. 36:18-20; Jer. 2:11). The term “Gentile” is many times used pejoratively to speak of people who do not correctly worship God (Matt. 6:7; 18:17; Gal. 2:15; Eph. 4:17-19; 1 Thess. 4:5). Yet, in some passages the terms for “Gentile” are used for, and properly translated as, “nations” — even the Israelite nation (e.g., Gen. 12:1-2; 18:18; Exod. 19:5-6; Luke 7:5; Acts 10:22). While a person’s national/political heritage often determined his or her religious identity, a person’s religious commitments did not determine his/her national identity.

God’s establishment of Abraham’s descendants through Jacob (= Israel) brought about a sense of unique identity for the Israelite nation. This included practices to maintain a sense of separation (Lev. 18:24-30). Thus, the Israelites came to distinguish themselves from other nations, referring to all others as Gentiles. Interracial marriage was forbidden for the Israelites, not for ethnic purity concerns but for faith commitment concerns (Exod. 34:10-16; 1 Kgs. 11:1-11; Ezra 9:1-15, esp. 11-12). Other covenants with foreigners were likewise forbidden.

In conquering the Promised Land, however, the Israelites failed to chase all the foreigners out of Palestine and they disobeyed God’s commands regarding interaction. These compromises eventually led to Israel’s religious unfaithfulness and ultimately their exile (Judg. 1:27–2:3; 1 Kgs. 14:22-23; 2 Kgs. 16:3; 17:7-20). God exercises sovereignty over the unbelieving gentile nations, using them as tools to discipline Israel (Habakkuk) and calling them to repentance (Jonah) and declaring judgment upon them (Nahum, Obadiah).

Foreigners were allowed to convert to the Israelite faith (i.e., become proselytes; e.g., Rahab, Josh. 6:25; Jas. 2:25; Ruth, Ruth 1:16-17), but Gentiles unwilling to convert were required to be separate from Israelite faith practices if they wanted to live in Palestine (cf. Exod. 12:43-49). Those desiring to worship the God of Israel, but still unwilling to fully convert, eventually became known as “God-fearers” (cf. Acts 10:22; 13:16, 26; 17:4, 17). Gentiles were allowed in the outer courtyard of the temple of Jesus’ day, but Greek and Latin inscriptions threatened death if they ventured further into the temple precincts (cf. Acts 21:28-29).

The hardened attitudes of the Jews toward non-Jews is confirmed by Tacitus: “The Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and always ready to show compassion, but toward every other people they feel only hate and enmity” (Hist. 5.5). As seen in Galatians and Acts, the development of this extreme separation of Jews from Gentiles became problematic for the NT Church. The Israelite nation had too easily pictured God as a nationalistic deity uninterested in Gentiles, and this idea needed correction.

However, God is not the God of only Israel (e.g., Deut. 10:17; Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 3:29; 10:11-13). God’s impartial desire to reach all nations is found embedded in the Abrahamic covenant. He promised to establish the Israelite nation as the environment from which to bring the Messiah for the whole world (Gen. 12:1-3; cf. 22:15-18; 28:10-15; Gal. 3:14). Salvation was meant to be available to all “the nations” (Isa. 2:2-4; 25:6-8; Zech. 8:20-23).

The physical sign of the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14), and consequently “the uncircumcised” became another term for Gentiles, those outside of a relationship with God (Jer. 9:25[MT 24]; Acts 11:3; Rom. 3:29-30; Eph. 2:11). Yet both the OT (Lev. 26:41; Jer. 6:10; cf. Ezek. 44:7-9) and the NT (Acts 7:51; Rom. 2:25-29) testify to the symbolic nature of physical circumcision. A heart changed by faith in God through Jesus Christ becomes acknowledged as the ultimate identifier — the “circumcision” — of God’s people, whether they are Jewish or Gentile (Col. 2:11-13; 3:11; Phil. 3:3). Being a Jew is not a guarantee of salvation (Acts 13:46; 18:6), nor does being a Gentile disqualify one from salvation (Acts 15:7-9; Eph. 3:6-9).

The NT clearly shows that people of both Jewish and gentile backgrounds could become Christians. Jesus taught that Gentiles could indeed be saved as God’s people (Matt. 8:10-12; 28:19-20; Luke 13:28-29; Rom. 9-11; Eph. 2-3), and Paul speaks of the Church as believers no matter what their background (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11).

Bibliography. G. Bertram and K. L. Schmidt, “Ethnos,” TDNT 2:364-72; H. Bietenhard, “Ethnos,” NIDNTT 2:790-95; R. E. Clements, “Goy,” TDOT 2:426-33; D. R. De Lacey, “Gentiles,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. G. F. Hawthorne and R. P. Martin (Downers Grove, 1993), 335-39; S. McKnight, “Gentiles,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, ed. J. Green and S. McKnight (Downers Grove, 1992), 259-65; K. N. Schoville, “Nations, the,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. W. A. Elwell (Grand Rapids, 1996), 551-52; N. Walter, “Ethnos,” EDNT 1:381-83.

Douglas S. Huffman

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GENTILE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)