Gentiles
גּוֹי · goy · H1471Gἔθνος · ethnos · G14841 other spelling119 mentions in 28 books, most in Acts (31)
Who they were
The term "Gentile" in the Bible refers to non-Jewish people or those who are not part of the chosen people of Israel. The word is derived from the Hebrew term "goyim" and the Greek word "ethnos," both meaning "nations."
In the Old Testament, God's covenant and promises were primarily focused on the nation of Israel. However, there are numerous prophecies and passages that anticipate the inclusion of Gentiles in God's plan of salvation (Isaiah 11:10; 42:1, 6; 49:6, 22; 54:3; 60:3, 5, 11, 16; 61:6, 9; 62:2; 66:12, 19; Jeremiah 16:19; Malachi 1:11). The Book of Jonah also demonstrates God's concern for the Gentile city of Nineveh.
In the New Testament, the inclusion of Gentiles in the church becomes a central theme. Jesus' ministry extends to Gentile regions (Matthew 4:15; 12:18, 21), and He commissions His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). The apostle Paul, in particular, is called to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Act.9.15; 22:21; 26:17, 20, 23; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 2:8; Ephesians 3:1, 8; 1Ti.2.7).
The inclusion of Gentiles in the church was not without controversy, as seen in the debate over circumcision and adherence to the Mosaic Law (Acts 15). However, the Jerusalem Council affirmed that Gentiles could be saved by grace through faith in Christ, without being required to follow Jewish customs (Act.15.19-20).
Throughout the New Testament, the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ is emphasized (Ephesians 2:11-22; Galatians 3:28; Col.3.11). The mystery of the gospel is revealed, that Gentiles are fellow heirs and members of the same body, partaking of the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6).
The inclusion of Gentiles in God's plan of salvation demonstrates the universal scope of His love and grace. It also highlights the importance of unity and equality among believers, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background.
Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Every mention
119 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
Isaiah15 mentions
Isaiah 11:10It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will be glorious.Isaiah 42:1“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.Isaiah 42:6“I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness. I will hold your hand. I will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations,Isaiah 49:6Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the…Isaiah 49:22The Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and lift up my banner to the peoples. They shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried…Isaiah 54:3For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities.Isaiah 60:3Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.Isaiah 60:5Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you.Isaiah 60:11Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.Isaiah 60:16You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.Isaiah 61:6But you will be called Yahweh’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations. You will boast in their glory.Isaiah 61:9Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.”Isaiah 62:2The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name, which Yahweh’s mouth will name.Isaiah 66:12For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be…Isaiah 66:19“I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to far-away islands, who have not…
Jeremiah4 mentions
Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations. He is on his way. He has gone out from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without…Jeremiah 14:22Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren’t you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these…Jeremiah 16:19Yahweh, my strength, my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and will say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but…Jeremiah 46:1Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
Ezekiel1 mention
Hosea1 mention
Matthew9 mentions
Matthew 4:15“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,Matthew 5:47If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?Matthew 6:7In praying, don’t use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.Matthew 10:5Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.Matthew 10:18Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.Matthew 12:18“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations.Matthew 12:21In his name, the nations will hope.”Matthew 18:17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.Matthew 20:19and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
Mark2 mentions
Mark 10:33“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles.Mark 10:42Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
Luke4 mentions
Luke 2:32a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”Luke 18:32For he will be delivered up to the Gentiles, will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit on.Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.Luke 22:25He said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’
Acts31 mentions
Acts 4:25who by the mouth of your servant David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?Acts 4:27“For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,Acts 7:45which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers to the days of David,Acts 9:15But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.Acts 10:45They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.Acts 11:1Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.Acts 11:18When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”Acts 13:42So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.Acts 13:46Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from yourselves, and judge yourselves unworthy of…Acts 13:47For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’”Acts 13:48As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.Acts 14:2But the disbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers.Acts 14:5When some of both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, made a violent attempt to mistreat and stone them,Acts 14:27When they had arrived and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.Acts 15:3They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers.Acts 15:7When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word…Acts 15:12All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them.Acts 15:14Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name.Acts 15:17that the rest of men may seek after the Lord: all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.’Acts 15:19Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God,Acts 15:23They wrote these things by their hand: “The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings.Acts 18:6When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”Acts 21:11Coming to us and taking Paul’s belt, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘So the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver him…Acts 21:19When he had greeted them, he reported one by one the things which God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry.Acts 21:21They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children and not to walk after the customs.Acts 21:25But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written our decision that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from food offered to idols, from…Acts 22:21“He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”Acts 26:17delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,Acts 26:20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of…Acts 26:23how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”Acts 28:28“Be it known therefore to you that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will listen.”
Romans17 mentions
Romans 1:13Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered so far), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the…Romans 2:4Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?Romans 2:24For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.Romans 3:29Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,Romans 9:24us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?Romans 11:11I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.Romans 11:12Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!Romans 11:13For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry,Romans 11:25For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the…Romans 15:9and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.”Romans 15:10Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”Romans 15:11Again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.”Romans 15:12Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.”Romans 15:16that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the…Romans 15:18For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,Romans 15:27Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in material…Romans 16:4who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.
1 Corinthians3 mentions
1 Corinthians 1:23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks,1 Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.1 Corinthians 10:21You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
Galatians8 mentions
Galatians 1:16to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,Galatians 2:2I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had…Galatians 2:8for he who worked through Peter in the apostleship with the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles—Galatians 2:9and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, those who were reputed to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we…Galatians 2:12For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.Galatians 2:14But when I saw that they didn’t walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews…Galatians 2:15“We, being Jews by nature and not Gentile sinners,Galatians 3:14that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Ephesians5 mentions
Ephesians 2:11Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands),Ephesians 3:1For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,Ephesians 3:6that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,Ephesians 3:8To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,Ephesians 4:17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
Colossians1 mention
1 Thessalonians2 mentions
1 Timothy1 mention
2 Timothy2 mentions
1 Peter2 mentions
1 Peter 2:12having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God in the day of visitation.1 Peter 4:3For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
3 John1 mention
What the dictionary says
(Heb., usually in plural, goyim), meaning in general all nations except the Jews.
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data