''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synonym for ''heathen'', ''

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

''. 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 See for example a discussion of the similarity to the Japanese term '' gaijin'' in (see List of terms for ethnic out-groups). In some translations of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, ''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. The English word ''gentile'' derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word , meaning "of or belonging to the same people or nation" (). Archaic and specialist uses of the word ''gentile'' in English (particularly in linguistics) still carry this meaning of "relating to a people or nation." The development of the word to principally mean "non-Jew" in English is entwined with the history of

Bible translations The Christian Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. the whole Bible has been translated into 756 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,726 la ...

from Hebrew and Greek into Latin and English. Its meaning has also been shaped by Rabbinical Jewish thought and

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

Etymology

"Gentile" derives from Latin '' gentilis'', which itself derives from the Latin ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

'', meaning clan or tribe. ''Gens'' derives from the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

''*ǵénh₁tis'', meaning birth or production. 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'. In

Saint Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of the Bible ...

's Latin version of the Bible, the ''

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

'', ''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 (, plural, ), 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. Other words translated in some contexts to mean "gentile/s" in the modern sense were the Biblical Hebrew word ''nokhri'' ( – often otherwise translated as 'stranger') and for the New Testament Greek word '' éthenē'' (). 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 the "Christianity" section. These developments in Bible translation practice were related to developments in Jewish Rabbinical and Christian thinking which – in the centuries after the Old and New Testament were written – created an increasingly clear binary opposition between "Jew" and "non-Jew".Online abstract published for 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

The Hebrew Bible

In 2006, the academic David Novak wrote, with limited exceptions, "The

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

can be seen as one long discussion of what differentiates Israel from all the other peoples of the world." The

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 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 Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

are enjoined in the book of Psalms to "ascribe to the Lord glory and strength" (). Christine E. Hayes states that gentiles in the Hebrew Bible were generally ''

gerim Gerim (Hebrew language, Hebrew plural: גרים "converts", singular masculine: גר "ger", singular feminine: גייורת "giyoret") also known as gerey tzedek (גְּיֵירֵי צֶדֶק righteous proselytes) are non-Jews who have convert ...

'' (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. However, other scholars argue that the boundary is rooted in religious factors. Saul Oylan argues that gentiles automatically became Israelite when they lived in one of their tribal territories, which was believed to reflect 'early practices' (). Troy W. Martin believes Jewishness is defined by adherence to covenantal circumcision, regardless of ancestry (). 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 The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, where membership in God's chosen people was based on religious adherence rather than ancestry ().

Tannaim

Tannaim were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, from approximately 10–220 CE. It was this

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...

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". 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. Some Tannaim show a positive attitude towards the gentiles.

Joshua ben Hananiah Joshua ben Hananiah ( ''Yəhōšūaʿ ben Ḥănanyā''; d. 131 CE), also known as Rabbi Yehoshua, was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple. He is the eighth-most-frequently mentioned sage in t ...

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 Amaleks, the rest of the gentiles will adopt

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

and the righteous among them will escape

Gehenna Gehenna ( ; ) or Gehinnom ( or ) is a Biblical toponym that has acquired various theological connotations, including as a place of divine punishment, in Jewish eschatology. The place is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as part of the border ...

. 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 Shimon bar Yochai (Zohar#Language, Zoharic Aramaic: , ''Šimʿon bar Yoḥay'') or Shimon ben Yochai (Mishnaic Hebrew: ), also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tannaim, tanna or sage of the period of Judaea (Roman province), Roman ...

. He is often quoted by antisemites 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". Such extreme views can be explained by the sage's life experience: he witnessed his teacher being tortured to death, and became a fugitive after speaking out against Roman oppression. 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 Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

. He believed that gentiles only perform

animal sacrifice Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spread of Chris ...

to make a name for themselves. He further believed that gentiles have no share in the

world to come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatology, eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the World (theology), current world or Dispensation (period), current age is flawed or cursed and will be r ...

. Eleazar of Modi'im wrote that Jews, when guilty of the same sin as gentiles, will not enter

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

whereas the gentiles will.

Eleazar ben Azariah Eleazar ben Azariah () was a 1st-century CE Jewish tanna, i.e. Mishnaic sage. He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, Joshua b. Hananiah, and Akiva. Biography He was a kohen who traced ...

believed that the rulings performed by a gentile court are not valid for Jews.

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Joseph (Mishnaic Hebrew: ; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leadin ...

believed that Israel's monotheism is far superior to the ever-changing beliefs of the gentiles.

Jose the Galilean Jose the Galilean (, ''Rabbi Yose HaGelili''), d. 15 Av (month), Av, was a Jewish sage who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries Common Era, CE. He was one of the Tannaim, the rabbis whose work was compiled in the Mishna. Biography Neither the name ...

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 Rav Ashi () ("Rabbi Ashi") (352–427) was a Babylonian Jewish rabbi, of the sixth generation of amoraim. He reestablished the Academy at Sura and was the first editor of the Babylonian Talmud. The original pronunciation of his name may h ...

believed that a Jew who sells a gentile property adjacent to a Jewish property should be

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

. The violation of Jewish women by gentile men was so frequent 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." 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".

In modern times

Under rabbinic law, a modern-day gentile is only required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah, but Jews are required to observe

Mosaic law The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebr ...

. During periods of decreased animosity between Jews and gentiles, some of the rabbinic laws against fellowship and fraternization were relaxed; for example,

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

was the personal physician of

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

. Even though most contemporary rabbinic schools are not as hostile to Gentiles as Medieval rabbinic schools were, some Orthodox rabbinic schools hold extremely xenophobic views. For example, scholars from the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

HaRav Kook

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

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: Bar-Chayim further quotes

Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah (), was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbina ...

(1865–1935), founder of the yeshiva and the first

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

chief rabbi of British

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

: Similar anti-gentile remarks have been expressed by the late chief Sephardi Rabbi

Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...

, 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. These remarks by Yosef were sharply criticized by many Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

. 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. 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.

In Kabbalah

Some 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:''Qabbalistic Magic: Talismans, Psalms, Amulets, and the Practice of High Ritual''. Salomo Baal-Shem, Inner Traditions / Bear & Co, 2013, Chapter 5. * ''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 kabbalists on whether gentiles access the mystical knowledge ( Daat).

Isaac Luria Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria (; #FINE_2003, Fine 2003, p24/ref>July 25, 1572), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as Ha'ari, Ha'ari Hakadosh or Arizal, was a leading rabbi and Jewish mysticism, Jewish mystic in the community of Saf ...

, prominent kabbalist, wrote: Moses de León, presumed author of the main kabbalistic work '' Sefer Ha-Zohar'', agrees with this assumption: The following passage in the ''

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

'' reaffirms this idea: The view that gentiles only possess bestial souls was more popularized by the main kabbalistic text of hasidic movement, the Tanya (or Likkutei Amarim). Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

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. However, other Kabbalists like Abraham Abulafia believed that higher levels of soul are to some extent accessible to gentiles.

Christianity

The Greek ''ethnos'', where it is translated as "gentile" in the context of

early Christianity Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the History of Christianity, historical era of the Christianity, Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Spread of Christianity, Christian ...

, implies non-Israelite. In the years after the

ministry of Jesus The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with Baptism of Jesus, his baptism near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem in Christianity, Jerusalem in Judea, following the Last Supper with his Disciple (Chri ...

, there were questions over the inclusion of non-Jews and the applicability of the

Law of Moses The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Heb ...

, including

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

. Over a few centuries, this led to a split between

Jewish Christians Jewish Christians were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Roman Judea during the late Second Temple period, under the Herodian tetrarchy (1st century AD). These Jews believed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and t ...

, who followed Jesus but also Mosaic Law, and

Pauline Christianity Pauline Christianity or Pauline theology (also Paulism or Paulanity), otherwise referred to as Gentile Christianity, is the theology and form of Christianity which developed from the beliefs and doctrines espoused by the Hellenistic-Jewish Ap ...

(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 Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

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 proselytization would be restricted to Israelites or whether it would include the gentiles as in : Within a few centuries, some Christians used the word "gentiles" to mean non-Christians. The alternative ''pagani'' was felt to be less elegant.

Fathers of the Church

Saint Gregory noted that those who had been redeemed included "some from among the Jews and many among the gentiles".

Terminology in Christian Bibles

In the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

, "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 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 Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

. Other verses, such as Isaiah 2:4 and

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

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 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." In the

, 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: Altogether, the word is used 123 times in the King James Version of the Bible, and 168 times in the New Revised Standard Version.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In the terminology of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(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." Thus, in such usage, Jewish people may be gentiles because they are not members of the LDS Church. 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 Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

: Needham goes on to say that today Mormons have "outgrown the term".

Islam

Some translations of the

, such as the famous Pickthall translation, employed the word "gentile" in some instances of the translation of the Arabic word الْأُمِّيِّينَ (''al-ʼummiyyīn''), the definite non-nominative masculine plural of أُمِّيّ (''ʼummiyy''), as in, for example, the following verse: 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

came to similar conclusion that the word ''ummi'' is equal to the Hebrew word Goyim.

Edward Henry Palmer Edward Henry Palmer (7 August 184010 August 1882), known as E. H. Palmer, was an England, English oriental studies, orientalist and explorer. Biography Youth and education Palmer was born in Green Street, Cambridge, the son of a private scho ...

used the word gentile in his translation of the

several times including in the following verse: 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 : John Medows Rodwell in his translation of the

comments similarly in a note on chapter 52 verse 157 that the word ''ummi'' is equivalent to the Greek '' ethnos'' and the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

'' goyim'', and was applied by Jews to those who did not know scripture. Elwood Morris Wherry wrote that almost certainly 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. Muhammad Shahrur also believed that ''ummi'' prophet means gentile prophet in his book Al-Kitab wa-L-Quran (The Book and the Quran). Abul A'la Maududi similarly translated the following instance as gentile. 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.Mawdudi, S. A. A. (2016). ''Towards Understanding the Qur'an: English Only Edition''. United Kingdom: Kube Publishing Limited. p. 852 However vast majority of Islamic scholars and translations made by Muslims are of the idea that ''ummi'' means illiterate.

References

External links

{{Wiktionary
Jewish Encyclopedia: Gentile

Ethno-cultural designations Judaism terminology Religious exonyms