Gentile

For the Italian football player, see Claudio Gentile.

The word Gentile from the Latin gentilis, can either be a translation of the Hebrew Goy/גוי or of the Hebrew word Nochri/נכרי. In the most common modern use it refers to the former being derived from the Latin term gens (meaning "clan" or a "group of families") and it is often employed in the plural. In late Latin gentilis meant "pagan", and the term gentile has equally come to be used as a synonym for "heathen" or "pagan" (Nochri/נכרי).

In English translations of the Bible the word gentiles is most commonly used as a translation of the Hebrew word goyim (plural of Goy/גוי); in the King James Version the first and only such use in the Pentateuch is in the book of Genesis 10:5. Christian translators of the Bible use this word in the meaning of non-Israelite, to collectively designate the peoples and nations distinct from the Israelite people; the word is used that way over 130 times in the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament the word is used more specifically to indicate non-Jews.

As in the King James Bible, from the 17th century on this term was most commonly used to refer to non-Jews. However, this usage was in the context of European Christian societies with a Jewish minority. In multireligious and multiethnic societies the term is typically not seen as a synonym for "non-Jew", except in restricted contexts. Outside of Jewish circles, referring to a Chinese person as a "gentile" would be unusual.

It is also sometimes used to describe persons of Christian faith in an opposition to the adherents of Judaism.

Latter-day Saints Church usage

In the terminology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon) 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, formerly lost Israelites, sometimes use the word "Gentile" to refer to nonmembers. 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).

See also Mormonism and Judaism.

External links and references

[HaMayim.org] - Noahide group
[Path of Abraham] - Biblical Monotheistic Faith for Gentiles
[The First Covenant Foundation] - Obligations of the Nations
[Gentile or Dhimmi]
[Gentiletude and Dhimmitude]

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