SPIRITUAL DEFINITION OF A GENTILE
In the Bible, Israel and Jews are always contrasted with Gentiles. Looking at the definition of the Greek word “Ethnos” which is translated as “Gentile” in the New Testament, we see that the word can refer to a multitude, tribe, nation or company of people that live and worship together. This differs from the common English definition which is that Gentiles include any non-Jew covering the spectrum from Christians to pagans and heathens.

Curiously, the word Gentile does not appear at all in the Old Testament. The word God uses there to differentiate spiritual Israel from everyone else is “nation.” In other words, nation and gentile are referring to the same class of people (i.e. non-Jews).

STUDY TIP: See Cities, Kingdoms and Nations for the symbolic meaning of geographic/political entities.