Gentile is a word that is not used in this New Testament because the Greek word often translated gentile means heathen. Gentile is actually the English spelling of the Latin word for heathen, gentilis, so other translators have for centuries chosen the politically correct term, gentile, instead of what the authors wrote, heathen. The Latin word was used because the earliest English translations were made from the Latin Vulgate text. Those early translators chose not to translate the Latin word, gentilis, instead just spelling the word in English. See Latin Words elsewhere in Glossary.
Shalom! Is the word ‘Gentile’ therefore derogatory? I know when i use Hebrew and talk of the Nations, it is גּוֹיִ֑ם
In Yiddish speak we use:
Goy: Any person who is not Jewish
Goyeh: Gentile woman
Goyim: Group of non-Jewish persons
……but these are not ‘nice’ terms but not ‘swear’ insults.
Shabbat Shalom! 😀
Grafted in Yeshua’s Love
Dean
Psalms 122: 6 to 9
Hi Dean,
Gentilis (gentile) was the Latin word for heathen, translated from the Greek Ethnos, the word used by the New Testament authors. Ethnos was referred to people who had been heathens before coming into relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Blessings, Bill