Gentiles

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GENTILES

A term used in the Bible to designate those who are not Israelites. In the OT the words gôyīm and 'ammîm were the terms most commonly used for peoples or nations other than the chosen people. The Greek Septuagint rendered these words as ἔθνη, and the Latin, in its turn, as gentes. The NT employed the same terminology, using ἔθνη (gentes ) to indicate non-Jews. In a more general sense, the term indicated all those who had not been converted to the true faith (Mt 10.18; Acts 21.21; 26.17).

The attitude of the Israelites of the OT was determined by religious rather than racial considerations. Social and political contacts with Gentiles always involved the danger of religious contamination, and since the Israelites were the sole champions of pure moral monotheism, this was a consideration of prime importance. It explains some of the harsh strictures against Gentiles in the OT (Dt 7.1–5; 20.16; Ex 23.27; 34.15–16). The entrance of a Gentile into the Temple was tantamount to desecration (Acts 21.28). Food grown or prepared by Gentiles was unfit for Israelite consumption (Ez 4.13; Hos 9.3; Dn 1.8; Tb 1.10–12; Jdt 10.5; 12.2). A fortiori, marriages between Israelites and Gentiles were strictly forbidden (Ex 34.16; Dt 7.3; Ezr 9.1–10.44). In the prophetic and postexilic periods a more universalist attitude developed. The Book of jonah is an expression of this attitude. The blessings conferred on the Israelites could be extended to Gentiles also, but only through entrance into the chosen people and its worship (Is 4.2–4;19.18–25; 56.3–8; 66.18–21).

The apostolic Church was at first, as might be expected, exclusively Jewish. It took much time and trouble—and, indeed, a divine intervention—to clarify the question of the admission of Gentiles into the Church and the manner of their admission. The principle was clear enough: Jesus had indicated that salvation was to be extended to all. The first recorded conversion of a Gentile was that of Cornelius, a proselyte, by Peter (Acts 10.1–48). This act, however, was viewed with alarm by the Jerusalem community, and Peter felt it necessary to justify his action (11.1–18). At Antioch Christianity was preached for the first time to Gentiles who were not proselytes. Some Judaeo-Christians thought converted Gentiles should be required to observe the Mosaic Law, but the Council of jerusalem rejected this suggestion. The Judaizers, however, were not so easily discouraged, and the problem forms the background of St. Paul the Apostle's Epistle to the romans and his Epistle to the galatians. Chiefly through his efforts the Church became the wholly universal kingdom envisioned by its Founder.

Bibliography: Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, tr. and adap. by l. hartman (New York 1963) 857–861. a. vogel, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:67–68. h. conzelmann, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 7 v. (3d ed. Tübingen 1957–65) 3:128–141. g. bertram and k. l. schmidt, in g. kittel, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Stuttgart 1935–) 2:362–379. h. lesÊtre, Dictionnaire de la Bible, ed. f. vigouroux, 5 v. (Paris 1895–1912) 3.1:189–192. t. w. manson, Jesus and the Non-Jews (London 1955). j. jeremias, Jesus' Promise to the Nations, tr. s. h. hooke (Naperville, Ill. 1958). g. dix, Jew and Greek (Westminster 1955).