④ Greeks and Gentiles who embraced Christian faith before the ministry of Paul.

Dear in Christ,


[This is the second part of the study on Gentiles. Please ensure that you have read the first part.]

Greek Proselytes meet Jesus.

Joh 12:20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the (Passover) feast:
Joh 12:21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Joh 12:22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

Please remember that only those who have accepted Jewish faith are allowed to partake in the Passover feast. (Ex 12:48-49). In other words, these were religious / righteous Proselytes.

Greeks and Gentiles who embraced Christian faith before the ministry of Paul.

Religious proselytes from Greek colonies (in bold typeface) were among those who came to Jerusalem for Pentecost.

Act 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Almost 3,000 people accepted Christ on that day. It may be safe to assume that most of them would have returned to their own countries after the Passover.

Thereafter we read about the Greeks who accepted Christ in:

Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians (Greeks) against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

A very small number of manuscripts use the word Grecians (Hellenists, Ελληνιστων) instead of Greeks. Such manuscripts intend to convey the meaning that they were Greek speaking Jews. Almost from the days of Alexander the Great, Koine Greek had been the most popular language in the region which came to be known as the Eastern Roman Empire. Therefore, it may be hard to determine whether they were Greeks or Greek speaking Jews.

The harvest that Peter made in Caesarea.

We are all familiar with the vision that Peter had while he was in Joppa and about Cornelius, the centurion, who sent emissaries to bring him. There is something that we missed out while reading the narrative:

Act 10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
Act 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

Scholars admit that the expression "one that feared God" implies that the person was a proselyte of the gate. (a resident alien who lives in the Land of Israel and follows some of the customs. They are not required to be circumcised nor to comply with the whole of the Torah. Once they are circumcised, they become religious / righteous proselytes.)

We find them mentioned in passages like:

Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Now let's see who protested against Peter's baptizing the proselytes of the gate, mentioned above:

Act 11:1  And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles (proselytes of the gate) had also received the word of God.
Act 11:2  And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3  Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

Do you see the contrast here? The ones that feared God (uncircumcised gate proselytes) are treated as gentiles by genuine Jews and religious proselytes, both of whom are circumcised.
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I don't claim that every occurrence of the word gentiles is about religious proselytes or gate proselytes, just as there is no way to prove that every occurrence of the word is about non-Jews. We need to exercise discernment while studying the scriptures.

In Christ,

Tomsan Kattackal

③ Who are the “Gentiles” mentioned in the New Testament?

Dear in Christ,

Most of us are taught that the word "gentiles" 

If you are familiar with the caste system of Hinduism, something similar existed among the first century Jews. There were:

1. Jews by descend. ⇒ they may address #2 and #3 as gentiles, either together or separately.
2. Religious Proselytes. (these are circumcised converts to Jewish faith.) ⇒ they may address #3 as gentiles.
3. Proselytes of the gate. (these observe some of the Jewish customs. They remain uncircumcised.)

Most of the New Testament references to gentiles are regarding religious proselytes and proselytes of the gate. (Yes, I want to write myself into the Biblical narrative, but, I need to locate an appropriate place to do so.)

The genuine Greek word for gentiles / nations.

There is a general notion that every instance of the word "gentiles" in the New Testament is about anyone other than Israelites or the followers of the Jewish religion. This article is an attempt at examining the truthfulness of this notion. For instance, while we read:

Luk 21:24 ... Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Rom 11:25 ... blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles:..
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

we tend to believe that the narrative is about every non-Jew, everywhere

Please consider the following passage:

Mat 20:17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Is not the narrative about chief priests and scribes handing over Jesus to Roman authorities? What has a Chinese or Indian or Japanese or American to do with the unfortunate incident?

Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
...
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations[G1484]: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles[G1484], until the times of the Gentiles[G1484] be fulfilled.

If you know even a little bit of history, the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in 70 AD had nothing much to do with anyone other than Romans. So, the word "gentiles" has got a very limited meaning in this passage, as well.

Please note that it is the same Greek word, G1484 [ἔθνος, pronounced as "ethnos"] that is translated as gentiles and nations. The New Testament has only this word to convey the meanings of country, nation or gentiles (as in populace). In the Old Testament also, there is only one word (גּוֹי, goyim, H1471) used to convey all these meanings. It's the translators' (or their sponsors') discretion as to how the word is translated in a given context.

If these words are used in a context about some non-Jewish group, like Greeks or Romans, then the reference is about them and not to every non-Jew everywhere.

The word for Greeks mistranslated as “gentiles”.

There is a general perception that whatever is said of Greeks is applicable to every non-Jew, but that is not the case, as we will see later in this article.

We are familiar with words like Hellenistic (related to Greece). This word is the adjective form of the noun Hellene (a place near Thessalonica). It is written as Ἕλλην, read as hel'-lane, Strong's # G1672.


Quite a few times King James Version (KJV) renders this word as gentiles. Thus we read:

Joh 7:35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he (Jesus) go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles,[G1672] and teach the Gentiles?[G1672]

When it comes to passages where it becomes totally absurd to render the word as Gentiles, KJV reverts to the actual meaning of the word.

Joh 12:20 And there were certain Greeks[G1672] among them that came up to worship at the feast: (We will come back to this verse again.)

In this context, the translators found that it makes no sense to say that gentiles came to worship at a Jewish festival, so they rendered it as Greeks.

Wherever the translators (or their sponsors) felt that it would be a strong warning to the readers, they, again translated the same word as "gentiles".

Rom 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;[G1672]
Rom 2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:[G1672]

The word Greeks is not just about the people of or from Greece. It's about the descendants of Javan (Gen 10:2) which may include various races, including Romans.

“...from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”

We read about the opposition that Paul had to encounter at Corinth in Acts 18:

Act 18:4 And he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

Let me ask you this: When did Greeks start entering synagogues? We read about a centurion who approached Jesus, requesting that his servant be healed, having built a synagogue for Jews. (Luk 7:5). But, we don't get to read any non-Jew entering a Jewish synagogue. Please do remember that Jesus specifically instructed his disciples not to enter into the towns of gentiles (as in non-Jews, Mat 10:5).

It's pretty obvious that these Greeks who were in the synagogue were proselytes (as in those who accepted Jewish faith). Scriptures call them as religious proselytes (Act 13:43) and Jews call them as righteous proselytes.

While the congregants in the synagogue objected to his affirmation that Jesus was the Christ, he told them "from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles".

Act 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Act 18:7 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

So, Paul who said "I will go to gentiles" entered the house of Justus, "one that worshipped God". This is an expression to indicate that the person was a proselyte. While Pilate referred to his wife as a "worshiper of God", Annas and Caiaphas referred to her as a proselyte.

Some manuscripts refer to Justus as Titus Justus. There are two more Biblical characters named Justus (Acts 1:23; Col 4:11) and both of them were Jews. It's obvious that the Justus mentioned Acts 18 was either a Jew or a proselyte.

Act 18:8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

Is it even remotely possible that someone who doesn't accept Jewish faith would be the chief ruler of the synagogue?

Paul, who said that he is proceeding to the gentiles, didn't go to anyone who is totally alien to Jewish faith, instead, he went to proselytes.

Aquila and Priscilla, who extended much support to Paul at Corinth were Jews. (Acts 18:1-2) Marcus and Jesus, a.k.a, Justus were some of the Jews who always supported Paul (Col 4:10-11). (It's quite likely that these were religious proselytes and not Jews by descend.)

“...lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”

We read about Paul's testimony at a synagogue in Antioch in the 13^th chapter of Acts. In this incident, which, obviously, happened prior to the one we have seen above, Paul says he is "turning to the gentiles", instead of "going to the gentiles".

Act 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.(Some manuscripts don't have the Jews and Gentiles in them.)

I don't think there mikes and loud speakers during those days, so that the gentiles in the neighborhood of the synagogue could hear those words Paul spoke. Doesn't it make more sense to think that these Gentiles were right inside the synagogue, than to think that Paul delivered his message in the top of his voice (lungs), so that all the neighborhood could hear the word?

The next verse identifies these so-called gentiles:

Act 13:43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

 So, the gentiles mentioned in the passage are religious proselytes!

Act 13:44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

I am not sure whether the synagogue at Antioch was big enough to accommodate the whole city. I think the talk is about all the Jews and religious proselytes of Antioch.

Act 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

Isn't it obvious that only the Jews were enraged and not the religious proselytes.

Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

There were Gentiles in the synagogue (Act 13:42) and Paul was upset with the Jews. Now, to which of the gentiles he was turning to, the gentiles who were beside him OR the ones elsewhere? Obviously to the gentiles - religious proselytes, who were beside him!

Act 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Again, it was the religious proselytes, who were beside Paul, who were glad hearing his words.

Next: Greeks and Gentiles who embraced Christian faith before the ministry of Paul.

In Christ,

Tomsan Kattackal