The English word gentile comes from the Latin word for “people.” In the Bible, Gentiles are all the peoples who are not Jews. The descendants of Noah and his family spread out over the world and became divided into many different nations or peoples (Gen 10). God divided these nations by giving them different languages, because they had acted in evil ways (Gen 11). But then God chose Abraham and Sarah and told them that he would use them and their descendants to bring God's blessing to “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12.1-3). Later, Israel's King Solomon urged the people to be kind and open toward those of other nations, so that they would come to honor the Lord God (1 Kgs 8.41-43).

The prophets of Israel kept telling the people that God was eager to have other nations honor him (Jer 4.2) and that they wanted to know the God of Israel (Isa 42.1-4; 51.4,5). If the people of God were obedient, they would be a model and witness to all the nations of the world (Isa 61). The story of Jonah shows how God reached out with mercy to a nation that was Israel's enemy. God will one day be the single ruler over all nations, and they will join to honor God (Ps 47.8,9; 86.8,9). In the kingdom that God will establish, “people of every nation and race would serve him” (Dan 7.14).

In the New Testament, Simeon blesses the child Jesus, and says that he will be a “light to the nations” (Luke 2.29-32). Jesus reaches out to heal people who are not Jewish, like the man with the demon in the Greek city of Gerasa (Mark 5), the deaf man in the region of Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7.31-37), and the young servant of a Roman officer (Matt 8.5-13). The apostles decide that anyone from any nation who worships God and does right is acceptable to God (Acts 10.35). Paul says that both Jews and Gentiles who trust what God has done through Jesus are accepted into the life of his new people (Gal 2.11-16). The author of Revelation celebrates the fact that Jesus was willing to die for the sins of the whole world and makes it possible for people from every tribe and nation, language and race to share in the kingdom of God (Rev 5.6-10). They can share the privilege that only Israel's priests were previously allowed to enjoy--they can enter into God's presence.