What is a Gentile?

The English word "gentile" etymology:
- Late Middle English: from Latin gentilis ‘of a family or nation, of the same clan’ (used in the Vulgate to refer to non-Jews), from gens, gent- ‘family, race’, from the root of gignere ‘beget'.

The root word of the Latin "gentilis" is "gens, gent," and it gives more understanding of the original word before its application in the Latin Vulgate for non-Jews.

1. Gens: Etymology 1 Borrowed from Latin gēns (“gens; people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European ǵénh tis (“birth; production”), from ǵenh-tis (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”)
2. Gent: Etymology 2 From Old French gent, ultimately from Latin genitum (“born”).

The etymological definition of "gentile" shows the word originally just means "a family or nation (tribe) of the same clan (father/bloodline)." The word "gentile" became used to refer to a nation of the sons of Noah foreign from the Hebrew race by the application of the Latin word gentilis in the Latin Vulgate's translation of גוי (gwèyà) H1471 in the Hebrew text. Though the word gentilis did not originally mean "non-Jew," it has come to mean this by usage of the term which is called "semantic change or shift."

H1471
Original: גי גוי
Transliteration: gwèyà
Strong's Definition: Apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation ; hence a Gentile ; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts: - Gentile, heathen, nation, people
BDB Definition:
nation, people (noun masculine) nation, people; usually of non-Hebrew people, of descendants of Abraham

of Israel, of swarm of locusts, other animals (figuratively)

Goyim? = " nations" (noun proper masculine)

Massing: assemble or cause to assemble into a single body or mass

Troop: (of a group of people) come or go together or in large numbers

Swarm: move somewhere in large numbers

The breakdown of the word גוי:

The two root words גו and י are still among the true Hebrew speakers called Bantu people to this day. The root word גו is found in the Igbo words [igwe]=multitude [ìgwè]=group, crowd, so one can understand why H1471 גוי means a "massing, troop, swarm." In the Yoruba dialect, י is the root word in [ẹyà] =race, brand, category, tribe, tribes, [eya]=species, ethnic, so one can understand how the word gwèyà can also denote the different species, nations, bloodlines, and tribes of the Earth like "swarms of locusts or troop of animals or massing of people" whether a Hebrew nation or Gentile nation. So גוי gwèyà is simply "a tribal group, ethnic group, species category, etc" when examining the root words.

The word גוי gweya firstly means "a multitude of people" which is a nation(s), so gweya (nation) is used in the Hebrew language to refer to either Hebrew or another race. For example, in Exodus 19:6, גוי is used for the word "nation" in reference to the children of Israel. Also in Deuteronomy 4:6, it is used in reference to the Hebrews and the 70 nations that sprang from the sons of Noah. This helps understand why gwèyà can mean "people, nation, gentile, heathen" because the Hebrew word גוי just describes a group of people, but the actual English word "gentile" is not applied to the Hebrews in the English translations of the Holy Books. Before the Hebrew race was established, the sons of Adam were all referred to as just גוי "nations, people" and the unrighteous were referred to as "heathen" in the English texts of the book of Enoch, which was written before the tower of Babel so its translation has no use of the English word "gentile" to differentiate between the Hebrew race and other races because the Hebrew race wasn't established until after Enoch's time. After the flood at the tower of Babel, the 70 families of the sons of Noah were separated from the race of the Hebrews. (The 70 divisions of the sons of Noah are listed in Genesis 10) From that point onward, the English word "gentile" became used to refer to "non-Hebrews" through usage. The inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah consisted of Judah, Benjamin, half of Simeon, a remnant of the 10 tribes, and Levi, so in scripture a Jew refers to any person of the 12 tribes that inhabited the land of Judah, not merely the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, or Levi. One can confirm there was a remnant of the 10 tribes in Judea by evidence of Anna the prophetess being of Asher in the New Testament dwelling in Judaea. {Luke 2:36} The English meaning of "non-Jew" is accurate to relay that a 'Gentile' is not of the race of the Jews, which includes all 12 tribes because the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem did include a remnant of the 10 tribes that had resided in the cities there.

The Division of the Nations

Lets look at how the division of the nations came about to separate the seventy nations from the Hebrew race.

Appendix of the Testament of Naphtali 8:3-6
3 And do not forget the Lord your Alahayim, the Alahayim of your fathers; Who was chosen by our father Abraham when the nations were divided in the time of Phaleg. 4 For at that time the Lord, blessed be He, came down from His highest heavens, and brought down with Him seventy ministering angels, Michael at their head. 5 He commanded them to teach the seventy families which sprang from the loins of Noah seventy languages. 6 Forthwith the angels descended and did according to the command of their Creator. But the holy language, the Hebrew language, remained only in the house of Shem and Eber, and in the house of Abraham our father, who is one of their descendants.

Appendix of the Testament of Naphtali 9:1-5

9 1 And on that day Michael took a message from the Lord, and said to the seventy nations, to each nation separately: 2 “You know the rebellion you undertook, and the treacherous confederacy into which you entered against the Lord of heaven and earth, and now choose today whom you will worship, and who shall be your intercessor in the height of heaven.” 3 Nimrod the wicked answered and said, “For me there is none greater than he who taught me and my people in one hour the language of Kush.” 4 In like manner also answered Put, and Mizraim, and Tubal, and Javan, and Mesech, and Tiras; and every nation chose its own angel, and none of them mentioned the name of the Lord, blessed be He. 5 But when Michael said unto Abraham our father, “Abram, whom dost thou choose, and whom wilt thou worship?” Abram answered, “I choose and select only Him who said, and the world was created; Who formed me in the womb of my mother, body within body; Who placed in me spirit and soul; Him I choose, and to Him I will cleave, I and my seed, all the days of the world.

Appendix of the Testament of Naphtali 10:1-3
10 1 Then the Most High dispersed the nations, and apportioned and allotted to every nation its share and lot. 2 And from that time all the nations of the earth separated themselves from the Lord, blessed be He; only the house of Abraham remained with his Creator to worship Him; and after him Isaac and Jacob. 3. Therefore, my sons I conjure you not to go astray and worship any other alahayims than Him whom your fathers have chosen.

The Holy Books confirm that there were truly 70 nations divided by their languages taught by 70 angels sent to confound their languages:

Jasher 9:32
And Alahayim said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying, Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them

Scriptures also confirm there are 70 Gentile nations:

Jubilees 44:34

And in the land of Canaan two sons of Judah died, Er and Onan, and they had no children, and they children of Israel buried those who perished, and they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile nations.

The Appendix of the Testament of Naphtali is an essential book Alahayim has given to confirm the truth of the 70 nations. Those 70 nations are found in Gen 10:1-32 and 1 Chronicles 1:4-23 when one does not reckon Shem and Eber in the divisions because they did not separate themselves from Ahayah according to Testament of Naphtali.

Genesis 10:1-7,13-18,22-29,31
[1] Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, 1. Ham, and 2. Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

The Sons of Japheth (3-16)

[2] The sons of Japheth; 3. Gomer, and 4. Magog, and 5. Madai, and 6. Javan, and 7. Tubal, and 8. Meshech, and 9. Tiras. [3] And the sons of Gomer; 10. Ashkenaz, and 11. Riphath, and 12. Togarmah. [4] And the sons of Javan; 13. Elishah, and 14. Tarshish, 15. Kittim, and 16. Dodanim. [5] By these were the isles of the Gentiles H1471 divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. H1471

The Sons of Ham (21-45)

[6] And the sons of Ham; 17. Cush, and 18. Mizraim, and 19. Phut, and 20. Canaan. [7] And the sons of Cush; 21. Seba, and 22. Havilah, and 23. Sabtah, and 24. Raamah, and 25. Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; 26. Sheba, and 27. Dedan. [13] And Mizraim begat 28. Ludim, and 29. Anamim, and 30. Lehabim, and 31. Naphtuhim, [14] And 32. Pathrusim, and 33. Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) 34. and Caphtorim. [15] And Canaan begat 35. Sidon his firstborn, and 36. Heth, [16] And 37. the Jebusite, and 38. the Amorite, and 39. the Girgasite, [17] And 40. the Hivite, and 41. the Arkite, and 42. the Sinite, [18] And 43. the Arvadite, and 44. the Zemarite, and 45. the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. [20] These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.H1471

The Sons of Shem (46-70)

[22] The children of Shem; 46. Elam, and 47. Asshur, and 48. Arphaxad, and 49. Lud, and 50. Aram. [23] And the children of Aram; 51. Uz, and 52. Hul, and 53. Gether, and 54. Mash. [24] And Arphaxad begat 55. Salah; and Salah begat Eber. [25] And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was 56. Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was 57. Joktan. [26] And Joktan begat 58. Almodad, and 59. Sheleph, and 60. Hazarmaveth, and 61. Jerah, [27] And 62. Hadoram, and 63. Uzal, and 64. Diklah, [28] And 65. Obal, and 66. Abimael, and 67. Sheba, [29] And 68. Ophir, and 69. Havilah, and 70. Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. [31] These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. H1471

The 70 nations were labeled according to their tongues and families (bloodline) and divided to their lands according to their nations. In the allotments of the sons of Noah in Jubilees 8-10, the islands of the Mediterranean sea are divided among the sons of Japheth (with only Cyprus belonged to Arphaxad.) For this reason, in the divisions of the lands, the islands belonged to the Gentiles, not the Hebrews. After the tower of Babel, only the sons of Japheth went to live in the islands. As a result, in Genesis 10:5, those islands are referred to as "the Isles of the Gentiles" to accurately relay that the Hebrew race was not included among the inhabitants of the islands since it was Japheth's sons who divided the islands amongst themselves and Abram the Hebrew was not amongst them.

Genesis 10:2
The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

Jubilees 9:9-10, 13

9 And for Madai came forth as his portion that he should possess from the west of his two brothers to the islands, and to the coasts of the islands. 10. And for Javan came forth the fourth portion every island and the islands which are towards the border of Lud. 13. And for Tiras there came forth the seventh portion, four great islands in the midst of the sea, which reach to the portion of Ham [and the islands of Kamâtûrî came out by lot for the sons of Arpachshad as his inheritance].

Genesis 10:5
[5] By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

Alahayim willing, this helps understand the isles of the Gentiles was just accurately relaying that the isles were inhabited by the Gentiles after the split of the nations at the tower of Babel. The division of the families of the sons of Noah were divided according to the number of the children of Israel who went into Egypt [Exo 1:5] for further confirmation of the 70 nations.

Deuteronomy 32:8
[8]When the most High divided to the nations H1471 their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

The number of the children of Israel was 70 entering into Egypt:

Exodus 1:5
[5] And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

There we see the 70 souls entered Egypt, 70 angels taught the languages, and there are 70 Gentile nations in the reckoning of the sons of Noah in Genesis. It was also known among the nations that there were 70 Gentile nations:

Jubilees 44:34
[34]And in the land of Canaan two sons of Judah died, Er and Onan, and they had no children, and the children of Israel buried those who perished, and they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile nations.

The Jews, the nation of Israel, are Ahayah's inheritance and they are not reckoned amongst the 70 Gentile nations (unless they die in iniquity.) Jubilees 44:34

Additions to Esther 1:8-12

And the nations were those that were assembled to destroy the name of the Jews: 9 And my nation is this Israel, which cried to Alahayim, and were saved: for the Lord hath saved his people, and the Lord hath delivered us from all those evils, and Alahayim hath wrought signs and great wonders, which have not been done among the Gentiles. 10 Therefore hath he made two lots, one for the people of Alahayim, and another for all the Gentiles. 11 And these two lots came at the hour, and time, and day of judgment, before Alahayim among all nations. 12 So Alahayim remembered his people, and justified his inheritance.

Deuteronomy 32:9

For Ahayah's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Who are the Hebrews?

At the tower of Babel, Abraham did not separate from Alahayim, so he is known as Hebrew by nation and not reckoned with the 70 nations. The Hebrew nation continued in Isaac, Jacob, his the 12 sons, and their posterity. The rests of Abraham's and Isaac's children are Gentiles and reckoned with the Gentiles according to the records. [Jub 16:16-18]

Jubilees 16:16-18
[16]And we returned in the seventh month, and found Sarah with child before us and we blessed him, and we announced to him all the things which had been decreed concerning him, that he should not die till he should beget six sons more, and should see (them) before he died; but (that) in Isaac should his name and seed be called:[17] And (that) all the seed of his sons should be Gentiles, and be reckoned with the Gentiles; but from the sons of Isaac one should become a holy seed, and should not be reckoned among the Gentiles. [18] For he should become the portion of the Most High, and all his seed had fallen into the possession of Alahayim, that it should be unto Ahayah a people for (His) possession above all nations and that it should become a kingdom and priests and a holy nation.

Now the sons of Jacob are the Hebrews in the earth today, but if any of the children of Jacob die in their iniquity, they are reckoned among the 70 Gentile nations as well when they die. {Jubilees 44:34} In the end times, one tribe' will be alienated from the race of Israel according to Dan, the son of Jacob:

Testament of Dan 5:4-6; 7:3
4 I know that in the last days ye shall depart from the Lord, and ye shall provoke Levi unto anger, and fight against Judah; But ye shall not prevail against them, For an angel of the Lord shall guide them both; for by them shall Israel stand. 5 And whensoever ye depart from the Lord, ye shall walk in all evil and work the abominations of the Gentiles, going a-whoring after women of the lawless ones, while with all wickedness the spirits of wickedness work in you. 6 For I have read in the book of Enoch, the righteous, that your prince is Satan, and that all the spirits of wickedness and pride conspire to attend constantly on the sons of Levi, to cause them to sin before Ahayah. 7:3 [Nevertheless, Dan prophesied unto them that they should forget their Alahayim, and should be alienated from the land of their inheritance and from the race of Israel, and from the family of their seed.]

Chapter 6 1 And now, fear the Lord, my children, and beware of Satan and his spirits. 2 Draw near unto Alahayim and unto the angel that intercedeth for you, for he is a mediator between Alahayim and man, and for the peace of Israel he shall stand up against the kingdom of the enemy. 3 Therefore, is the enemy eager to destroy all that call upon the Lord. 4 For he knoweth that upon the day on which Israel shall repent, the kingdom of the enemy shall be brought to an end. 5 For the very angel of peace shall 6 strengthen Israel, that it fall not into the extremity of evil. 6 And it shall be in the time of the lawlessness of Israel, that the Lord will not depart from them, but will transform them into a nation that doeth His will, for none of the angels will be equal unto him. 7 And His name shall be in every place in Israel, and among the Gentiles. 8 Keep, therefore, yourselves, my children, from every evil work, and cast away wrath and all lying, and love truth and long-suffering. 9 And the things which ye have heard from your father, do ye also impart to your children that the Saviour of the Gentiles may receive you; for he is true and long-suffering, meek and lowly, and teacheth by his works the law of Alahayim. 10 Depart, therefore, from all unrighteousness, and cleave unto the righteousness of Alahayim, and your race will be saved for ever

According to scripture, the sons of Dan will be reckoned among the Gentiles and not numbered among the children of Israel for the reasons their father testified against them yet the believers of his sons and daughters will be saved as Gentiles being reckoned as children of Abraham through faith. For further edificatoin on the tribe of Dan and the salvation of his children, please visit the lesson on the topic:

https://youtu.be/5mxfMqjA24I?si=7ZchRrznmRHWggNM

With the definition and etymology of גוי and Gentile, one can understand why gentile is used in reference to the 70 nations because they literally are "a massing or swarm of people" as the word גוי means. One can also understand that Gentiles are nations not reckoned among the Hebrew race according to scripture. This means the word gentile in scripture just helps know that the person(s) being referred to originates from or are reckoned among the 70 Gentile nations not the Hebrew race. Now that we see all the nations of the world today from the scriptural perspective, we can understand that the Gentiles by paternal bloodline are those of the 70 Gentile nations, the Arabs (Ishmael & Keturah's sons), and Esau. [Jubilees 16:16-18] Also, the sons of Dan will be reckoned amongst the Gentiles for their salvation in these end times [Testament of Dan 6-7] and any Israelite that dies in their sins in the end times will also be reckoned amongst the 70 Gentile nations. Jubilees 44:34 Hopefully this helps understand who the Gentiles are according to scripture.