Editing Gentile (section)

===Terminology in Christian Bibles===
In the [[King James Version]], "gentile" is only one of several words used to translate ''goy'' or ''goyim''. It is translated as "nation" 374 times, "heathen" 143 times, "gentiles" 30 times, and "people" 11 times. Some of these verses, such as [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 12:2 ("I will make of thee a great nation") and Genesis 25:23 ("Two nations are in thy womb") refer to Israelites or descendants of [[Abraham]]. Other verses, such as [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 2:4 and [[Deuteronomy]] 11:23 are generic references to any nation. Typically, the KJV restricts the translation to "gentile" when the text is specifically referring to non-Jewish people. For example, the only use of the word in Genesis is in chapter 10, verse 5, referring to the peopling of the world by [[Japhetites|descendants of]] [[Japheth]], "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+10:5;&version=9;|title=Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 10:5 - King James Version|website=Bible Gateway}}</ref>

In the [[New Testament]], the Greek word ''ethnos'' is used for peoples or nations in general, and is typically translated by the word "people", as in John 11:50. ("Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.") The translation "gentiles" is used in some instances, as in Matthew 10:5–6 to indicate non-Israelite peoples:
{{quote|These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=10&version=9|title=Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 10 - King James Version|website=Bible Gateway}}</ref>}}

Altogether, the word is used 123 times in the King James Version of the Bible,<ref>Did a [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=gentile&qs_version=9 search for "Gentile" in KJV]. Used [http://www.biblegateway.com/ BibleGateway.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070726031413/http://www.biblegateway.com/ |date=2007-07-26 }}. It returned 123 results of the word "gentile". Retrieved 11 Feb 2007.</ref> and 168 times in the New Revised Standard Version.<ref>Kohlenberger, John. ''The NRSV Concordance Unabridged.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.</ref>