We are about to examine how the Latin word “gentile” was introduced into our present Bibles. Yes, “gentile” is a Latin word, but no Bible writer ever used the term as there is no such word in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. The first time that the Latin word “gentile” ever appeared in any Bible is when Jerome translated the original manuscripts from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into Latin! Secondly, and more importantly, in Jerome’s day, the Latin term “gentile” (gentilis) never had today’s corrupted definition meaning “non-Jew”. The Junior Classic Latin Dictionary published by Wilcox & Follett Company in 1945 defines gentilis: “of the same clan or race”, surely a word consistent with all of Scripture (Amos 3:2, Matt. 15:24 etc.).
Following Jerome’s example, the later English translators chose the Latin gentilis, “gentile”, for their translations in place the original Greek word ἔθνος (ethnos) because Jerome, when he made the Latin Vulgate, used the word gentilis to translate the Greek ἔθνος into Latin. In other words, Paul was sent to the people of his own ethnicity. How, where or when the term “gentile” first took on the corrupted meaning of “non-Jew” cannot be definitely determined, but that was NOT the original meaning in Latin! Nor is the word “gentile” found in any of the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek manuscripts! Paul never uttered or wrote the word “gentiles”! Rather, Paul used only the Greek word τὰ ἔθνη “the nations”, and knew that he was going to those same nations found at Genesis 17:6 and 35:11. To use the term “gentile” in an improper manner only exposes that person’s lack of intelligence!