Gentile

Gentile Gentile (/ˈdʒɛnˌtaɪl/) is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term gentile to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synonym for heathen or pagan As a term used to describe non-members of a religious/ethnic group, gentile is sometimes compared to words used to describe the "outgroup" in other cultures).It derives from the Latin word gentilis, meaning "of or belonging to the same people or nation". The history of the word is entwined with the history of Bible translations from Hebrew and Greek into Latin and English, Christian theology, and Rabbinical Jewish thought.

This page quotes famous passages about gentiles in different religious traditions. For more information, see the Wikipedia article Gentile.

Quotes

Judaism

Main page: The Talmud on Gentiles.

"The descendants of Noah, i.e., all of humanity, were commanded to observe seven mitzvot." (Sanhedrin 56a:24)

• The descendants of Noah, i.e., all of humanity, were commanded to observe seven mitzvot: The mitzva of establishing courts of judgment; and the prohibition against blessing, i.e., cursing, the name of God; and the prohibition of idol worship; and the prohibition against forbidden sexual relations; and the prohibition of bloodshed; and the prohibition of robbery; and the prohibition against eating a limb from a living animal.
  • Sanhedrin 56a:24
  • These seven laws are referred to as the Noahide Laws. They are considered to be binding on all of humanity (i.e., all the descendants of Noah).

• It is a mitzva for a gentile to study the halakhot that pertain to the seven Noahide mitzvot, and when he does so he is highly regarded.
  • Sanhedrin 59a:5

• "The teaching of the Rabbis is : He who pours oil over a Goi, and over dead bodies is freed from punishment . This is true for an animal because it is not a man . But how can it be said that by pouring oil over a Goi one is freed from punishment, since a Goi is also a man? But this is not true, for it is written : Ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture are men (Ezechiel, XXXIV, 31) . You are thus called men, but the Goim are not called men.
  • Talmud: Kerithuth (6b p . 78)

• "The seed of a Goi is worth the same as that of a beast ."
  • Talmud: Kethuboth (3b)

• "It is permitted to deceive a Goi."
  • Talmud: Babha Kama (113b)

• "Even the best of the Goim should be killed"
  • Talmud: Abhodah Zarah (26b, Tosephoth)

• A Jew must not associate himself with gentiles because they are given to the shedding of blood ."
  • Talmud: Abhodah Zarah (22a)

Christianity

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

• There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
  • Galatians 3:28–29

Quotes about gentiles

• gentiles persecuted the Jews for thousands of years before the Nazis got efficient at it
  • Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz "Some Notes on Jewish Lesbian Identity" in Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology (1982)

See also

• The Talmud on Gentiles