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Who Was The First ....

Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by wpe3bql, Jun 26, 2015.

  1. wpe3bql

    wpe3bql Member

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    .....Gentile?

    Somebody once asked me this, and I had to admit that I couldn't find any specific verse in God's Word that said, "X was the first Gentile."

    Maybe it was Cain because he seems to have been the first to practice a "non-bloody" sacrifice (Gen. 4:5), but that per se doesn't necessarily mean that Cain definitely was the first Gentile.

    What are your thoughts/comments as to who you think was the first Gentile?
     
  2. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    I think first we need to decide what we mean by Gentile. If we define Gentile as those without the Law, then we would have a slew of people who did not receive the Law from Moses.

    If we want to back up farther, and say Gentiles are not part of God's chosen people, then all those alive when Abraham was chosen might fit the bill.

    If we want to back up even farther, then we might look at Luke 3:38, and note that the line from Seth leading to Jesus excludes all the other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.

    So perhaps all those who are born anew siblings of Jesus should be consider as children of the promise?
     
    #2 Van, Jun 27, 2015
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  3. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    Gentiles are/were people who are not Jewish. I suppose Adam would, technically, be the first Gentile (except that there was no Israel at that time). It's almost (actually, exactly in principle) like asking who was the first non-American, or non-German, etc.
     
  4. SovereignGrace

    SovereignGrace Well-Known Member
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    Maybe everyone from Isaac back were gentiles? Jacob the first Jew? He was given the name Israel. Food for thought.
     
  5. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    JonC is right. Good stuff, man.

    Gentile comes from Latin. The biblical words are...
    Hebrew: goy
    Greek: ethnos

    Both mean "peoples" or "nations" and are used in the sense of "outsiders" when contrasting Israel.

    Until there was Israel, there were no ethnicities outside of Israel.


    .
     
    #5 JamesL, Jun 27, 2015
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  6. robycop3

    robycop3 Well-Known Member
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    On the day God renamed Jacob "Israel", everyone on earth not of his immediate family became gentiles. "Gentiles" are an ISRAELI thingie, not from God, who made all people. It became more-pronounced among the Israelis when Assyria filled Samaria with non-Israelis after conquering the ten tribes.
     
  7. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    I agree with the Israeli thingie, but i don't think it correlates to when God renamed Jacob, and his family at the time

    Gentile = nations, not families.

    It would have been when the tribes were established and a nation was formed,
     
    #7 JamesL, Jun 30, 2015
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  8. SovereignGrace

    SovereignGrace Well-Known Member
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    Just a thought to hopefully further the discussion:


    Could the gentiles have come from the lineage of Cain? He did go to the land of Nod and met his wife and 'knew' here.
     
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