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There is another kind of "Gentiles" to be found in the New Testament -- N0. 1672 in
Strong's Concordance. This is "Hellen" instead of "ethnos" and is found some 27 times in the
New Testament. Notice --

1672 Hellen {hel'-lane} from 1671; TDNT -- 2: 504, 277; n m
AV -- Greek 20, Gentile 7; 27
1) a Greek either by nationality, whether a native of the main land or of the Greek islands
or colonies 2) in a wider sense the name embraces all nations not Jews that made the lan-
guage, customs, and learning of the Greeks their own; the primary reference is to a differ-
ence of religion and worship.

The word "Hellen" has somewhat of a different meaning than "ethnos" and is generally
translated "Greek," which refers to a Greek-speaking person or anyone that is not a "Jew." While it
is not our purpose in this article to reveal who the Greek-speaking people were in the New Testa-
ment, it will become obvious who the Greek-speaking people were that were called "Gentiles."

The word "Jew(s)" can be very confusing the way the Bible translators have used it. The
fact is the word "Jew(s)" cannot be properly interpreted, and therefore should never have been
used by the translators. But since we have to deal with this word, we should let the Bible interpret
the Bible and explain how and why this particular word is used. Biblically, the word "Jew(s)" can
mean ANYONE dwelling in the land of Judea -- or anyone born an Israelite. What is interesting is
that the word "Jew(s)" could mean people that could be called "Gentiles"! The bottom line is that
Biblically speaking the word "Jew(s)" has a very broad and uncertain meaning.

Unfortunately, the translators decided to "improve" on the understanding of who the Gen-
tiles are; and this explains why the word "Jew(s)" is used in the Bible. As a result, so-called
Christianity today is mentally "programmed" to think that "Jews" are not Gentiles -- and vise
versa! We just saw that the definition of "Gentiles" in Strong's Concordance (#01471) IN-
CLUDED the physical seed-line of Abraham and Israel with non-Hebrew people. This is very im-
portant! If we follow the guidelines of modern-day Christian thought, we would assume that the
"Jews" cannot possibly be called Gentiles.

In order to be consistent with the Bible, it is important to understand how and why the
words "Jews" and "Gentiles" are used in scripture. For example, take Acts 2:5, where it states that
there were "Jews" dwelling at Jerusalem out of every "nation" under heaven. Notice: "And there
were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven (KJV)." The word
"nation" is this verse is No. 1484 in Strong's Concordance -- which is the same word used for
"Gentiles"! This means, by implication, that Biblically speaking these Jews at Jerusalem came
from the Gentiles! Now, if the Jews are only of Israel, how could they come out of every nation
"under heaven"? Biblically speaking, the word "Jew(s)" could be taken in a geographical sense,
and therefore should read "Judean" -- which indicates anyone living in the land of Judea.

Also, the word "Jew(s)" could simply be translated as "Israelite(s)" plain and simple. If
you check Acts 21:39 you will find that the apostle Paul called himself a "Jew" of Tarsus: "But
Paul said, 'I am a man [which am] a JEW OF TARSUS, [a city] in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean
city: and I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people (KJV)'" We know from Romans 11:1

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