The term "Gentile" refers to anyone who is not a Jew. Gentiles are people who are not descendants of Jacob.
* In the Bible, the term "uncircumcised" is also used figuratively to refer to Gentiles because many of them did not circumcise their male children as the Israelites did.
* Because God chose the Jews to be his special people, they thought of the Gentiles as outsiders who could never be God's people.
* The Jews were also called "Israelites" or "Hebrews" at different times in history. They referred to everyone else as a "Gentile."
* Gentile could also be translated as "not a Jew" or "non-Jewish" or "not an Israelite" (Old Testament) or "non-Jew.".
* Traditionally, Jews would not eat with Gentiles or associate with them, which at first caused problems within the early church.