G1484 — ἔθνος (éthnos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1484
Original: ἔθνος
Transliteration: éthnos
Pronunciation: eth'-nos
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: Probably from ἔθω (ethō) — to be accustomed, to be a habit; i.e., people of the same customs
Occurrences: 152 unique verses (164 tokens) across 17 NT books
First Occurrence: Mat 4:15 — "Galilee of the Gentiles"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A race (as sharing the same habit/custom), i.e., a tribe; especially a foreign (non-Jewish) nation; plural = the nations, the Gentiles (all peoples outside Israel). Used both as a neutral ethno-political term for any national group and as a technical term for non-Jews.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 011 — Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups
Subdomain: 011002 — Socio-Religious; 011003 — Socio-Political
Key domain neighbors: ἅγιος (G40), ἀδελφός (G80), ἀκροβυστία (G203), αἵρεσις (G139), δῆμος (G1218), ἄνομος (G459)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[011] Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups and Classes — search_relationships.py keeps ἔθνος in the people-group / class-membership field, fitting both neutral "nation" usage and the Jew-Gentile contrast.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
Gentiles	62	40.8%
nations	35	23.0%
nation	22	14.5%
the Gentiles	17	11.2%
of the Gentiles	9	5.9%
heathen / the heathen	5	3.3%
people	2	1.3%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
3 John	1	7.1
Galatians	9	6.0
Revelation	22	5.4
Romans	23	5.3
Acts	44	4.4
Ephesians	5	3.2
1 Peter	3	2.9
2 Timothy	2	2.4
1 Thessalonians	2	2.2
1 Timothy	2	1.8
Matthew	14	1.3
Colossians	1	1.1
Luke	10	0.9
Mark	5	0.7
1 Corinthians	3	0.7
John	5	0.6
2 Corinthians	1	0.4

Highly concentrated in Paul's letters and Acts (mission to the Gentiles), and in Revelation (eschatological nations). Absent from James, Hebrews, 2 Peter, Jude, 1–2 John (except 3 John). Density is highest in Galatians where the Jew–Gentile question is central.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Nations as Ethnic/Political Groups (neutral)¶

Any group of people sharing a common ethnic, cultural, or political identity; includes Israel itself in some contexts.

Acts 2:5 — "devout men, out of every nation under heaven"
Acts 17:26 — "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth"
Matt 24:7 — "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom"
Rev 7:9 — "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues"

2. Gentiles Contrasted with Jews¶

Non-Jewish peoples, specifically defined by contrast with Israel, circumcision, and the covenant.

Gal 2:15 — "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles"
Eph 2:11 — "that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision"
Rom 3:29 — "Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also"
Acts 10:45 — "they of the circumcision which believed were astonished…because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost"

3. Gentiles as Recipients of the Gospel¶

The mission field; nations destined to hear and receive the gospel.

Matt 28:19 — "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them"
Luke 2:32 — "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel"
Acts 13:47 — "I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth"
Rom 15:16 — "That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God"

4. Gentile Political Rulers and Dominion¶

Worldly power exercised by nations and their kings, often contrasted with servant-leadership.

Matt 20:25 — "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them"
Luke 22:25 — "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them"
Mark 10:33 — "the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him…and shall deliver him to the Gentiles"

5. Gentile Conduct as a Moral Contrast¶

Idolatry, ignorance of God, and worldly striving as characteristic of the nations.

Matt 6:32 — "after all these things do the Gentiles seek"
1 Cor 12:2 — "Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols"
1 Thess 4:5 — "Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God"
Eph 4:17 — "that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind"

6. Nations in Eschatology¶

Nations as objects of final judgment, divine anger, and ultimate redemption.

Rev 11:18 — "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come"
Rev 20:3 — "that he should deceive the nations no more"
Rev 21:24 — "the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it"
Rev 22:2 — "the tree of life…for the healing of the nations"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
πᾶς (pâs)	G3956	38x (25%)	"all nations" (panta ta ethnē) — universal scope
θεός (theós)	G2316	32x (21%)	nations in relation to God — glorify, fear, or reject
λαός (laós)	G2992	16x (11%)	nations alongside Israel — contrast or juxtaposition
Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos)	G2453	14x (9%)	Jew/Gentile pair in Paul's argument
ὄνομα (ónoma)	G3686	14x (9%)	"among all nations, for his name"
ἅγιος (hágios)	G40	11x (7%)	holy people/nation vs. the nations
γῆ (gē)	G1093	11x (7%)	"nations of the earth"
Χριστός (Christós)	G5547	10x (7%)	Christ's reign over and among nations
εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion)	G2098	8x (5%)	gospel preached to/among nations
βασιλεύς (basileús)	G935	7x (5%)	kings of the nations

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1481 ἐθνάρχης (ethnarchēs) — ethnarch, ruler of a nation (2 Cor 11:32; 1x)
G1482 ἐθνικός (ethnikós) — Gentile (adj.), heathen (Matt 5:47; 6:7; 18:17; 3x)
G1483 ἐθνικῶς (ethnikōs) — in Gentile fashion, as a Gentile (Gal 2:14; 1x)

Synonyms¶

G2992 λαός (laós) — people; the closest near-parallel surfaced by search_relationships.py, especially where ἔθνος denotes a people-group corporately rather than "Gentiles" specifically.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G1484.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
Ἕλλην (Héllēn)	G1672	"Gentiles" (3x)	Héllēn = Greek-speaker or Greek cultural identity; ethnos = any non-Jewish group by custom/race
λαός (laós)	G2992	"people" (2x)	laós usually denotes God's covenant people (Israel or the church); ethnos is the contrast group
δῆμος (dēmos)	G1218	"people" (0x)	dēmos = civic assembly, the public citizenry; ethnos = ethnic/national group
ἐθνικός (ethnikós)	G1482	"heathen" (1x)	ethnikós is the adjectival form describing character; ethnos is the noun for the group itself

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 011002 — Socio-Religious)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Vv	Primary KJV	Key Difference
G40	ἅγιος	219	saints, holy	The consecrated/set-apart people — antithetical to the undifferentiated nations
G203	ἀκροβυστία	17	uncircumcision	Marks Gentile identity physically in Paul's letters
G80	ἀδελφός	304	brethren, brother	Community within the church regardless of ethnic origin
G139	αἵρεσις	8	sect, heresies	Religious grouping within Judaism (Acts) or divisive party
G459	ἄνομος	4	wicked, lawless	The lawless — those without the Torah; overlaps with Gentile identity

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew	Transliteration	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
גּוֹי (gôwy)	gowy	H1471	469x	31.34
לְאֹם (lᵉʼôm)	leom	H3816	26x	16.26
עָצוּם (ʻâtsûwm)	atsum	H6099	16x	12.12
עַם (ʻam)	am	H5971	193x	11.13

The dominant Hebrew source is H1471 גּוֹי (gowy) — the standard OT word for "nation/Gentile." The LXX virtually locks gowy → ethnos as an equation (469 co-occurrences, PMI 31.34). This means NT authors using ethnos are consciously drawing on the full OT theology of "the nations" (haggôyim).