ἔθνος

The promise was made at the very beginning of biblical history.

Genesis 12:1-3 records the call of Abraham. The LORD speaks to Abraham, calls him out of his country and his kindred and his father’s house, and promises to make of him a great nation. The promise includes several specific commitments — a land, a posterity, a great name. But the climax of the promise is something broader:

“And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The Hebrew text is striking. Venivrechu vecha kol mishpechot ha’adamah — “and there shall be blessed in you all the families of the ground.” The promise to Abraham is not just about Abraham, not just about the nation that will come from him, not just about the land they will inherit. The promise to Abraham is about all the families of the earth. The call of Abraham is the foundation of God’s larger purpose to bless every people, every nation, every family in the world.

This is one of the most important verses in the Bible for understanding the trajectory of redemptive history. From the very first call of God’s people, the purpose extended beyond that people. Israel was elected not for Israel’s sake alone but for the sake of the nations. The blessing that came through Abraham was meant to reach all the families of the earth. The Old Testament prophets continually reminded Israel of this broader purpose — that God had given Israel the law and the covenants and the worship so that the nations might come to know the LORD through Israel’s witness.

The New Testament announces the fulfillment of this Abrahamic promise. The Greek New Testament’s word for nation — ethnos, plural ethnē — runs through the apostolic writings as the category that has now been brought into the orbit of God’s saving work. The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19 — “make disciples of all nations” — uses the same word. The Pauline mission to the Gentiles uses the same word. The eschatological vision of Revelation 7:9 — “a great multitude… from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” — uses the same word. The Abrahamic promise has reached its fulfillment: the families of the earth are being blessed in Abraham’s offspring, who is Christ.

This chapter is about that word — ethnos — and about how the New Testament’s missional vocabulary fulfills the Abrahamic promise. The chapter continues Part VI’s development of the New Testament’s vocabulary for the church and its ministry; the nations are the broader category from which God has been gathering His people and to which His people bears witness.

The Word

The Greek word is ἔθνος (ethnos), pronounced in the Erasmian convention as ETH-nos, with the accent on the first syllable. The word is a third-declension neuter noun and appears 162 times in the New Testament. The plural form ethnē (ἔθνη) is the more common form, appearing far more frequently than the singular.

The etymology runs back to a Greek root meaning “habit” or “custom” (related to ēthos — moral character, custom, the root of English ethics). The original Greek conception of ethnos named a group united by shared customs, shared way of life, shared cultural identity. Ethnos was a people group with internal coherence rather than just a random aggregate. The English words ethnic and ethnicity come directly from this Greek root and preserve some of the original sense.

The Greek classical and Hellenistic usage of ethnos covered nations in a range of senses — political units, cultural groups, peoples sharing common descent or language. In its broader cultural use, ethnos could name any group distinguished by shared characteristics. The Greeks themselves used the word for non-Greek peoples; the term carried a slight connotation of “those who are not us” when used by an in-group of an out-group.

The word family is moderate:

Ethnos (ἔθνος) — nation, people group, Gentile. The chapter’s main word.

Ethnē (ἔθνη) — nations, Gentiles. The plural form, used more frequently than the singular in the New Testament. The plural typically translates Hebrew goyim and names the nations as a category in contrast to Israel as God’s people.

Ethnikos (ἐθνικός) — Gentile, pagan (adjective). Used at Matthew 5:47 (do not even the Gentiles do the same?), Matthew 6:7 (do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do), Matthew 18:17 (let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector), 3 John 7 (taking nothing from the Gentiles).

Ethnikōs (ἐθνικῶς) — like a Gentile (adverb). Used once, at Galatians 2:14 — Peter “living like a Gentile” (ethnikōs zēs) before withdrawing from table fellowship with the Gentile believers under pressure from the Jerusalem visitors.

The Septuagint background of ethnos is foundational. The LXX uses ethnē (plural) consistently to translate Hebrew goyim — “nations” — and the singular ethnos often translates Hebrew am (people) when the reference is to a particular nation rather than to Israel specifically. The contrast between laos (Israel as God’s people) and ethnē (the other nations) is established in the LXX and carried into the New Testament.

The Hebrew tradition’s view of the nations is complex and theologically rich:

The nations as the broader category of humanity from which Israel was distinguished. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 — Israel as the chosen people set apart from the other nations. The distinction is real but is grounded in God’s gracious election rather than in Israel’s superiority.

The nations as the destination of God’s mission. Genesis 12:1-3 — the foundational promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. Israel’s election is for the sake of the nations, not against them.

The nations as the broader humanity whose flourishing God desires. Acts 17:26 (Paul at Athens) — “from one man he made every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” The nations are all God’s creation; all share the original blessing of humanity at creation.

The nations as objects of God’s eschatological gathering. Isaiah 2:2-4 — all nations flowing to Mount Zion. Isaiah 49:6 — the Servant as a light for the nations. Isaiah 60:3 — nations coming to the light. Zechariah 8:20-23 — many peoples seeking the LORD. Malachi 1:11 — God’s name great among the nations.

Several Old Testament passages illuminate the New Testament development:

Genesis 12:1-3 — the foundational Abrahamic promise. Venivrechu vecha kol mishpechot ha’adamah — “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The promise that grounds the whole biblical trajectory toward the nations.

Genesis 17:4-5 — “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations (goyim). No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” The covenant with Abraham explicitly extends to the nations.

Psalm 67 — the missional psalm. “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

Psalm 96:3 — “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”

Isaiah 49:6 — “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” The Servant’s mission is not just to Israel but to the nations.

Isaiah 60:3 — “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” The eschatological vision of the nations coming to God’s light.

Isaiah 66:18-19 — “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them.” The eschatological gathering of all nations.

The Old Testament’s pattern is consistent. The nations are not outside God’s purposes; the nations are the destination of God’s purposes. Israel was elected for the sake of the nations; the eschatological vision is the nations gathered to God; the prophets anticipate the day when many peoples will seek the LORD and walk in His ways. The New Testament’s ethnos doctrine inherits this whole tradition and proclaims its fulfillment in Christ.

Range of Meaning

Ethnos in the New Testament covers a meaningful range:

The nations / Gentiles as the broader category contrasting with Israel. The dominant Old Testament usage carried into the New Testament. Matthew 4:15 (Galilee of the Gentiles), Matthew 10:5-6 (do not go to the Gentiles initially), Matthew 12:21 (Gentiles will hope in his name), Romans 9:24 (called from Jews and Gentiles), Galatians 2:14-15 (Gentile sinners).

The nations as the destination of the gospel. Matthew 24:14 (preached as testimony to all nations), Matthew 28:19 (make disciples of all nations), Luke 24:47 (proclaimed to all nations), Acts 1:8 (witnesses to the ends of the earth), Romans 1:5 (obedience of faith among all nations), Romans 16:26 (all nations).

The Gentile believers brought into the people of God. Romans 11:11-32 (the relationship between Israel and the Gentiles), Romans 15:9-12 (Gentiles glorifying God), Galatians 3:8 (all the nations blessed in Abraham), Ephesians 2:11-22 (Gentiles brought near in Christ), Ephesians 3:6 (Gentiles as fellow heirs).

A nation in the broader cultural sense. Acts 17:26 (every nation of mankind), Revelation 5:9 (every tribe and language and people and nation), Revelation 7:9 (great multitude from every nation), Revelation 14:6 (every nation and tribe and language and people).

The Jewish nation as one nation among others. John 11:48-51 (Romans coming to take away “our place and our nation”), John 18:35 (Pilate: “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over”), Acts 24:17 (Paul bringing alms to “my nation”). The singular ethnos sometimes refers to the Jewish nation as one specific ethnos among many.

Where You’ll Meet It

Matthew 28:18-20 (the Great Commission). “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” The Greek of verse 19: poreuthentes oun mathēteusate panta ta ethnē.

The verse is the foundational New Testament text for the church’s missional task. Several observations matter.

First, the universal scope. Panta ta ethnē — “all the nations.” The mission is not limited to Israel; the mission is not limited to particular geographic regions. The mission extends to all the nations of the earth. This is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise: through Christ, the blessing of Abraham is reaching all the families of the earth.

Second, the verb. Mathēteusate — “make disciples” (the aorist imperative of mathēteuō, the verb cognate to mathētēs developed in Chapter 26). The command is to make disciples, not just to make converts or to make decisions. The discipleship dimension carries the substantive Christian formation that produces the mathētēs — the one being taught, formed, shaped by the Master through the means of grace.

Third, the participial structure. The Greek text has one main imperative (mathēteusate) with three accompanying participles: poreuthentes (going), baptizontes (baptizing), and didaskontes (teaching). The making of disciples happens through these means: through going, through baptizing, through teaching. The mission is not just verbal proclamation; the mission includes the baptismal incorporation into the church and the continuing instruction in everything Christ has commanded.

Fourth, the promise. Egō meth’ hymōn eimi pasas tas hēmeras heōs tēs synteleias tou aiōnos — “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The mission is conducted in the continuing presence of the risen Christ. The disciples are not sent alone; the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth goes with them.

The Lutheran tradition has held this passage as one of the foundational missional and ecclesiological texts. The church’s mission is universal in scope, substantive in method (discipleship, not just decisionism), grounded in the means of grace (baptism and teaching), and sustained by the continuing presence of Christ. The mission is not optional for the church; the mission is the church’s commissioned task in this age.

Acts 10-11 (Peter and Cornelius). The lengthy narrative is too extensive to quote in full, but several key moments matter.

The Cornelius episode is the New Testament’s most extended treatment of the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God. Peter receives a vision of unclean animals and is commanded to eat. He resists; he is told three times not to call common what God has cleansed. Then he is sent to the household of Cornelius, a Roman centurion who has been praying and giving alms. Peter preaches the gospel to Cornelius’s household; the Holy Spirit falls on them; they speak in tongues; Peter recognizes the Gentile inclusion and baptizes them. He then has to defend the action to the Jerusalem church (Acts 11), arguing that “if then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17).

The episode is theologically substantial because it establishes the apostolic recognition that the Gentile inclusion is God’s own work, not human innovation. Peter’s vision did not originate with Peter; the Spirit’s outpouring on Cornelius’s household did not originate with the apostles; the entire pattern of Gentile inclusion was God’s initiative. The apostles received and recognized what God was doing.

The Lutheran tradition has held this narrative carefully. The mission to the Gentiles is not a strategic decision the church makes; the mission is God’s continuing work that the church recognizes and serves. The church’s task is not to figure out how to reach the Gentiles by clever methods; the church’s task is to faithfully proclaim the gospel while trusting that the Spirit who acted in Cornelius’s household continues to act among the nations today.

Ephesians 2:11-13. “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ’the uncircumcision’ by what is called ’the circumcision,’ which is made in the flesh by hands — remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The Greek of verse 11: hoi pote hymeis ta ethnē en sarki.

The passage was treated extensively in Chapter 32 on eirēnē for its peace dimension. Here we note its specific ethnos dimension. Several observations matter.

First, the description of the Gentiles’ former status. Apēllotriōmenoi tēs politeias tou Israēl kai xenoi tōn diathēkōn tēs epangelias, elpida mē echontes kai atheoi en tō kosmō — “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” The Pauline description is stark. The Gentiles outside Christ were genuinely far from God — without hope, without the covenant promises, without God Himself in any saving sense.

Second, the transformation in Christ. Nyni de en Christō Iēsou hymeis hoi pote ontes makran egenēthēte engys en tō haimati tou Christou — “but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The blood of Christ is the means of the bringing-near. The Gentiles are not just intellectually persuaded of theological truth; the Gentiles are brought near by the actual sacrifice of Christ.

Third, the implication for Gentile believers. Houtōs oun ouketi este xenoi kai paroikoi alla este sympolitai tōn hagiōn kai oikeioi tou theou (verse 19) — “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” The Gentile believers are not second-class members of God’s people; the Gentile believers are full citizens, full members, full household members. The distinction between Jew and Gentile, while still meaningful in some respects, no longer determines status in God’s people.

Revelation 5:9 and 7:9. “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth’” (Revelation 5:9). “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). The Greek of 5:9: ek pasēs phylēs kai glōssēs kai laou kai ethnous.

The two Revelation passages give the eschatological consummation of the ethnos trajectory. Several observations matter.

First, the four-fold designation. Phylē (tribe), glōssa (language), laos (people), ethnos (nation). The four categories together name the full diversity of humanity. The redeemed people Christ has ransomed includes representatives of every conceivable human grouping — every tribe, every language, every people, every nation. No part of humanity is excluded from the redeemed.

Second, the means of the ransoming. Ēgorasas tō theō en tō haimati sou — “you ransomed for God by your blood.” The ransoming is by Christ’s blood (treated in Chapter 16 on agorazō). The cross-work of Christ is the basis on which people from every nation are brought into God’s people.

Third, the eschatological certainty. The Revelation passages do not describe a possibility or an aspiration; they describe the actual eschatological reality. The redeemed multitude from every nation will stand before the throne; the consummation is certain because Christ’s work is finished. The present missional task is grounded in the certainty of what Christ has accomplished and will fully realize.

The Lutheran tradition has read these passages as the eschatological vision that grounds the church’s present mission. The church proclaims the gospel to all nations because the consummation will include representatives of all nations. The church’s mission is not the construction of an outcome that may or may not happen; the church’s mission is participation in the work Christ has already secured.

Romans 11:25-29. “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” The Greek of verse 25: achri hou to plērōma tōn ethnōn eiselthē.

The passage develops Paul’s careful theology of the relationship between Israel and the nations. The mystery Paul names: Israel has experienced a partial hardening; this hardening operates until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; then all Israel will be saved.

The passage has been variously interpreted across Christian history. The Lutheran tradition has generally held that Paul is naming a continuing place for ethnic Israel in God’s purposes — that God has not finally rejected ethnic Israel and that some form of eschatological inclusion of ethnic Israel will accompany the consummation. The Lutheran tradition has been more careful than some Dispensationalist readings (which see ethnic Israel and the church as fundamentally separate peoples with separate programs) and more substantial than some supersessionist readings (which see the church as having entirely replaced ethnic Israel). The Lutheran reading holds that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable; ethnic Israel remains beloved for the sake of the forefathers; the consummation will include the redemption of ethnic Israel within the one people of God.