What does ἐθνικός (ethnikós) mean in the Bible?
ἐθνικός (ethnikós): Describes Gentile character and pagan behavior, not merely ethnic status or position
Greek · G1482
ἐθνικός
Gentile-like
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ἐθνικόςG1482
Pronunciationethnikós
What does ἐθνικός (ethnikós) mean in the Bible?
ἐθνικός (ethnikós): Describes Gentile character and pagan behavior, not merely ethnic status or position
Full entry for ἐθνικός (G1482) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1482?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Gentiles (2), pagan (1), pagans (1).
Where does ἐθνικός (ethnikós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:47. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (3), 3 John (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItGentiles2×Matthew 5:47, 3 John 1:7
pagan1×Matthew 18:17
pagans1×Matthew 6:7
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 5:47
Aligned rows4
Books represented2
Matthew33 John1
Source forms
ἐθνικοί1xethnikoiMatthew 6:7
ἐθνικοὶ1xethnikoiMatthew 5:47
ἐθνικὸς1xethnikosMatthew 18:17
ἐθνικῶν1xethnikōn3 John 1:7
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural2xMatthew 5:47, Matthew 6:7
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural1x3 John 1:7
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular1xMatthew 18:17
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Describes Gentile character and pagan behavior, not merely ethnic status or position
Strong'sG1482
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances2 timesWord forms3 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkMatthew 5:47Source Gloss
Gentile-like
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Describes Gentile character and pagan behavior, not merely ethnic status or position
1national (Polyb.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 6:7Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἐθνικοί·eqnikoi
pagan, heathen, gentile; a Gentile, non-Jew
Read verseMatthew 18:17Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἐθνικὸςeqnikov
pagan, heathen, gentile; a Gentile, non-Jew
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns3Aligned forms4Case patternNominative (3)Number patternPlural (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · MasculineMatt 5:47 · Matt 6:72×
Nominative · Singular · MasculineMatt 18:171×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine3 John 1:71×
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
Non-believers or pagans as a contrasting moral example, describing character
Pagan non-believers characterized by empty repetition in prayer, not mere position
Non-believer or outsider treated as socially separated, describing character category
Non-believers from whom missionaries received no support, foreign in faith
Word Origins
ἐθνικός is built from this root: