Where Did The Gentiles Come From?

Q

I truly thank God for your site. I read it every day. My question is where did the gentiles come from? The dictionary states that a gentile is a non Jew. OK, but who was the first gentile? Where did he come from? Why did God create the gentile? Is it because the Jews rejected Christ? Thank you.

A

In the beginning, there was just one race, the family of man. It stayed that way until God called Abraham in Genesis 12 and promised to make him into a great nation. He was the first one to be called a Hebrew. (Genesis 14:13) At that point, everyone else became known as the nations while Abraham’s offspring were called Hebrews. The word Gentile is actually of Latin origin and means nations or foreigners. The equivalent Hebrew word is Goyim.

After being freed from Egypt the Hebrews were called Israelites. The term Jew came much later and is from Judea, the name by which Israel was known in the time of Jesus. So, looking back we could say that the Gentiles came first, then the Jews.