Strong’s	1672. Hellen, hel'-lane; from G1671; a Hellen (Grecian) or inhab. of Hellas; by extens. a Greek-speaking person, espec. a non-Jew:--Gentile, Greek.

So then, ethnos means a pagan, and Hellen means a Greek. Being a Greek Gentile is O.K. but being a pagan Gentile would not be O.K. Right? No, that’s not entirely true. In the tenth chapter of Acts we read about some Gentiles who Peter visits.
 

Acts 10:44
 

KJV	45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles* also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
NIV	45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.*

Notice that the KJV and the NIV both translate this word as Gentiles. Why does the NIV not use it’s standard translation and say either “pagans” or “Greeks”? Because this is the word “ethnos” that normally would be translated as “pagans” in the NIV.

Who were these “Gentiles” and why is the word ethnos used here and not Hellen?

God Fearers

Let’s take at look at the context of this verse.

Acts 10:1-4

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
2 a devout man, and one that feared God with

67

next page