Was Abraham in the Bible a Gentile?

Answer 1

In the New Testament, the word "Gentile" (Greek "ethnos," from which we get the English word "ethnic") is broadly applied to anyone who is not a Jew. It's a comparative term, and depends on having the Israelites to compare to. "Gentile" is also comparative in the Old Testament. Before the rise of the Israelite nation, it applied to anyone who didn't worship the one true God. By that definition, it would NOT be correct to think of Abraham as a Gentile. Technically he wasn't a Jew, but was the forerunnerof the Jewish people; the grandfather of their patriarch Jacob, whom God renamed Israel (Genesis 32:28).

Answer 2

EDITED ANSWER: No, Abraham was not a Gentile in the specific sense, the isle of the Gentiles belong to the seed of Noah's son Japheth (Gen 10:5). This is also shown in the New Testament when Christ continues to refer to the Greco-Roman Empire as Gentiles, the Greek word for Gentile his the same as the greek word for Grecian, (Hellan). The NT also makes a clear and consistent distinction between Gentiles and Samaritans, which means not everyone was a Gentile.

In essence, today Gentiles are all Europeans or Caucasian people. Even Ashkenazim Jews started off as Gentiles. Read Gen 10:3, Gomer who was a Gentile son of Japheth, had a Gentile son named Ashkenaz, where they trace their lineage to.

So, Abraham was not a Gentile, he was not a Jew and he was not an Israelite, Abraham was a Hebrew (Gen 14:37), being that he decended from Shem's son Eber,(Gen 10:21). Hope that helps.

ORIGINAL ANSWER: "Abraham was the father of both the Jews and Gentiles and therefore, transcends both. Remember the Sunday school hymn "Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you; so let's just praise the Lord".

Johnny"

Answer 3

No. He was a Jew from one of the many tribes in and around the Middle East.

Answer:

Yes, Abraham was a Gentile.

"...Joshua said unto the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

"...Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans (Babylon) to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there..." (Gen.11:31 NIV).

Abraham came from a family of Babylonian idol worshipers.

"...We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised..." (Rom.4:9-11 NIV).