"a multitude, company, Acts 17:26; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 21:24; a nation, people, Mt. 20:25; 21:43; pl. ἔθνη, from the Hebrew, nations or people as distinguished from the Jews, the heathen, Gentiles, Mt. 4:15; 10:5; Lk. 2:32"
Definition and meaning
a multitude, company, Acts 17:26; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 21:24; a nation, people, Mt. 20:25; 21:43; pl. ἔθνη, from the Hebrew, nations or people as distinguished from the Jews, the heathen, Gentiles, Mt. 4:15; 10:5; Lk. 2:32
In the original Greek the word is written: ἔθνος
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of ethnos (G1484) across the King James Bible.
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
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Common questions
Strong's G1484 (ethnos) is a Greek word that means: a multitude, company, Acts 17:26; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 21:24; a nation, people, Mt. 20:25; 21:43; pl. ἔθνη, from the Hebrew, nations or people as distinguished from the Jews, the heathen, Gentiles, Mt. 4:... It appears 152 times in the King James Bible.
The word ethnos (G1484) appears 152 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G1484 is ethnos, a Greek word defined as: a multitude, company, Acts 17:26; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 21:24; a nation, people, Mt. 20:25; 21:43; pl. ἔθνη, from the Hebrew, nations or people as distingu. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
ethnos is a Greek word found in the New Testament.