How Does the Bible Actually Define Heathen?

There are three different ways in which the Bible defines heathen. In order to be accurate, we must cover all three. The first one might come as a shock to some. The latter two are more well known. The last one is always bad. Yet we can change whether the last one pertains to us on an individual basis.

The Hebrew word in the Old Testament (aka the Hebrew Bible) which is sometimes translated as “heathen” is also frequently translated as “nation” or “Gentiles.” That word is “goy.”

The first meaning of heathen is a nation- any nation- including Israel in the Bible.

The word “goy “is used to describe the nation of Israel in places such as Exodus 32:10; and to describe the people of Israel in many places such as Joshua 10:13. The Hebrew word “goy” is used to describe any nation in general in Proverbs chapter 14.

Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

The second meaning is any nation that is not the nation of ancient Israel.

Heathen came to be associated with the nations that were not ancient Israel. While it is seen that this association was something which the Lord Himself recognized by passages such as Ezekiel 22:15-16 (and several others), Israel was not regarded as inherently righteous and superior nor were the other nations regarded as inherently evil and inferior. Idolatry and other sins prevailing among a nation make it evil. Nobody in other nations had to be an idolater or a sinner of any kind. It is even evident that masses of people in nations outside of Israel came to fear the God of Israel and work righteousness in His eyes in books of the Hebrew Bible such as Daniel, Esther, and Jonah.

Idolatry and other abominable things in God’s eyes also often prevailed among Israel. The Israelites were repeatedly warned right within the Hebrew Bible not to imitate the other nations in their idolatrous ways (i.e. in their heathen ways). One of many examples of this is Jeremiah 10:2. Moreover, Israelites were often reproved and judged for following heathen ways in places such as Ezekiel 23:30.

Consider 2 Chronicles 33:9: “So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.”

Since God’s worship is not even centered there, modern Israel is a heathen nation according to this second definition as well.

The third definition of heathen refers to sinners in general who don’t faithfully worship the true God and walk in His ways.

The equivalent of the Hebrew word “goy” in the Greek text of the New Testament is “ethnos.” This is used in various contexts. The Jewish nation is labeled as “ethnos” in several places. Even faithful Christian people as a whole are described by this term in Matthew 21:43 and 1 Peter 2:9. As with “goy” being translated into English in the Old Testament, the word“ethnos” is also translated as “heathen”, “nation”, or “Gentiles” multiple times in the New Testament.

A related word to “ethnos” is the adjective “ethnikos” which is translated as “heathen” in Matthew 6:7 and Matthew 18:17. The way that this adjective is used in these places is related to this third definition.

This third definition of heathen is inherently bad. A heathen in this sense is simply a sinner who is in rebellion against true God and is His enemy through commitment to sin.

A related word is lawless. The Apostle Peter was essentially calling the Jews who turned on Jesus heathens according to this definition in Acts 2:23.

Acts 2:22-24: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

“Wicked” in the preceding passage is “anomos” in the Greek text. It literally means without law. The Jews whom Peter was speaking to would have understood that they were essentially being rebuked for being heathens at heart- due to how lawless is synonymous with heathen in the sense that heathen means ungodly and immoral.

Peter would go on to say in Acts 2:36: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

The implication is that Jesus who was crucified has been verified as the Jewish Messiah by His resurrection. This would have immediately taken Peter’s Jewish audience, who knew the Hebrew Scriptures well, back to Psalm 110 (which Peter had been quoting from) as well as Psalm 2.

Psalm 2:1-3: “Why do the heathen (the goy) rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed (or His Messiah or His Christ- they mean the same thing), saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

Acts 2:37 then says: “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

This question is essentially a request for them to know how they can no longer be heathens in the sense of being enemies of the true God. Those opposed to the authority of the Messiah, whom Jesus has been declared to be, are obviously headed towards catastrophe. The rest of Psalm 2 shows why there was such terror among Peter’s audience at Jerusalem. It also shows how Peter was echoing its instructions by what he would go on to say in response to the question put forth in Acts 2:37.

Psalm 2:4-12: “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen (i.e. the goy) for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son (i.e. welcome His reign), lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

All who are out of line with the righteous authority of the Messiah are His enemies who are on track to face His coming wrath. They are heathens in the bad sense of the word- even if they believe in one God and they don’t openly worship idols- and even if they say they are believers in Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:38-40: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward (i.e. crooked) generation.”

Peter’s response to his audience’s question in Acts 2:37 is essentially that they need to flee from the Messiah’s coming wrath by forsaking their sins and submitting to His authority. Christian baptism is supposed to signify and express this. Regarding any sin makes one a heathen according to this third definition of the word. No one is really submitted to Jesus Christ who is not in agreement with His goal of saving His people from their sins. He does so through the Holy Spirit which He gives to those who obey Him.