One problem that a person studying the Bible will encounter rears its ugly head in this example. That is the false word. In this case, the word is gentiles. The screenshot below of a website shows a Greek text and an English text of Amos 9:12. The English text presented uses the word gentiles. The Greek word highlighted on the right is ἔθνος. The word means something like a province, tribe, class of men, caste, trade association, guild, or race. The key component being that is an aggregate body. The plural of it would then be something like nations or peoples. E.g. the peoples of the Levant, or the nations of the Orient. It refers to flocks of bees, flies, and birds.
The word gentiles is a Latin word that become an egregore.
Figure a [1]
The following example (emphasis mine) shows another difference where ethnos does not mean others in a binary ideological sense of the ideologue’s self and the abstracted other. It means preached unto the tribes, nations, or groups of people. The following is from 1st Timothy, Chapter 3.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
καὶ ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον· Θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις, ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ. [2]
The thought form that develops from the cultic use implies that Jesus was preached to a solitary outgroup as opposed to a ideology based ingroup. It posits the existence of two groups only when the meaning of the word covers multiple groups rather than an ideological binary. ἔθνος appears in the Wiktionary with a useful analysis.
The 1885 English Revised version uses the word nations.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory. [3]
This is from the Geneva Bible.
And without controuerfie , great is the myſterie of godlines. which is, God is manifetted in the flelly, tuttified in the Spirit, feene of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, beleeued on in the Would, and receined up in glozie [4]
Young’s Literal Translation of 1863 renders the verse beautifully. While looking at the verse is notable to see the phrase "seen by messengers" as opposed to "seen by angels" which appears in many versions. Angels is another word that became an egregore but that is a topic for another memo.
and, confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in flesh, declared righteous in spirit, seen by messengers, preached among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. [5]
All of these versions add punction that is not present in the original scriptures. The original scriptures contain no commas and semi-colons. The Geneva Bible contains an incredible amount of commentary in the margin.
The Interlinear from George Ricker Berry, PH.D. includes many punctuation marks that do not appear on images of original manuscripts. They appear even in the Greek portion of his interlinear text. The following shows 1 Timothy, Chapter 3. The word the shows the placement in the later work where the same word appears in brackets to indicate the modern translator/scribe added it to the text. Three versions appear below. The top version is the one in the authorized version and the second is the English translation that appears under the words in Greek in this book.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
καὶ ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστὶν τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον θεός" ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, ἐδικαιώθη ἐν πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις,. ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ.
And confessedly great is the of piety mystery god was manifested in flesh was justified in the spirit was seen by angels was proclaimed among the nations was believed on in the world was received up in glory [6]
The Oxford University Press’s version incorporating the Scrivener text of 1881 has the following on page 909.
ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον ὃς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγελοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ [7]
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory. [3]
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. [8]
1 I Saw the Lord Standing on the Altar: And He Said, Smite the Mercy-Seat, and … AMOS / ΑΜΩΣ9 – Bilingual Septuagint.” Accessed July 6, 2025. https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=32&page=9.
2. "Ch 3 – To Timothy 1 – The New Testament.” Accessed July 12, 2025. https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/new-testament/timothy_1/3.asp.
3. “Revised Version with Apocrypha (1895) 1 Timothy 3.” Accessed July 12, 2025. http://memorymatrix.cloud/rv/1TI03.htm.
4. http://memorymatrix.cloud/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Holy-Bible-Geneva-Bible-1579.pdf#page=1181
5. http://memorymatrix.cloud/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/The_Holy_Bible_tr_by_Robert_Young_163_pre_Westcott-Hort_complete_with_Revelation.pdf#page=769
6. http://memorymatrix.cloud/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The_interlinear_translation_greek_av_george_ricker_berry.pdf#page=558
7. The_New_Testament_of_Our_Lord_and_Saviour-Oxford-University-Press-1896.pdf#page=909
8. King James Version + Apocrypha 1 Timothy
