Greek word · G246

ἀλλόφυλος

allophylos

foreigner

'Of another tribe or race, foreign.' It is a general word for an outsider to one's own people.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 21, 2026

What it means

ἀλλόφυλος, -ον

(ἄλλος, φῦλον, a tribe), [in LXX chiefly for פְּלֶשֶׁת ;]

foreign, of another race (MM, VGT, see word); as opposite to a Jew, a Gentile: Acts 10:28.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: 'Of another tribe or race, foreign.' It is a general word for an outsider to one's own people.
Against the English: 'Foreigner' (BSB), 'one of another nation' (KJV, WEB), 'one of another race' (YLT), 'Gentile' (NIV, NLT). 'Gentile' is accurate in meaning but loses the vivid 'other tribe' picture and the gentler tone of the word.
Used elsewhere in the period: Only here in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament it is the standard rendering of 'Philistines' (for example, throughout 1 Samuel), and it is also used of foreigners generally (Isaiah 61:5). Common in Josephus and Philo for non-Jews.

Range of meaning: Literally 'of another tribe or race (phylon)': a foreigner, someone of different stock. Classical Greek used it of people from another people or city. In the Septuagint it became a fixed term. From Judges through Kings it is the standard translation of Hebrew pelishtim, 'Philistines', and more generally it means non-Israelite peoples seen as outsiders and often as enemies.
Against the English: KJV, Brenton and WEB say 'Gentiles'. 'Foreigners' (or 'foreign peoples') keeps the sense of ethnic otherness better. 'Gentiles' is the usual translation of a different word, ethnē ('nations'). To many modern readers 'Gentiles' simply means 'non-Jews' in a religious sense, without the hostile edge this word carries in 1 Maccabees.
How it drifted: 'Gentile' (from Latin gentilis, 'of the nations') became a neutral religious category in Christian use. The Greek word here has a sharper sense: 'the other people', with Philistine echoes.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Septuagint it is used for the Philistines throughout 1–2 Samuel. 1 Maccabees uses it repeatedly for the enemy armies and peoples (e.g. 3:41; 4:12, 22, 26, 30; 5:66, 68, where Azotus/Ashdod is 'the land of the foreigners'). In the New Testament it appears only once, in Acts 10:28, where Peter says it was not permitted for a Jew to associate with an allophylos. Josephus also uses it.

Acts · 1

Acts 10:28 ἀλλοφύλῳ· to [someone] foreign;

He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.

Here: 'One of another stock.' This is the only time it appears in the New Testament. Peter, speaking to Gentiles, picks a fairly neutral word for an outsider instead of 'the nations' or 'sinners'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.