Heathen

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

(Under this heading are grouped all who are not embraced under the Abrahamic covenant)

Cast out of Canaan

• Leviticus 18:24–25 Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
• Psalm 44:2 With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.

Their land given to Israel

• Psalm 78:55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
• Psalm 105:44 He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,
• Psalm 135:12 He gave their land as an inheritance, as a heritage to His people Israel.
• Psalm 136:21–22 and He gave their land as an inheritance, His loving devotion endures forever. a heritage to His servant Israel. His loving devotion endures forever.
• Isaiah 54:1–3 “Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do n…

Excluded from the temple

• Lamentations 1:10 The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary— those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.

Wicked practices of

See Idolatry

Divine revelations given to

Abimelech

• Genesis 20:3–7 One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent? Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘Sh…

Pharaoh

• Genesis 41:1–28 After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile, when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank…

Balaam

• Numbers 22 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites. So the Moabites said to… (whole chapter)

Nebuchadnezzar

• Daniel 4:1–18 King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied. I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdo…

Belshazzar

• Daniel 5:5 At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,
• Daniel 5:24–29 Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription. Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. TEKEL means that you have been weighed on…

Cyrus

• 2 Chronicles 36:23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’”
• Ezra 1:1–4 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of h…

The Magi (wise men from the east)

• Matthew 2:1–11 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusale…

The centurion at Capernaum

• Matthew 8:5–13 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him, “Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible agony.” “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied. The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant wi…
• Luke 7:2–9 There a highly valued servant of a centurion was sick and about to die. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and pleaded with Him earnestly, “This man is worthy to have You grant this, for he loves our nation an…

Cornelius

• Acts 10:1–7 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to…

Pious people among

• Isaiah 65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
• Acts 10:35 but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.

Instances of

Melchizedek

• Genesis 14:18–20 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine — since he was priest of God Most High — and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizede…

Abimelech

• Genesis 20 Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him… (whole chapter)

Balaam

• Numbers 22 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites. So the Moabites said to… (whole chapter)

Jethro

• Exodus 18 Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her, along with her two sons. One son was na… (whole chapter)

Cyrus

• Ezra 1:1–3 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of h…

Eliphaz

• Job 4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking? Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling. But now tro… (whole chapter)

Bildad

• Job 8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: “How long will you go on saying such things? The words of your mouth are a blustering wind. Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion. But if you would earnestly see… (whole chapter)

Zophar

• Job 11 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: “Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a speaker be vindicated? Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke? You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’ But if only God would speak and open His li… (whole chapter)

Elihu

• Job 32 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God, and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because… (whole chapter)

Nebuchadnezzar, after his restoration

• Daniel 4 King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied. I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdo… (whole chapter)

The Ninevites

• Jonah 3:5–10 And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he issued a proclamation in Nine…

The Magi (the wise men from the east)

• Matthew 2:1–12 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusale…

The centurion at Capernaum

• Matthew 8:5–13 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him, “Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible agony.” “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied. The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant wi…
• Luke 7:2–9 There a highly valued servant of a centurion was sick and about to die. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and pleaded with Him earnestly, “This man is worthy to have You grant this, for he loves our nation an…

The centurion at Caesarea

• Acts 10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to… (whole chapter)

See Gentiles