John 7:35

Εἶπον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πρὸς ἑαυτούς, Ποῦ οὗτος μέλλει πορεύεσθαι ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐχ εὑρήσομεν αὐτόν; Μὴ εἰς τὴν διασπορὰν τῶν Ἑλλήνων μέλλει πορεύεσθαι, καὶ διδάσκειν τοὺς Ἕλληνας;

RBT Translation:

Ἕλληνας - Greeks, Pagans, Heathen, Outsiders

Therefore the Casters said toward their own selves, "Where is this one destined to lead over, because we, ourselves are not finding himself? He's not destined to lead over into the Scattering of the Outsiders and teach the Outsiders!^79c

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
Then said the Jews among themselves, Where is he about to go, that we shall not find him? is he not about to go to the dispersion of the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

LITV Translation:
Then the Jews said amongst themselves, Where is this one about to go that we will not find him? Is he about to go to the Dispersion of the Greeks, and to teach the Greeks?

Footnotes

79c

To the Highways and Byways

Ἕλλην (Hellēn) acquired the religio-cultural meaning of ‘outcast/gentile’ within certain Second Temple and early Christian contexts, especially in Hellenistic Jewish and early Christian literature. 

1. Original Ethnic Meaning:

In archaic and classical Greek, Ἕλλην referred strictly to Greeks—initially a tribe from Thessaly, then all Greek-speaking peoples united by language, religion, and culture.

2. Religious and Cultural Reframing (LXX and NT):

In Septuagint (LXX) and New Testament Greek, Ἕλληνες came to mean Gentiles, i.e., non-Jews. This reflects not merely an ethnic, but a religio-cultural binary:

• Ἕλληνες vs. Ἰουδαῖοι (Jews) "Casters"

  • Isaiah 9:12 LXX: "The Syrians from the east and the Hellenes from the west..."

  • 1 Maccabees 1–2: Hellenistic customs are associated with apostasy and cultural betrayal.

  • Romans 1:16: "To the Jew first and also to the Gentiles/Greek [Ἕλλην]” – here signifying non-Jews, i.e., pagans.

This binary acquired a moral-religious dimension: The Ἕλλην is not just an outsider ethnically, but spiritually alien, often associated with idolatry, licentiousness, or philosophical pride in early Christian polemic.

3. The Sense of "Outcast/Outsider"

While Ἕλλην was once a title of cultural prestige, in Jewish and early Christian thought, it would carry connotations of foreignness and alienation from divine covenant and moral distance from Jewish law or Christian gospel. In some Christian fathers: "Hellene" = unbeliever, pagan, idolater, to be distinguished from the "community of the faithful."

Thus, in this religious reconfiguration, Ἕλλην functioned semi-synonymously with:

• ἔθνη (the nations)

• ἀλλόφυλος (foreign tribes)

• ἀνόσιος (unholy)

Overall, it religiously and culturally marked a person as “outside” the "elect community."