E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Court of the Gentiles (The).
They are but in the Court of the Gentiles. They are not wholly God’s people; they are not the elect, but have only a smattering of the truth. The “Court of the Israelites” in the Jewish temple was for Jewish men; the “Court of the Women” was for Jewish women; the “Court of the Gentiles” was for those who were not Jews.
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“Oli, Cuddie, they are but in the Court of the Gentiles, and will ne’er win farther ben, I doubt.”—Sir W. Scott: Old Mortality, chap. viii.
