Similarly jesus talked about being handed over, imprisonment, being brought before kings, having a testimony, providing a defense, and caring for even ones hair. The church at antioch 18 when they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified god, saying, so then, god has granted even the gentiles repentance unto life. The book of acts is a book of first things as we have noticed several times already, and in this next section we will see how that the first men who were called ministers, or deacons, were chosen. The grecian jews had more contact with gentiles and were more radical in their outlook than the conservative hebraic jews. It is possible these men were not followers of jesus prior to pentecost. When we reach the end of the book of acts we see, as it were, the final act of rejection by the jews, and the times of the gentiles officially begins. One of the distinguishing features of the book of acts is its speeches. The hebraic jews are those who speak mainly aramaic, and were born in jerusalem or judea. He went to the jew first and then, when the jews rejected the gospel, paul went to the gentiles. The hellenistic jews are first mentioned in the bible in acts 6. Their names are standard greek names rather than jewish or graecized jewish. Feeling that they had been slighted by church leaders the apostles over financial aid or material provision, like food. The book of acts later goes on to describe paul of tarsus recounting that he was educated at the feet of gamaliel about jewish religious law, although no details are given about which teachings paul adopted from gamaliel and hence how much gamaliel influenced aspects of christianity.
We can follow this progression in the book of acts, as christians from cyprus. Not only is the discontent between the grecian jews and the hebraic jews recorded see 6. In the new testament, english versions of the bible attempts to distinguish between hellenes, which is rendered greeks, and hellenistai, which is rendered grecians or grecian jews, or in the revised version, margin hellenists, e. Acts 6, the churchs second problem, grecian jews, widows. Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying. This information is intended to be used in conjunction with the mens monday night bible study at bfc in ventura. Remember we are using the scriptural outline for the book found in 1. Acts begins with jesus teaching the apostles about the kingdom of god outside jerusalem, and ends, about thirty years later, with paul teaching gentile christians about the kingdom of god in rome. The word in greek for greek people is hellenists, the word used in acts 6. This results in murmuring that threatens to destroy the churchs unity. The holy spirit at work in believers study guide by daronm1 includes 230 questions covering vocabulary, terms and more. So hebraic jews would be inhabitants of israel, while greek jews would be the rest from all over. There are a number of interesting things about stephen and also philip. The words of jesus all men will hate you because of me luke 21.
The name stephen is actually greek, and chapter 6 of the acts of the apostles tells us that he was a hellenist a foreignborn jew who spoke greek. Jul 07, 2014 acts chapter 6, the churchs second problem, grecian jews, widows, deacons, synagogue of the freedmen, blasphemy slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. In this book, the principles of the exchanged life. In the setting of acts 6, the need for the seven men was ad hoc, that is, they were selected to address a specific need that arose due to cultural conflict between two groups in the jerusalem church acts 6. Both classes of these jews were christians, but there was a language barrier. The faith you had to be obedient to in the jewish nation was acts 2. After stephens death, philip rose to the forefront of the group of seven. Jan 02, 2020 after acts 6, the hellenists appear again in acts 9. The grecian jews the minority complained to the hebraic jews the majority that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Witnesses to the world, his body of work includes a biblical commentary on hebrews and coauthorship of the popular bible prophecy commentary. What was the dispute between the hebrew and grecian jews. We saw this pattern in pauls preaching throughout the book of acts. The grecian jews were the focal point of a complaint against the hebraic jews.
There were some among the palestinian jews who held their greek speaking brethren in low esteem. Therefore, when a church begins to dwindle, lose its power, and turn dull and drab in its witness, it needs desperately to get back into the spirit, expectation, knowledge and teaching of the book of acts. This is one of the three feasts jews are commanded to go to jerusalem. Who were the hellenistic and hebraic jews of acts 6. But this time god does not miraculously step in to alleviate the problem. The others were hellenists or grecian jews who originally lived outside palestine jews of. Sep 28, 2011 bsf study questions acts lesson 3, day 4. Quizlet flashcards, activities and games help you improve your grades. Stephen, a man full of faith and of the holy ghost that is, not only. These latter were jews of the dispersion, who spoke greek see hellenism. Timeline of the book of acts from the bible generation word. Stephen, philip, procorus, nicanor, timon, parmenas, and nicolas these seven men could speak the greek language.
Oct 07, 20 jesus talked about laying hands on you lk 21. In this book, the principles of the exchanged life not i, but christ is. They were the grecian jews greek, hellenistai, or hellenists and hebraic jews. The 12 apostles called a meeting and decided to chose 7 men who were full of the spirit and wisdom to tend to the problem so they could give their attention to prayer and ministry of gods word. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. This would be helpful to be able to know the needs of the grecian jews. Luke summarizes all that he had written in his gospel with the simple phrase, the former treatise have i made, o theophilus, of all that jesus began both to do and teach. Some people mistakenly think the philip mentioned here is the one who served as one of the original 12 disciples. As a result, the grecian jewish widows are being overlooked in the daily food distribution. In acts 6 a transition occurred in the book of acts. These verses describe how seven men were chosen as special ministers, and one of them, stephen, fell foul of the authorities. A history of the early church gene taylor2an outline of the book i. The believing jews are here divided into two groups.
In acts, it talks about a division in judaism that i had not heard of before. The kjv translates the word for the group as grecians. This is the opinion of comely in his introduction to the books of the new testament second edition, page 315. It appears then that saul took up the work which stephen had laid down at his death. In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the hellenistic jews against the hebraic jews that their widows were being. Thus, in acts we find reconciliation between hebraic jew and grecian jew, jew and samaritan, jew and ethiopian, jew and gentile convert, and jew and gentile. Jesus had shown himself alive by many proofs for 40 days.
Some were native hebrews who had lived primarily in palestine, spoke aramaic predominantly and used the hebrew scriptures. Out of the grecian disciples, philip is the only other one to be mentioned after the list of names is given in acts. What is the difference between grecian jews and hebraic jews. Acts 6 september 28, 2011 by atozmom, posted in bsf acts 2012 summary of passage. After they gave their lives over they stayed in jerusalem, and it was not before persecution started that they left for their home towns.
Old testament references cherubim at entrance to garden of eden. Perhaps they were among the crowd who hear yet stephen is the first martyr and his speech summarizing some important theological. And the saying pleased the multitude who had been called together upon this occasion. But the entire event is prefaced with the verse, acts 2. A parallel in modern jerusalem would be the distinction between. The holy spirit at work in believers flashcards quizlet. Lets read the names of the seven men who were chosen. But the devil spotted a cultural division in the church that he could turn to his advantage. Surely the church of this age did not begin at acts two, as is so commonly taken for granted see acts dispensationally considered by c.
Some of the early christians in jerusalem were grecians that is, hellenistic jews and some were hebrews that is, jews fully semitic in their cultural background. The hellenistic jews are first mentioned in the bible in acts. Principles of evangelism from the book of acts truthonlybible. This would set an example of appointing deacons on an as needed basis for particular functions in the churcheither short or. Class notes on acts chapters nine through fifteen 12 class notes the book of acts. Hellenistic judaism was a form of judaism in classical antiquity that combined jewish religious. A complaint arose from the grecian jews against the hebrews because the grecian widows were being neglected. Oct 18, 20 but the entire event is prefaced with the verse, acts 2. Both are hellenistic jews, and neither is numbered among the twelve. The book of acts records the events that made the gospel burst out of its confines in judaism and the city of jerusalem to reach out to the limits of the thenknown world all in just one generations time. Some have thought that the title of the book was affixed by the author himself.
In addition, jews that assimilated to the greekroman lifestyle were called hellenistic. With that, he launches into a chronological account of the years spanning 3060ce. The widows of the grecian jews were at best being overlooked and at worst being ignored at the daily distribution of food. Intro to acts biblica the international bible society. The major literary product of the contact of judaism and hellenistic culture is the septuagint, as well as the book of wisdom, sirach. Acts is the book that reveals the power of the church. The others were hellenists or grecian jews who originally lived outside palestine jews of the diaspora but were now living in palestine. We will look at what the qualifications are to be for those who minister within the church. What was the difference between a hellenistic jew and a hebraic jew. He is also a contributing author to the gathering storm and the zondervan kjv commentary. What is the significance of stephen in acts of the.
The book of acts tells the story of the beginning of the church of jesus christ. Acts 6 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on the. Acts 68 describe the activities of two nonapostles, stephen and philip. Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the hellenistic jews against the native hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the hellenistic jews among them complained against the hebraic jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The number of disciples in jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.