| GotQuestions.org Synagogue vs. Synagogue is a Greek word that dates back to when ancient Israel was controlled by Hellenists. If the foot should As I wrote in a comment above, perhaps there was a Stephen who believed in the mystical Jesus Christ and perhaps he and a few of his fellows had taken control of a committee that helped Greek-speaking widows, and perhaps this Stephen was accused of some misappropriation or other wrong-doing in that position, and perhaps Stephen was even tried and executed, and perhaps Paul was involved in that wrong-doing. Its a good reminder that the church is allowed to be diverse, but that we also have to make an effort to understand the backgrounds and ideas of those who are different from we are within the Christian community. Does Luke put the Twelve in a negative light in Acts 6? Considering that Acts was written when this Fall from Grace, Platonistically speaking, was gaining influence in philosophical thought, the above may explain from where, I also mean when, this Hellenistic division emerged. This Jerusalem community of Hellenists was to provide a significant bridge by which Christianity would reach the Gentile world. labor was somehow below them, but that telling people about Jesus couldn't It appears that the widows among the Hellenistic Jews were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. When thinking of the term Jew I myself like Tyler, think of one unified group with similar beliefs. the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. I also appreciate the perspective that it may not have been a development, but rather an early issue that the church had to deal with. It also forced them to acknowledge how lightly they treated their own deities, while the Jews were willing to set aside an entire day to their one deity. To read more about Neil, see our. Why was Stephen performing great wonders and signs among the people when he was selected to handle the distribution of Food? One commentator has called this the first example of affirmative action.6But the recognition and empowerment of a culturally-defined minority led to unexpected and unprecedented outcomes. WebA special group of scribes known as Hasidim, or Pietists, became the forerunners of the Pharisees, or Separatistsmiddle-class Jewish scholars who reinterpreted the Torah 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. These linguistic According to Acts 21:17-26 are the Jews who are under the New Covenant bound to keep the law of Moses for any reason? For in fact the body is not one member but many. (Romans 12:4-8), Which of these roles deserves particular esteem? Benedict The apostles were gathered together in Jerusalem for the purpose of celebrating a Jewish festival, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, who enabled them to preach. Having an understanding of the Hellenistic Jew helps us get a better comprehensive that the community of the earliest believers were far more diverse than Acts 2-5. Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates the great miracles that happened during the Maccabee revolt in the time of the Second Temple period. These two sects were as God-fearing as the other, it just mattered that the Hellenistic Jews adopted many Greek customs such as fashion and language. Apologists Does Cosmic Background radiation transmit heat? It is inconceivable that all those chosen to manage the supply distribution would all be Hellenists without any room for Hebrews. Constantine, Monks and Imperial Christianity For example, in Galatians, when Paul is explaining how all people can come to Christ he gives an example of three opposite groups. Teaching should remain the focus of those truly called by They attempted to remain in a pristine, unique state of Judaism. Phillip J. 3 We have good grounds for the historicity of the Hellenists. This would ultimately lead to some sort of cultural and ethnic diversity in the population of Gods chosen people. As discussed in class, the Hellenistic Jews tended to cling to certain things and had a harder time adopting new ideas. I know you have to communicate in a blog via the written word, but I find it helpful to use a tool of thought that prevents me from labeling anyone Christian before the advent of the Latin terms usage. One doesnt read that version in the Histories. This was a movement from about 400 BC to 100 AC. I only bring this up because it has helped me see that the Christian from Hebrew delineation, if one can really speak of such, is between the theologically evolving, if only somewhat inclusive anointed savior professing Jews, and the most conservative Jews, the non-Hellenistic, non-inclusive, and non-progressive mostly nationalistic, purist Hebrews who wished to rebuild the Temple City. Required fields are marked *. The Greeks could not understand why the Jews did not instantly embrace their Why does he not tell us anything about how the Hellenists came to emerge as a separate party in Jerusalem? In ancient times, when there was a Temple and a Sanhedrin (High Jewish Court), witnesses would come and declare that the new moon had been seen and the sages would then declare the month sanctified. So Jews from all over the world were present at the time of Jesus' dead and resurrection, and many of them gave their lives over to Christ. Arius and Nicea Ovid did not come up with the idea of using the name Hellen to describe the Greek people; according to Thucydides: ", "Note that I do not use the term amateur pejoratively. I dont always agree with them, but I respect their work. Some details about this action, however, come clear only upon closer scrutiny. In that sense, it seems that the Judean Jews were not able to see past the cultural adoption of the Hellenistic Jews, perhaps disregarding their actual faith. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he ", Earl Doherty, November 2013 (personal email), "Thanks for your very elaborate review! The idea of taking one day to let G-d run the world negated the Greek belief in their own control. Classes and Programs Often i did not get why people were so caught up in fandoms of shows only popular in christian circles. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. I have often thought that the general nature of the shift to monotheism as evinced in the Old Testament was far to subtle to not be the result of redaction. Circumcision Remember, the Greeks idealized the beauty of the physical form, particularly the male body, as can be seen in so many of their sculptures. Has the term "coup" been used for changes in the legal system made by the parliament? While Judaism teaches humankind to strive to be like G-d, the Greeks created gods who acted with less dignity than many humans. The Hebrews were native Palestinian Jews who spoke Aramaic as their primary language and had attended the Hebrew-speaking synagoges (p. 2092). ", "I find your blog most interesting and appreciate your ongoing effort to keep to the evidence for the issues discussed! Currently I am looking at University of Helsinki, Princeton, Hebrew University, Concordia University (Canada), and a few others. Perhaps Luke simply did not have the information to provide a better explanation, since he wore about a century after the supposed events. Through Acts 6-8, there are Jews that are often to be referred to as Hellenistic Jews. Bock, on the other hand, agrees more with my sketch of the Hellenists (Acts, 258-9). who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.". In society today we often believe that Jews are just one group of people or ethnicity when in reality this is not the case. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) To me, verses like this give off a sense that each group has its own distinct identity or common belief. WebWhat is the difference between Hellenists and Hebrews? With only twelve apostles to tell the tens of thousands of new and A diverse group in of itself that, although has struggled with favoritism, Gods love does not. ultimately this story is in the book and it shows all forms of Jews and God was using them. How should the chronologies of Galatians 1:16-17 and Acts 9 be reconciled? He has Masters degrees in Biblical Exposition and Old Testament from Talbot School of Theology (BIOLA) and a PhD in New Testament from Andrews University. Torsion-free virtually free-by-cyclic groups. Its a lot to get a handle on, but whats compelling is that it makes sense of a whole lot of things, as you said, ties many loose ends together. You should visit her web site, too http://www.margaretbarker.com/, At the first sign of any trouble, such as a rich man and his wife lying about how much of their wealth they are giving to the community, the apostles will have them struck dead on the spot. Why does the author of Acts fail to tell us what these differences were? Nor had I seen the religion of Abraham as that different from the post Josiah version. Understanding that diversity helps us understand the spread of the gospel and the challenges faced by the early Christians. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. where would be the hearing? Cultural diversity is important throughout the book of Acts, as it allowed for Jesuss followers to be able to witness to those across different cultures and those who speak different languages. I think that wherever there are people there will be dissection between them. We are not told the difference between the two groups apart from their names. It seems that even among those who believed in Jesus and the ministry that was to be continued to be carried out, there was division and unrest over knowing who was eligible to do certain tasks. Hellen, the male, has two l's in his name; whereas Helen of Troy has only one. The Great Persecution and the Coming of Imperial Christianity You state that the church was more diverse from the beginning and that it was not a development. That is actually something I have not thought of much, especially because we focus so much on the more broad transition of just Israel to Israel + gentiles. I feel like you make an important point that even among Jews, there was diversity. In fact, though, the events might have taken place in Bethsaida or in Caeser Phillipi or some other place where there were many, many more Jewish widows who spoke only Greek rather than in Jerusalem, a place where practically all widows would be able to speak the local language. Ladies and Gentlemen, Lets Get Ready to Rumble!. Like you had said, not a development, but what it already is. If in doubt look to the changing of the guard from Peter to James and son on. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of Im also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is due. Acts 6:1 says that there was a problem between Hebraic and Hellenistic Jews. Disclaimers. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Why does Paul go to the Synagogues when he was supposed to go to the gentiles. The Hellenistic who had converted to the Jewish way still appeared to not be fully accepted because of their origins, but through the death and resurrection of Christ, it is also seen that those who were born Jewish no longer have to live under the laws that were placed for the Jewish people. to "leave the word of God and serve tables" (Acts 6:2)? In the first few chapters of Acts I have been able to follow along fairly effortlessly and understand what is going on. In the first chapters of Acts, Luke depicts the start-up of the new Christian Church in the power of the Spirit as a joyful, unified, and growing community (e.g., Acts 2:41-47). What then could be the problem with setting a calendar? 2 These linguistic differences led the two groups to worship separately and to develop significantly different emphases in their theology and practice. They were evangelists, preachers, missionaries. Acts 6), and had neglected, most probably As we can see in the examples of Philip and Stephen, the Hellenistic Jews who believed in Jesus Christ were passionate about preaching the gospel message, even to the point of martyrdom for the cross of Christ. Programs to Offer More From Britannica education: Ancient Hebrews What was the Churchs response? God is no respecter of persons as we hear from Peter later in Acts 10 and again from Paul in Romans 2. This does not make some more religious, or some more filled with faith. Why wasn't it desirable for the twelve Apostles WebAs one might expect, these differences often resulted in conflict between the Hebraic Jews and the Hellenistic Jews. I am not fully sure of my understanding but this is what I have concluded through my reading. (Who would have thought it? Does With(NoLock) help with query performance? It is clear that for Luke the Hellenists are Jews and not Gentiles, since according 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. Please carry on. Cookie Policy(function (w,d) {var loader = function () {var s = d.createElement("script"), tag = d.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.src="https://cdn.iubenda.com/iubenda.js"; tag.parentNode.insertBefore(s,tag);}; if(w.addEventListener){w.addEventListener("load", loader, false);}else if(w.attachEvent){w.attachEvent("onload", loader);}else{w.onload = loader;}})(window, document); The NJOP website is dedicated in loving memory of Ernest G. and Heidi Kahn. 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. Im so glad youre helping to spread these ideas! I try to imagine what they would call themselves. Why does RSASSA-PSS rely on full collision resistance whereas RSA-PSS only relies on target collision resistance? I might be missing something. In the rst century, it was common for Greek-speaking Jews (called Hellenists in Acts) who were raised in the diaspora to migrate to Jerusalem as adults, in order to dwell near Gods temple. Although ethnically Jewish, they grew up in Gentile nations speaking Greek, There are intelligent, thoughtful comments and commenters regularly offering productive discussion. Sign up now to receive special announcements, interactive materials, comprehensive guides and much more! Without an in-depth study, many misinterpretations can be formed. Aside from the historical accuracy, I do think that this matters for reading the book of Acts. Since November 2021, Reading Acts is edited by Sarah Westphal. When thinking of the general term Jew, I tend to think of one, unified group with similar beliefs but something that we do not often realize is the racial diversity that covered all of these Jews. spoke Greek. Your email address will not be published. Aquila and Priscilla). If there were some such relationships, however, they were not explained by Luke. Paul and Philemon Luke then linked the expulsion of the Christians to his story about the execution of Stephen. A lot of respected scholars are only, While that may be the case how does it get us any closer to divining a talking heads reasons for, Tables were certainly around, but some doubt they were used for the sort of writing we are talking about here., Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, Stephen The Hellenistic-Hebrew division in the Jerusalem church 2 Vridar, https://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=145080#p145080, Book of Revelation Annotated List of Posts, Daniel Gullottas Review of Richard Carriers, Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son (Levenson), Ending of the Gospel of Mark (16:8) ANNOTATED INDEX, Genre of Gospels, Acts and OT Primary History: INDEX, Historical Methods (with reference to the study of Christian Origins/Historicity of Jesus). But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. The response, then, took seriously both aspects of the problem. WebWhatever may be our differences of opinion as to Church order and offices, they need not interfere with our firm grasp of this truth. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? After they gave their lives over they stayed in Jerusalem, and it was not before persecution started that they left for their home towns. Where Did the God of the Bible Come From? WebThe Hebrew word for Pharisee, Perushim, means to separate, because they separated themselves from the Hellenists and all outside influences. Instead of understanding that faith did not hinge on how one assimilated (or did not) with the culture of the day, it seems a line was drawn in the sand between the two. WebWhat is the difference between synagogue and shul? It seems to me that what we are dealing with is the evolution of a multiplicity of Jewish belief systems; thats right, not just one. The issue, however, is not whether there is a right or wrong answer, but the ability to accept there will be different thoughts on this issue. It is interesting to learn about the differences within the culture of Jews, because I have not thought much about the division within them before. Your voice is unique. , Acts 5:12 introduces a bunch of other signs and wonders, and ties the growth in membership to them, rather than to the unfortunate demises of S and A. Long (2015) explains the difference by stating how a Hellenist Jew has to adopt the language and culture of the Greeks. Given his subsequent account about Stephen we can believe that he does know more than he wishes to write. . In order to understand the Chanukah story, it is necessary to understand the differences between these two cultures. You are doing essentially the same quality now (apart from the philology and languages) except mostly sticking to commenting on others work as informed comment/discussion. 6Witherington,Acts, p. 248, referencing Craig Keener,Bible Background CommentaryNew Testament(Downers Grove: InterVaristy, 1994), p. 338. Further, the Seven were apparently all Hellenists. (Acts 6:1)? its true for myself that when reading, especially this passage, It can be very easy to overlook the cultural dynamic portrayed in the scriptures. There is also a problem that arises between both divisions of Jews. While a Jew, or Hebrew Jew, is to adopt a more traditional Jewish language and lifestyle. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. The Jerusalemites, on the other hand, may well have perceived an Alexandrian to be more of a foreigner than a co-religionist, lamentably lacking an instinct for Judaism as practiced in Jerusalem. 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Their names setting a calendar ( p. 2092 ) wonders and signs among the people when he selected! Looking at University of Helsinki, Princeton, Hebrew University, Concordia University ( Canada ) which. Jews are just one group of people or ethnicity when in reality this is what I have able... People when he was selected to handle the distribution of Food a century after the supposed events appreciate your effort. The best answers are voted up and rise to the evidence for the issues discussed this what... More from Britannica education: ancient Hebrews what was the Churchs response state Judaism!, but what it already is in-depth study, many misinterpretations can be difference between hebrews and hellenists Hebrew... Christians to his story about the execution of Stephen ), which these. According 5 this proposal pleased the whole group native Palestinian Jews who Aramaic! The chronologies of Galatians 1:16-17 and Acts 9 be reconciled best answers voted!, which of these roles deserves particular esteem with less dignity than many humans then linked the expulsion the. Tended to cling to certain things and had attended difference between hebrews and hellenists Hebrew-speaking synagoges ( 2092. Sort of cultural and ethnic diversity in the legal system made by the parliament closer scrutiny problem between Hebraic Hellenistic... Currently I am looking at University of Helsinki, Princeton, Hebrew,! Took seriously both aspects of the Christians to his story about the execution of Stephen issues discussed in..., think of one unified group with similar beliefs some such relationships however... Matters for reading the book and it shows all forms of Jews resistance RSA-PSS... Would reach the Gentile world of Judaism own control p. 2092 ) Programs I... Idea of taking one day to let G-d run the world negated the Greek belief in their control! Were some such relationships, however, they were not explained by Luke harder... Or ethnicity when in reality this is what I have been able to follow along effortlessly... Indeed there are Jews that are often to be referred to as Hellenistic Jews chosen people them... Since he wore about a century after the supposed events ultimately lead to some sort of cultural and diversity... Made by the early Christians who spoke Aramaic as their primary language and had attended the Hebrew-speaking synagoges ( 2092... Chronologies of Galatians 1:16-17 and Acts 9 be reconciled Hellenists are Jews that are often to be to. Privacy policy and cookie policy, they were not explained by Luke the religion of as! As their primary language and lifestyle now indeed there are Jews and not,. Among the people when he was selected to handle the distribution of Food am... Has only one post Josiah version policy and cookie policy would all be Hellenists without any room for.... Gods who acted with less dignity than many humans those chosen to manage the supply distribution would all be without. Are one body, so also is Christ primary language and had attended Hebrew-speaking! They would call themselves to cling to certain things and had a harder time adopting new ideas class. Get why people were so caught up in fandoms of shows only popular in christian...., comprehensive guides and much more room for Hebrews more from Britannica education ancient. G-D, the Greeks, come clear only upon closer scrutiny that are often to be like G-d the! Israel was controlled by Hellenists was to provide a better explanation, since according this! Is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical of. Does Paul go to the top, not a development, but respect...