Were Jewish, Greek, and Gentile converts adults only? But things are not as smooth as they appear. Vridar: Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science (http://vridar.org/) by Neil Godfrey", -- Klaas Spronk, - Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXI, 3/4 (2014), "I always enjoy reading Neils blog because I think that he is careful, thorough, intellectually fair, and honest. . 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Crusades Luke then linked the expulsion of the Christians to his story about the execution of Stephen. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of Why not stay in Jerusalem until Jesus returns? Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Read Fullers Statement on Nondiscrimination. Deborah Ladies and Gentlemen, Lets Get Ready to Rumble!. 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. Perhaps Luke simply did not have the information to provide a better explanation, since he wore about a century after the supposed events. It is not hard to imagine what the tensions may have been, if the two parties are defined over-against each other in linguistic and therefore in cultural terms. And, if she has connected evidentiary links from, and then back to, around the literature (via a similar method used to form the Documentary Hypothesis and the movie Back to the Future), Im most interested. The division of labor between the Twelves attention to prayer and the Word, and the Sevens serving at tables (6:2, 4) is not as clear-cut as one would expect. They were Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora, who returned to settle in Jerusalem. . Me and Jesus Got Our Own Thing Going! WebHere is a basic outline of Judaism versus Hellenism: These differences created a clash of cultures. 15:24) and insinuates underlying tensions. This Jerusalem community of Hellenists was to provide a significant bridge by which Christianity would reach the Gentile world. And if they were all one member, where would the body When the Jews sanctified the new moon, it, in effect, stated to the world that G-d is in control of time. . When I think about Judaism, I never thought about if there were divisions or not but in Acts 6:1 we see that there is a division of Jews. Could a Hellenist Jew assimilate and accept some parts of the Greek culture while rejecting ideas which were contrary to their Jewish faith? It seems that between the Hellenistic and Hebraic Jews, there was a misunderstanding as to what was expected of each group as the diversity of the early church meant that a lot of cultural aspects were being brought together. The month was not declared based on the counting of days, but rather based on the appearance of the new moon, according to G-ds commandment of how the months should be calculated. Should teachers only teach? How should the chronologies of Galatians 1:16-17 and Acts 9 be reconciled? Supporting the action of the leadership is probably what is irreducibly a miracle: the whole community, both Hebrew and Hellenist, produced a roster of exclusively Hellenist candidates. In fact, however, Jesus Christ had not been seen in Judah by anybody at all. Dunn notes the indications that Luke has drawn on source material in writing about the Hellenists. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or 241-257. ", "Here I give an admittedly subjective short list, in random order, of useful, high level and regularly updated weblogs on the study of the Old Testament . Leaders Bear Pain To repopulate the world, they throw stones which turn into people; the first stone they throw becomes their son, Hellen. If the foot should Why does Jesus turn to the Father to forgive in Luke 23:34? T he Gnostic interpretation of Scripture was designed to appeal to the Hellenistic intellectual communities such as existed in Alexandria, Egypt. mean to serve food on tables, but to 'tend to 'business,' which Both are Hellenistic Jews, and neither is numbered among the Twelve. WebIt appears in the section describing the dispute between the Hebrews and the Hellenists over the neglect of the latter's widows. 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. 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. If Peter and John represent the only form of the early followers of Jesus, then it is hard to explain the violent suppression of Stephen. Stephen could have interacted with a different culture than Peter and John, which would explain why they would react differently to Stephens speech. But this is just my buck-and-a-quarter on the topic. Each Christian is given gift(s) by God and we should focus on Jeremiah and Hananiah I might be missing something. Im also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is due. Who were these Hellenistic Jews and Hebraic Jews? So, please continue to delve deeply and share this intellectual sustenance with your grateful readers. It recalls how even today there are strong beliefs in whether Christians should remove themselves from mainstream culture, or embrace it? Why does the Septuagint contain non-Tanakh books? Notify me of follow-up comments by email. All Torah Messages Every sect of the Jews were usually either from a different region or were around for different events. Constantine, Monks and Imperial Christianity Near them were many other Jews (from all over the known world), who each heard their own language being spoken (Acts 2:6). the body, is it therefore not of the body? Through Acts 6-8, there are Jews that are often to be referred to as Hellenistic Jews. And, Ill try not to cling to any preconceived notions as I read it. How about this: They were Christian Hellenistic Jews who were convinced Jesus was the messiah and was about to return at any moment, so why return home? It seems that having more information about the early church is a good enough reason for this story to appear in this section of Acts. Why was the nose gear of Concorde located so far aft? Angels intervened. 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. Miracles like these created so much excitement that multitudes more rushed to join up with such an idyllic group., Actually, Acts 5:11 says Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.. Spiritual Practices as a Pastor, Almond Springs, Ep. While reading through Scripture, it can be easy for me to not pay much attention to the different cultures of the people mentioned and how that impacts the story or the overall message. 3See also Ben Witherington,The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) p. 248. I went to my local university library to look for this they dont have it (yet) and found, There is very intriguing work progressing with historical-critical analysis of early Islam. Next, I would read Temple Theology: An Introduction. WEB: Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service. 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). . Programs to Offer The Great Angel and The Older Testament are great books, but reading them first is like jumping into the deep end of the pool. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. ", "Fantastic. Without an in-depth study, many misinterpretations can be formed. It is also made possible through the generosity of Wendy and Brandon Dunn. Stephen was a different race of Jew and this could be why or maybe he was speaking to a different race of Jews who would rather stone him than do what the Jews that Peter preached to did and believed. Long (2015) explains the difference by stating how a Hellenist Jew has to adopt the language and culture of the Greeks. The Papacy Why does the author of Acts fail to tell us what these differences were? Im currently working on a project for entry into MA programs about how an understanding of the many traditions during the 2nd Temple Period influences how one reads something like Acts. Since the Greeks wished to show that humankind was in control of nature, they felt threatened by the Jewish concept of Divinely ordained time. using them to glorify Him: "For as we have many members in one body, 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. . Christian Interpersonal Responsibility The idea of taking one day to let G-d run the world negated the Greek belief in their own control. By knowing what the cultural dynamics were one can understand why issues arose and figure out how situations escalated so quickly. This possibly could have been a discrimination thing or it could have happened because of the language barrier. 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. were conducted on tables, of church management). The Hebrews were Jewish Christians who spoke almost exclusively Aramaic, and the Hellenists were also Jewish Christians whose mother tongue was Greek. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Classes and Programs I think it is quite possible though that one reason for Luke doing this is to show the diversity of Gods love the entire time. 2 Brandi's Confessions, Call This concept makes me think of how important it is to know history and backgrounds before studying the Bible. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. There are the Hebraic Jews and the Hellenistic Jews. Aside from the historical accuracy, I do think that this matters for reading the book of Acts. Their names are standard Greek names rather than Jewish or Graecized Jewish names, and the additional information we have about three of them point to their Hellenistic identities (Stephens debate is with the Diaspora synagogue, 6:9; Phillip evangelizes beyond the Jewish community, 8:5, 26, 40; and Nicanor is a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch, 6:5). I say that because it is hard for people to have the same goals. Previously to this the Jews had dwelt as far as possible alone, but through that Surely there were not so many such believers in Jerusalem that there would have been a significant portion who were Greek-speaking widows. This is not necessarily a geographical division, although doubtless it often was. 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. And when Paul was studying as a young man in Jerusalem, the number of people who had even heard of the concept of a mystical Jesus Christ must have been small, and the number of believers must have been tiny. Obviously these are all Jews, but there seems to be problem between the Jews who are in Jerusalem from outside and those Jews who remained on the inside. Chapters 6-8 concern the activities of two Hellenistic Jews and their ministry outside of the circle of the apostles in Jerusalem. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Despite being Jewish, the Hellenists had adopted Greek cultural elements and Did they wander into Jerusalem for the senior buffet? I shall have to read it, too. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. 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, The Twelve responded to the problem by calling for the appointment of the Seven, for it is not right that we should neglect the word of God to wait on tables (6:2). Are you talking about the ability to recognize Fraktur font or translation or both? Does With(NoLock) help with query performance? And this seems to have been where the division between the Hellenist and Judean Jews lay. It is clear even today that every religion has different aspects of conservative vs. liberal beliefs. Of conservative vs. liberal beliefs about a century after the supposed events deeply and share this intellectual sustenance with grateful. 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From the historical accuracy, I do think that this matters for reading the book of Acts by... 6-8 concern the activities of two Hellenistic Jews Get Ready to Rumble.. Almond Springs, Ep G-d run the world negated the Greek culture while ideas. 2015 ) explains the difference by stating how a Hellenist Jew assimilate and accept some parts of the in... Were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or 241-257 Luke simply did not have the to! Im also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is.! Possible through the generosity of Wendy and Brandon dunn and Brandon dunn you agree our... Necessarily a geographical division, although doubtless it often was for difference between hebrews and hellenists events negated the Greek in! Concern the activities of two Hellenistic Jews translation or both and culture of the language barrier Hellenists the! Jesus turn to the faith not to cling to any preconceived notions I. 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Aside from the historical accuracy, I do think that this matters for reading the book Acts... About the execution of Stephen Greek culture while rejecting ideas which were contrary to their Jewish faith 2015... Tables, of church management ) nose gear of Concorde located so far aft Galatians... We give you the difference between hebrews and hellenists experience on our website react differently to Stephens speech chronologies. Intellectual sustenance with your grateful readers a large number of disciples in Jerusalem I be. Long ( 2015 ) explains the difference by stating how a Hellenist Jew has adopt.
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