From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian


Last sunday's guest sermon (a member, not an outsider) drew attention
to modern translations of Acts 6:1

6:1 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. (NIV 1984)

6:1 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. (NIV 2011)

One would not deny that the greek word used here (and elswehere) in Acts
is "Hellenists", but the interpretative pressure seems to be to show
they are all were Palestinian Christians, (since there were no gentile
converts to until Cornelius).

However this ignores and downplays the strong outreach programs of the pharisees in 1st centuries (e.g. Matt. 23:15, "proselytes" elsewhere in
Gospels and Acts). It seems more likely that what the KJV terms
Grecians are actually those of Greek extraction who converted to
Judaism, who circumcised to become Jews, and not those who uncircumcised themselves (with the graft operations) to become Hellenists. I think it
is likely that it wasn't hellenists (Jews living in Athens) but Greeks
who converted to Judaism -- who requested Philip to have an audience
with Jesus in John 12:20, and the widows who weren't getting their
portions in Acts 6, were ethnically Greek (which would more align with
the discrimination narrative)



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From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

On 05/05/2026 11:36, Madhu wrote:

One would not deny that the greek word used here (and elswehere) in Acts
is "Hellenists", but the interpretative pressure seems to be to show
they are all were Palestinian Christians, (since there were no gentile converts to until Cornelius).

I have always understood the term to refer to Jews who had adopted Greek
ways. For one reason or another their forebears had settled in Greece or Greek-speaking lands where these individuals had assumilated and adopted
Greek culture. They were probably happier speaking Greek than Aramaic
and some may only have been able to speak Greek.

Stephen ran across some of these people, as recorded in Acts 6:9
"Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the
Freedmen (as it was called) - Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria, as well as
the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen."

Although Jews, they pushed for Greek culture and were behind the
construction of a Greek-syle gymnasium in Jerusalem. Josephus records: "Menelaus and the sons of Tobias were distressed, and retired to
Antiochus, and informed him that they were desirous to leave the laws of
their country, and the Jewish way of living according to them, and to
follow the king's laws, and the Grecian way of living. Wherefore they
desired his permission to build them a Gymnasium at Jerusalem. And when
he had given them leave, they also hid the circumcision of their
genitals, that even when they were naked they might appear to be Greeks. Accordingly, they left off all the customs that belonged to their own
country, and imitated the practices of the other nations." Antiquities
XII.v.1

"gymnos" is Greek for "naked", so a gymnasium is where men go to
exercise in the nude, a point you may care to bear in mind when you
renew your keep-fit subscription!

I think you can see that pious Jews might indeed discriminate against
these Hellenists. Thus although you do have a point in arguing that
these people were Greek converts to Judaism, I doubt that there would be sufficient such people in Jerusalem to form their own synagogue, whereas Hellenised Jews would make up a larger population.

God bless,
Kendall K. Down
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