Who were the Hellenistic Jews in the Bible?

Ἑλληνιστής, Hellenists. Greek-speaking Jews, not to be confounded with Gentile Greeks. They stand in contrast to the Hebrews in Acts 6:1. Paul disputed with them at Jerusalem. Acts 9:29. The gospel was preached to them at Antioch, Acts 11:20; but in this last passage many MSS read 'Greeks.'

The flesh manifested itself in murmuring. The assembly took care of the poor; widows being specially helpless, were the objects of daily ministrations. The Jews themselves in connection with the synagogue had special funds for them. They must have also formed a recognized group in the early church (1 Timothy 5:9-10). The ministration is the distribution mentioned in Chapter 4:35, and as the multitude was very great, including, perhaps, hundreds of widows, this work was quite a task. Murmurings arose and these were born of jealousy, the result of unbelief. It is the first indication of weakness and failure. This reminds us of the murmurings of Israel as recorded in the book of Exodus. The same old thing, the changeless flesh, shows itself among the saved and united company of believers, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The murmurings were on the side of the Grecians. Their complaint was against the Hebrews that the Grecian widows were being overlooked. The Grecians were not, as some teach, Gentiles, but they were Greek-speaking Jews, born in countries outside of Palestine, and therefore called Hellenists, or Grecians.

Murmurings. — Community of goods, as we have seen (Acts 5:4), was never enjoined by the Apostles, though it displayed, in a way not to be mistaken, the feeling of oneness among the saints engendered by the baptism of the Spirit. Poverty was from the outset a marked feature of the Church in Jerusalem. To relieve that, daily ministrations were carried on. Through this the enemy now sought to work, and to sow dissension among the converts. A cry was raised that the widows of the Grecian Jews were neglected to the advantage of the native-born Hebrews. Hence there began a murmuring against the Hebrews — i.e., the native Jews — on the part of the Grecian Jews, called Hellenists, because speaking Greek.

Hellenists. — A few remarks on this class may be acceptable to the reader. Here for the first time are they mentioned. In 9:29 they are mentioned a second time by the historian, who never again speaks of them by name. In Jerusalem there must have been no inconsiderable number of them. They had several synagogues, of which it is thought by some that five are mentioned (6:9): that of the Libertines or Roman freedmen; that of the Cyrenians of North Africa; that of the Alexandrians; then another for those from Cilicia; and a fifth for those of Proconsular Asia. These different synagogues, and the fact that the Hellenists had synagogues of their own in the capital of Judaism, showed that there was some cleavage between them and the natives — whether caused simply by language or not, it is not easy to say. At all events, they had synagogical interests apart, and probably each synagogue cared for its own poor. To these Greek-speaking Jews, Stephen, perhaps one of them, was exceedingly obnoxious. They disputed with him. And later Paul, who certainly had been one of that class, disputed against them, and stirred up at Jerusalem their animosity to such a pitch that they went about to kill him (9:29).

Understanding, then, that the Hellenists had synagogues of their own, it might well happen in the Christian assembly that the widows formerly of that class found themselves neglected by those who had been native-born Jews. Was the community, then, to be broken up by this matter? Were strife and jealousy to get a footing, to mar the peace and joy which had so conspicuously reigned? It was a wily plan of the enemy indeed. Natural feeling is soon stirred, unless grace is active. Parties would then be quickly formed, and the once united company of Christians would be hopelessly rent asunder. This threatened danger was averted by apostolic wisdom under the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

The Grecians (or Hellenists) were Greek Jews, not normally resident in Israel. Friction too easily arises between those of varying cultures, even though in this case both were of Jewish origin. They claimed their widows were neglected in the distribution of necessary provisions, therefore that the Hebrews were favored.

BEHIND ALL THE attacks and difficulties which confronted the early church in Jerusalem lay the great adversary, Satan himself. He it was that stirred the Sadducees to violence and attempts to intimidate. He filled the heart of Ananias to lie, and thus bring in corruption, tempting the Spirit of the Lord. Now, these earlier attacks having been defeated, he moves in a more subtle way, exploiting small differences that existed within the church itself. The "Grecians" of whom the first verse of this chapter speaks, were not Gentiles but Greek-speaking Jews, coming from the lands of their dispersion, whereas the "Hebrews" were the home-born Jews of Jerusalem and Palestine.

Other evils, unhappily, assail the church (Acts 6). The flesh begins to show itself, in the midst of the power of the Holy Ghost, the trouble arising from the different circumstances of the disciples, and in those things in which grace had been especially manifested, on the side on which they were connected with the flesh. The Hellenists (Jews born in Grecian or heathen countries) murmur against the Hebrews (natives of Judea), because the widows of the latter were favoured, as they imagined, in the distribution of the goods bestowed on the assembly by its wealthier members. But here the wisdom given by the Spirit meets the difficulty, profiting by the occasion to give development to the work, according to the necessities that were growing up; and seven persons are named to undertake this business, for which the apostles would not forsake their own work. We also find, in the case of Philip and Stephen, the truth of what Paul says: "Those who have used the office of a deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus."

All the disputants in this case were Jews nationally. The only differences were matters of upbringing and tradition. The Grecians, or Greek-speaking Jews, whose ancestors had for long been outside the boundaries of Palestine, naturally had a different view of things from the Hebrew-speaking Jews, who had been carefully guarded in the land under the strictest regime. Suspicions therefore were easily excited and quickly expressed. The matter in question was wholly of a mundane order.

Community of goods, as we have seen (Acts 5:4), was never enjoined by the Apostles, though it displayed, in a way not to be mistaken, the feeling of oneness among the saints engendered by the baptism of the Spirit. Poverty was from the outset a marked feature of the Church in Jerusalem . To relieve that, daily ministrations were carried on. Through this the enemy now sought to work, and to sow dissension among the converts. A cry was raised that the widows of the Grecian Jews were neglected to the advantage of the native-born Hebrews. Hence there began a murmuring against the Hebrews - i.e., the native Jews - on the part of the Grecian Jews, called Hellenists, because speaking Greek. [22]

Hellenists

A few remarks on this class may be acceptable to the reader. Here for the first time are they mentioned. In 9:29 they are mentioned a second time by the historian, who never again speaks of them by name. In Jerusalem there must have been no inconsiderable number of them. They had several synagogues, of which it is thought by some that five are mentioned (6:9): that of the Libertines or Roman freedmen; that of the Cyrenians of North Africa; that of the Alexandrians; then another for those from Cilicia ; and a fifth for those of Proconsular Asia. These different synagogues, and the fact that the Hellenists had synagogues of their own in the capital of Judaism, showed that there was some cleavage between them and the natives - whether caused simply by language or not, it is not easy to say. At all events, they had synagogical interests apart, and probably each synagogue cared for its own poor. To these Greek-speaking Jews, Stephen, perhaps one of them, was exceedingly obnoxious. They disputed with him. And later Paul, who certainly had been one of that class, disputed against them, and stirred up at Jerusalem their animosity to such a pitch that they went about to kill him (9:29).

Understanding, then, that the Hellenists had synagogues of their own, it might well happen in the Christian assembly that the widows formerly of that class found themselves neglected by those who had been native-born Jews. Was the community, then, to be broken up by this matter? Were strife and jealousy to get a footing, to mar the peace and joy which had so conspicuously reigned? It was a wily plan of the enemy indeed. Natural feeling is soon stirred, unless grace is active. Parties would then be quickly formed, and the once united company of Christians would be hopelessly rent asunder. This threatened danger was averted by apostolic wisdom under the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Persecution of the Christian for Christ's sake is an honour from God (Phil. 1:29), as grace makes it a blessing to the church and a testimony to the world. The real danger is from within, and this yet more when the confidence of love yields at all largely to an evil eye and a discontented tongue. And so it was now. After God had so signally judged the deception of Ananias and Sapphira, fleshly and selfish complaint broke out among the Hellenistic or Greek-speaking Jews apparently against those of Jerusalem and Judea. It was not the Jews of pure descent jealous of those from elsewhere who profited by the self-sacrificing love which sold houses and lands that none might want. Still less was it the germ of those Judaizing divisions which were to be a source of not only deep, wide, and long-lasting disquiet, but of the utmost danger in denying the grace and corrupting the truth of which the church and the Christian are the responsible depositories.

'Now in those days when the disciples were multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews that [or, because] their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration' (ver. 1).

The murmuring came from those who had more or less of foreign admixture: whereas ill-feeling usually and naturally characterized those who boasted of associations wholly Israelitish. It was the Greek-speaking Jews who murmured against the Hebrews. That the mistake and indeed wrong was with the complainers seems clear, if from nothing else, from the grace evinced by all those who were the object of their murmuring, as the sequel shows. It is habitually the wrong-doer who denounces men better than himself. 'Their widows', they alleged, were being overlooked in the daily supply of wants. We are not told that so it really was, but so they complained. The poor 'widows' are ever remembered of God. The mouth of murmurers should be stopped, if the allegation were false.