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The Acts of the Apostles an expositional study by Warren Doud

Lesson 217: Acts 13:38-52

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ACTS, Lesson 217, Acts 13:38-52

Contents

Acts 13:38-52 ...... 3 Acts 13:38 ...... 3 Acts 13:39 ...... 3 Acts 13:40-41 ...... 3 Acts 13:42 ...... 4 Acts 13:43 ...... 4 Acts 13:44 ...... 5 Acts 13:45 ...... 5 Acts 13:46 ...... 6 Acts 13:47 ...... 7 Acts 13:48 ...... 7 Acts 13:49 ...... 8 Acts 13:50 ...... 8 Acts 13:51 ...... 9 Acts 13:52 ...... 10 Justification ...... 11 Proselytes ...... 11

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Jesus Christ on the Cross. Remission of sin, Acts 13:38-52 absolution from guilt, and freedom from Acts 13:38 punishment are part of justification. In order to be justified, a person must be given Be it known unto you therefore, men and a righteousness equivalent to God’s perfect brethren, that through this man is righteousness. Therefore, imputation precedes preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: justification. Men and brethren Imputation is the charging to the account of one Paul and his listeners are on the same level; all person something which properly belongs to are sinners, and all can be saved by grace. another. The Lord Jesus Christ shares his perfect righteousness with the believer, Rom. Paul now draws the conclusion to be drawn 3:22; 4:11; 9:30-32; 4:4,5 **. from the preceding statements; and he applies it to his listeners in a very direct and forceful READ Romans 4:1-5 way. He tells them that salvation, forgiveness of Because righteousness has been imputed to us, sins, is offered in Jesus Christ, the One who God calls us “justified”. “Abraham believed God died, was buried, and who rose from the dead. and it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Imputation of righteousness on the basis of forgiveness of sins faith brings about justification. (ajvfesi~ aJmartiwn) This is a subject in which The means of justification is redemption, Rom. the Jews, and devout Gentiles (e.g. Cornelius), 3:24. “Being justified freely by his grace had always been deeply interested, “How do I through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” obtain forgiveness of sin?”. And they had • Justification produces reconciliation. Rom. always worked to adhere to all of the old 5:1 ceremonials and practices, to get relief from the terrible burden of sin. Now Paul comes to them • Because God the Father is satisfied and teaches them that (1) their attempts to (propitiation), we are freely justified. fulfill the Law will never remove their sin and • Justification occurs at the moment of a (2) Jesus Christ forgives sins! No wonder that person’s faith in Jesus Christ, Rom. 3:28; there was so many who were relieved and 5:1; Gal.3:24. happy to hear this news. Paul presses the message home in his exhortation. • Justification does not occur through keeping the Law of Moses, Gal. 2:16. Acts 13:39 • Justification during the believer’s lifetime is And by him all that believe are justified described in James 2:21-25. This is the from all things, from which you could not function of the Faith-Rest principle in living be justified by the law of Moses. the Christian Way of Life under grace. Related Topics: Reconciliation, Propitiation, By him all that believe The Barrier, Imputation Faith alone (believe) in Christ (by him) alone TOPICS: JUSTIFICATION, RECONCILIATION, (from which you could not be justified by the PROPITIATION, IMPUTATION law of Moses). Acts 13:40-41 are justified from all things Definition: Justification is God’s act of grace by Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which He pardons a sinner and accepts him as which is spoken of in the prophets; righteous on account of the atoning work of

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Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and there were many who did not believe the gospel perish: for I work a work in your days, a of Christ and hardened their hearts against it. work which you shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. The Gentiles sought The phrase “you despisers” is not in the Hebrew The people “begged” or “beseeched” of Habakkuk, but it is in the Septuagint (oJi (parakalevw), Paul and Barnabas to make sure katafronhtaiv), so Paul is quoting the that they continued teaching them; they were Septuagint here. The Jews, at least, would have eager to hear much more. been familiar with the LXX text; and there were Acts 13:43 undoubtedly many scoffers among the people in the synagogue that day; so the phrase is quite Now when the congregation was broken appropriate. up, many of the Jews and religious The quotation is from Habakkuk 1:5 proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to Habakkuk 1:1-5, “The oracle which continue in the grace of God. Habakkuk the prophet saw. How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And You will not when the congregation was broken up hear? The synagogue services were dismissed in the I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not usual way. save. Why do You make me see iniquity, many of the Jews and religious proselytes And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, followed Paul and Barnabas destruction and violence are before me; These people stayed with Paul and Barnabas in Strife exists and contention arises. order to get more teaching, this in spite of the Therefore the law is ignored And justice is obvious displeasure of many of the Jews. The never upheld. For the wicked surround the “devout proselytes” (sebomevnwn oJ righteous; Therefore justice comes out proshlouvtwn) were godly people, people with perverted. positive volition to the things of God. The term Look among the nations! Observe! Be usually refers to astonished! Wonder! A proselyte was any non-Jew who lived Because I am doing something in your days - among the Jews and followed their religion.. You would not believe if you were told. The word “proselyte” is from the Greek The Jews of Habakkuk’s day had refused to proshluto~, a “stranger” or “foreigner”, a believe that the Chaldeans would invade their person who has come from his own people nation, yet the Chaldeans had some. to live in a new country, with people of another culture. Acts 13:42 Among the people who lives among the And when the Jews were gone out of the Jews, all of those who were not descendants synagogue, the Gentiles sought that these of the twelve sons of Jacob, were known as words might be preached to them the next “strangers,” or “proselytes.” The Jews Sabbath. recognizes two types of proselytes, the “proselytes of the gate” and the “proselytes It seems from this statement that it was the of the covenant.” Gentiles who were the receptive hearers of the teaching that Paul and Barnabas were doing. The “proselytes of the gate” were people There were some Jews in the assembly who who wanted to live among the Jews but who were saved, as we see in the next verse, but would not submit to circumcision. However,

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they usually acknowledged Jehovah as the Acts 13:45 true God, avoided idolatry; but they were not obliged to observe any of the Mosaic But when the Jews saw the multitudes, institutions. They were not allowed to eat they were filled with envy, and spoke the Passover or partake of any of the sacred against those things which were spoken by festivals. Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. The “proselytes of the covenant” adopted We note that it wasn’t the God-fearing Gentiles the Jewish religion completely, even but the Jews set themselves against Paul and agreeing to follow the rite of circumcision, Barnabas. The Jews have now seen the Paul and observe all the ceremonies of the Law. In Barnabas reap an evangelistic harvest, after the fact, they were no different from the Jews in Jews had tried to interest the Gentile population their culture and practice, except that they in Judaism. had once been “heathen,” or gentile. They filled with envy had the same rights, spiritual and secular, as the Jews themselves. Or, “filled with zeal”. (zhvlo~) This word can mean either “zeal” or “envy”, I suppose persuaded them to continue in the grace of depending on your point of view. The Jews God would have characterized themselves as A considerable number of people were saved “zealous”; but their actions were motivated by during the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in the intense jealousy. various cities they visited on this first From a human point of view, their jealousy is missionary journey, as we see in Acts 14. understandable; but from a divine perspective, READ Acts 14:21-23 the Jews should have been first in accepting the gospel of salvation. Instead of obeying the The doctrine of grace, free justification and teachings of God’s word, they begin to remission of sins based on the work of Christ on contradict the words spoken by Paul. Luke even the Cross, the blood of Christ, not on the works adds that they do so abusively. They turned on of the Law. the apostles and made an uproar, opposing the Acts 13:44 words of Paul with all anger and malice. And the next Sabbath day almost the whole contradicting city came together to hear the word of God. This is the imperfect active indicative of ajntilevgw , “they began to contradict” what was almost the whole city came together to hear spoken by Paul. the word of God. Note this from Titus 1:9, “Holding fast the faith If not the whole city, a large part of it. It was not word, as he has been taught, that he might be that there was no teaching for a whole week. able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to There are two or three days of teaching at the convince the gainsayers.” synagogue during the intervening days between Sabbaths. And certainly Paul and Barnabas “the gainsayers”: (ajntilevgw), literally, would have taken every opportunity to “those who speak against; those who converse with groups or individuals wherever contradict”; therefore, “those who are in they went in town. Now all these people opposition”. thronged to the synagogue in a large crowd, to READ Romans 10:19-21 hear the good news. Rom. 10:21 (NAS), “But as for Israel He says, All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate !!

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people.” The NIV also uses the word waxed bold “obstinate”. This is from the verb parrhsiavzomai , which But, the word is (ajntilevgw)!! Here, the KJV is a means “acting with an attitude of openness that much better translation. This is not the passive comes from freedom and lack of fear.” Here it disobedience or silent pouting of people who refers to openness of speech and having the are offended but keeping it to themselves. This courage to speak out. is hyperactive verbal opposition, and it turns violent (13:50). should first have been spoken to you When our Lord gave his apostles their blaspheming commission to go into all the world, and preach This is blasfhmevw , which means, in relation the Gospel to every creature, he told them they to people, “slander; revile; defame (someone’s must begin first at Jerusalem, Mark 16:15; Luke reputation)” . In relation to God, it means to 24:47. In obedience therefore to this command, speak evil about God, to insult God. In this the apostles (in every place where they scene, the Jews are probably slandering both preached) made their first offers of the Gospel God and men. 2 to the Jews. That is, the Jews blaspheme the Christ proclaimed by Paul and Barnabas. Undoubtedly, Furthermore, Paul’s great inner desire was for they tell the crowds that the crucified man Jesus his own people, Israel. He suffered real anguish all of his life that so many Jews is a criminal cursed by God. And they deride rejected Christ. and revile Paul for speaking about Jesus. Luke omits the details of the verbal attacks by the READ Romans 9:1-5; 10:1-5; 11:1-5 . Jewish leaders of the local synagogue, but the In these Romans passages we see that Paul account is sufficiently clear for a reader to form understands that a remnant of Israel will be a mental image of the proceedings. 1 saved, like the 7,000 who did not bow to Baal in Elijah’s time; but he is in agony over all of his READ Acts 26:9-11 !! Note the level of Saul’s brethren who are “gainsaying and hatred and self-righteous zeal against the blaspheming”. Christians, when he was persecuting them. Now, in of Pisidia, he and Barnabas seeing you put if from you would have been fully aware of the source of Or, “seeing that you thrust it aside”, from the Jews’ resentment and of how dangerous it ajpwqevw “to push aside; to drive away; could be. (figuratively) to reject, to repudiate” Acts 13:46 READ Acts 7:27 and 39. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal said, It was necessary that the word of God life should first have been spoken to you: but The word “judge” here does not mean they seeing you put it from you, and judge “expressed such an opinion,” or that “they yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, regarded themselves” as unworthy of eternal we turn to the Gentiles. life — for they thought just the reverse; but that by their conduct they condemned themselves.

1 2 Baker Commentary R RRRRR, Acts 13:46

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By such conduct they did, in fact, pass sentence should have registered in the minds of any Jew 3 who was the least open in his thinking. on themselves. . “Nothing was further from the thoughts of the unto the ends of the earth Jews than declaring themselves unworthy of Compare Isaiah 49:6 with Acts 1:8. eternal life because they had rejected the gospel. But they did so in point of fact : by Acts 13:48 contradicting and blaspheming the gospel, they And when the Gentiles heard this, they furnished matter for their own condemnation. 4 were glad, and glorified the word of the By their actions, these Jews has passed a Lord: and as many as were ordained to verdict on themselves. eternal life believed. we turn to the Gentiles The Gentiles responded with great eagerness. They listed to Paul’s teaching and responded In Acts 1:8, the Lord Jesus had commanded the joyously to the Word, praising God for apostles to go first to Jerusalem and Judea, that providing the gospel message. It is not that all is, to the Jews first, then the Gentiles. But He of the Gentiles in the community were then said, “to the uttermost parts of the earth”, converted; only a part of them. However, as we making it clear that Gentiles were included in see from the events on the apostles’ return any missionary effort. journey, in the short period between their visits READ Romans 1:13-16 to these cities, enough Christians had been Acts 13:47 gathered to constitute congregations, over which pastors (elders) could be appointed. For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, (Acts 14) I have set you to be a light of the Gentiles, as many as were ordained to eternal life that you should be for salvation unto the believed ends of the earth. The word “ordained” is tetagmevnoi , the The quotation is from Isaiah 49:6. perfect passive participle of tavssw “to assign Isaiah 49:6, “And he said, It is a light thing to a place; to appoint; to decide: that you should be my servant to raise up The commentators all speak at length about this the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the phrase, because some have inferred that it preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a helps to prove the doctrine of election, the idea light to the Gentiles, that you may be my that God moves some people to acceptance of salvation unto the end of the earth.” Christ, and does not move others. I am not Isaiah 42:6, “I the LORD have called you in going to enter the arena of those discussions righteousness, and will hold your hand, and here, but I will refer you to the commentaries will keep you, and give you for a covenant of on Acts in the bibliography, especially those of the people, for a light of the Gentiles” Barnes, Clarke, Robertson, Gill, Gloag, and Paul says, “This is what the Lord has Furneaux. Here I will copy what Robertson has commanded us.” These are explicit directions to say. from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah; these “The word “ordain” is not the best translation here. “Appointed,” as Hackett shows, is better. The Jews here had

voluntarily rejected the word of God. On the 3 Barnes, Acts 13:46 other were those Gentiles who gladly 4 Gloag, Acts 13:46

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accepted what the Jews had rejected, not all Acts 1 3 : 5 0 the Gentiles. \ But the Jews stirred up the devout and “Why these Gentiles here ranged honorable women, and the chief men of the themselves on God’s side as opposed to the city, and raised persecution against Paul Jews Luke does not tell us. This verse does and Barnabas, and expelled them out of not solve the vexed problem of divine their coasts. sovereignty and human free agency. “There is no evidence that Luke had in mind devout and honorable women an absolutum decretum of personal “Devout”, here, is the same word translated salvation. Paul had shown that God’s plan “religious”, to describe proselytes. in verse 43. extended to and included Gentiles. Certainly Some commentators take this to mean that the Spirit of God does move upon the these women were, in particular, Gentile human heart to which some respond, as proselytes that were being stirred up. But it here, while others push him away.” seems to me that Jewish women could also have been a part of the persecution against Paul and Acts 13:49 Barnabas. That they were women of high And the word of the Lord was published standing in the community is evident from the throughout all the region. term “honorable women”, and Jewish women would have had higher standing that Gentile The word “published” is diafevrw , “to carry proselytes. Josephus said that almost all of the through; to spread; to tell everywhere”. married women in Damascus were attached to What does this imply? Some of the new the Jewish religion (Wars of the Jews, II.20.21). believers were trained well enough to be able to spread the gospel beyond the city limits of chief men of the city Antioch. It was certainly not Paul and Barnabas Probably city officials; certainly leaders of the who did the “publishing”, as we see just below. Jewish community, rulers of the synagogue, the “A Church was formed of united Jews and same who had only recently invited Paul and Gentiles; and all who were destined to enter the Barnabas to speak. path of eternal life were gathered into the raised persecution against Paul and Catholic brotherhood of the hitherto separated Barnabas races. The synagogue had rejected the inspired missionaries, but the apostolic instruction went The key people of the city raised the mob on in some private house or public building against the apostles. Paul seems to allude to belonging to the Heathen. And gradually the this persecution in 2 Timothy 3:11 knowledge of Christianity began to be “persecutions, sufferings, what things befell me disseminated through the whole vicinity.” 5 at Antioch, at Iconium, at , what persecutions I endured.” Gill, in his commentary on this verse, has an extended description of the succeeding expelled them out of their coasts history of church establishment in Pisidia and That is, they ran them out of town, out of their the surrounding regions, up until at least the borders, or their province. This was not a legal th 8 Century. expulsion; Antioch was a Roman colony, and banishing someone would have had to have official sanction from a Roman legate or other authority, which it was very unlikely that the Jews could have obtained. 5 Conybeare and Howson, Chapter VI

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Acts 13:51 without the land (of Israel) which comes along with an herb, are unclean.” But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. “Upon which Maimonides makes this remark, ‘that the dust of a field that has a The Lord had given this advice to the disciples grave in it, and the dust which is without whom He sent to witness in Judea. the land of Israel, defile by touching and READ Luke 9:2-5 carrying; or if, when it hangs at the end of This was not a sign of contempt (Meyer), but of an herb, when they root it out of the dust of rejection and condemnation : that they such a field, it is unclean.” renounced all fellowship with them, and that Hence they would not suffer herbs to be even the dust of their city was a witness against brought out of an Heathen country into the them. land of Israel, lest dust should be brought along with them; so they say “any of the “As a protest against the injustice which cast dust of the land of the Gentiles”, which them out. The sandal was taken off and the dust defiles in the tent, and pollutes the purity of shaken out as a symbolic token that the very the land of Israel.” \ soil of the country was defiling” 6 and came unto Iconium Comments by Gill, from his notes on Matthew This city, which today is known as Konya, 10:14. actually was part of Phrygia (according to “…they shook it off, as though it defiled Xenophon, Anabasis, i. 2.19; but Pliny, , Heathen country them, as the dust of an Cicero, and , all state that was thought by the Jews to do; so that by Iconium was in Lycaonia), even though it this action they signified that they would bordered Lycaonia. have nothing more to do with them, or say to them, and that they looked upon them as “There is a tetrarchy out of Lycaonia, where impure and unholy, as any Heathen city or it borders on Galatia, composed of fourteen country. There seems to be an allusion to states, the capital of which is Iconium;” some maxims and customs of the Jews, with (Pliny the Elder, Nat. Hist. v. 25). respect to the dust of Heathen countries. Iconium was about 50 miles east of Antioch of “On account of six doubts, they say, they Pisidia. It was not a Roman colony in the time of burn the first offering, for a doubt of a field Paul, but it became one in later years. There in which a grave might be, and for a doubt was a population of about 30,000. “of the dust which comes from the land of Situated on a large, fertile plateau (mesa), the Gentiles”, etc.” Iconium was surrounded by fertile fields that “On which Bartenora has this note; ‘all dust received sufficient water from streams flowing which comes from the land of the Gentiles, down from the nearby mountains. It was a is reckoned by us as the rottenness of a commercial center that served the agricultural dead carcass; and of these two, “the land of communities of that area. It became an the Gentiles”, and a field in which is a grave, important city along a major highway, and from it is decreed that they “defile” by touching, this center at least five roads spread into the 7 and by carrying.’ countryside. “Again (from the Mishnah), “the dust of a field in which is a grave, and the dust

6 7 Furneaux Baker

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Here is the fascinating description of Iconium country, or residing in a separate from The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, by W. J. quarter of the town; Conybeare and W. C. Howson. • some few Roman officials, civil or Iconium has obtained a place in history far military, holding themselves proudly more distinguished than that of the Pisidian aloof from the inhabitants of the Antioch. It is famous as the cradle of the subjugated province; and rising power of the conquering Turks. And • an old established colony of Jews, who the remains of its Mahommedan exercised their trade during the week, architecture still bear a conspicuous and met on the Sabbath to read the Law testimony to the victories and strong in the Synagogue. government of a tribe of Tatar invaders. But there are other features in the view of The same kind of events took place here as modern Konieh which to us are far more in Antioch, and almost in the same order interesting. To the traveler in the footsteps (Acts 14:1-5). The Apostles went first to the of St. Paul, it is not the armorial bearings of Synagogue, and the effect of their discourse the Knights of St. John, carved over the there was such, that great numbers both of gateways in the streets of Rhodes, which the Jews and Greeks believed the Gospel. arrest the attention, but the ancient harbor The unbelieving Jews raised up an indirect and the view across the sea to the opposite persecution by exciting the minds of the coast. And at Konieh his interest is Gentile population against those who awakened, not by minarets and palaces and received the Christian doctrine. But the Saracenic gateways, but by the vast plain Apostles persevered and remained in the and the distant mountains. city some considerable time, having their confidence strengthened by the miracles These features remain what they were in which God worked through their the first century, while the town has been instrumentality, in attestation of the truth repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, and its of His Word. architectural character entirely altered. Little, if anything, remains of Greek or Acts 13:52 Roman Iconium, if we except the ancient inscriptions and the fragments of sculptures And the disciples were filled with joy, and which are built into the Turkish walls. At a with the Holy Spirit. late period of the Empire it was made a Even in the midst of persecution, for you can be Colonia, like its neighbor, Antioch: but it sure that the white hot anger of the Jews would was not so in the time of St. Paul. have been vented on anyone who had dared to There is no reason to suppose that its accept what Paul and Barnabas had taught. The character was different from that of the persecution that these believer faced was harsh other important towns on the principal and immediate, yet they maintained there lines of communication through Minor. testimony courageously. The elements of its population would be as [No mention here of speaking in tongues!!] follows: That is, after the apostles left Antioch, the • a large number of trifling and frivolous disciples there continued to grow in the Greeks, whose principal places of resort Christian life. You can imagine the fellowship would be the theatre and the market- they had – it would have been very similar to place; that of the new believers in Jerusalem following • some remains of a still older population, the Day of Pentecost. coming in occasionally from the READ Acts 2:41-47

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Justification The word “proselyte” is from the Greek proshluto~, a “stranger” or “foreigner”, a Definition: Justification is God’s act of grace by person who has come from his own people to which He pardons a sinner and accepts him as live in a new country, with people of another righteous on account of the atoning work of culture. Jesus Christ on the cross. Remission of sin, absolution from guilt, and freedom from Among the people who lives among the Jews, all punishment are part of justification. of those who were not descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, were known as In order to be justified, a person must be given “strangers,” or “proselytes.” The Jews a righteousness equivalent of God’s perfect recognizes two types of proselytes, the righteousness. Hence, imputation precedes “proselytes of the gate” and the “proselytes of justification. Imputation is the charging to the the covenant.” account of one person something which properly belongs to another. The Lord Jesus The “proselytes of the gate” were people who Christ shares his perfect righteousness with the wanted to live among the Jews but who would believer, Rom. 3:22; 4:11; 9:30-32; 4:4, 5. not submit to circumcision. However, they usually acknowledged Jehovah as the true God, Because righteousness has been imputed to us, avoided idolatry; but they were not obliged to God calls us “justified”. “Abraham believed God observe any of the Mosaic institutions. They and it was imputed to him for righteousness.” were not allowed to eat the Passover or partake Hence, imputation of righteousness on the basis of any of the sacred festivals. of faith brings about justification. The “proselytes of the covenant” adopted the The means of justification is redemption, Rom. Jewish religion completely, even agreeing to 3:24. “Being justified freely by his grace follow the rite of circumcision, observe all the through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” ceremonies of the Law. In fact, they were no different from the Jews in their culture and Justification produces reconciliation. Rom. 5:1 practice, except that they had once been Because God the Father is satisfied “heathen,” or gentile. They had the same rights, (propitiation), we are freely justified. spiritual and secular, as the Jews themselves. Justification occurs at the moment of a person’s “Grecians” faith in Jesus Christ, Rom. 3:28; 5:1; Gal.3:24. The word “Greece” is from the Latin Graeci, the Justification does not occur through keeping the name given to them by the Romans, who Law of Moses, Gal. 2:16. applied t the whole people the name of the first Justification during the believer’s lifetime is tribe the Romans came across, the Graioi, a described in James 2:21-25. This is the Boeotian tribe that took part in the colonization function of the faith rest principle in living the of Cyme in Italy. Christian way of life under grace. The various Greek communities referred to themselves by the name Hellenes; they called The principle of temporal justification is found their country Hellas, and their language the in Matt. 11:19 and Luke 7:35. Hellenic language [‘h ‘ellhniki glossa]. Even Related Topics: Reconciliation, Propitiation, today, the Greeks use these names, and the The Barrier and Imputation official name for Greece is “The Hellenic Republic” [HELLINIKI DIMOKRATIA]. A Proselytes Greek person, then, is a Hellene. A proselyte was any non-Jew who lived among (NAS: Hellenists) from ‘Ellenistoς the Jews. The R evised Version says “Grecian Jews,”

The Acts of the Apostles Page 12 ACTS 217, Acts 13:38-52 a Grace Notes study because “Grecians,” in English, might be nation, not between the Jews and other nations. thought to mean Gentile Greeks. In the NAS, Paul calls himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” that “Hellenists” means Jews. is, a Hebrew and of Hebrew parents, speaking Hebrew and following Hebrew customs. The word Hellenist refers to a Jew, not a Greek, who comes from outside Palestine, In this verse, both Hebrews and Hellenists are from such areas of Greek influence like Christian believers, but there is still the line of Alexandria or Cyrenia (coast of Libya). The cleavage between the two groups, which had contact of Jews with Greeks first began when the potential for conflict. Alexander forcibly settled 8,000 Jews is Egypt, A Hellenizer was a Jew who followed Greek in the Nile delta, where they formed a large part philosophy and culture instead of the Jewish of his new city, Alexandria. From Egypt the Jews religion and practices. gradually spread along the whole North African coast. Jews were also removed by Seleucus Nicator, from Babylonia to Antioch and , and under various persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes and other Greek rulers, scattered themselves through Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, and the Greek islands of the Aegean. The majority adopted the , and many forgot the Aramaic dialect which had been the Jews’ language since their captivity. “Hebrews” Any man was a Jew [ioujdiao~] who could trace his descent from Jacob. The word “Jew” is a racial identity. A Hebrew was a Jew who spoke Hebrew and retained Hebrew customs, following the ancient religion closely. The Hebrews whose families had come from Aram were called Arameans. This word refers to Aram, or Padan-Aram, the district of Mesopotamia surrounding the city of Haran, and the territory included the city of Damascus. Aram was the 5th son of Shem, Noah’s oldest son; Haran was the elder son of Terah and Abraham’s brother; he was the father of Lot. The Jews from these areas spoke Aramaic (Assyrian), as did the Palestinian Jews of the time of Christ. Parts of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic, and Jesus spoke Aramaic. Note: King Ahab fought against Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, whose capital was Damascus. The distinction between a Hebrew and a Hellenists was a distinction within the Jewish