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Tag: hellenist

Returning to seven servants in the Spirit
Acts of the Apostles 21:

7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.

Returning to the Church in order to serve

Paul had first embarked on three missions TEN YEARS AGO from Antioch, with Jerusalem being little more than a stop on his way back to Syria along the roads of a distant mission skirting Galatia once more and bypassing Asia Minor to sail the Aegean to Macedonian and Greek cities.

~ AD 57

His FIVE YEAR THIRD MISSION now complete, the Apostle to the Gentiles now returns to Jerusalem.

Although the Lord Jesus Himself had taught in Tyre and Sidon (and also presumably the great Maccabean port of Ptolemais between them) Paul now lands in Caesarea, Herod’s great Hasmonaean port named for the Emperors they served.

1st c. Roman Cities

ROME ruled with a westward wave that had included all of the Aegean by the time its dual citizen, Saul of Tarsus, had preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to much of Syria and Hellenist cities of a former Macedonian Empire.

~ A.D. 40 – a Judean history Before Christ
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NOTE: Earlier in ACTS of the APOSTLES 12 I may have slighted the historical significance of this coastal area in our transition between ACTS of the Apostle Peter and the ACTS and missions of the Apostle Paul.
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Now that Paul is returning home in the year of our Lord 57, let’s take a brief look at another map in the minds of Paul and historical context of Judeans born about the time of Christ Jesus.

~ AD 37

Saul had encountered the risen Christ along a road to Damascus. At the same time the Apostle Peter had taken the Gospel to Samaria and even to the gentiles.

And Saul [Paul], who had been received the the Apostles, then fled to Tarsus from Caesarea. – Acts 9:26-30

Paul is returning to brothers and sisters in Christ in Caesarea all these years later.
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Dr. Luke, who knew a gentile history of his Aegean homeland, must have been taking Paul's account of these days as they sailed toward Judea and Jerusalem.

Here is even more history familiar to the Judeans.
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a Strategic Coastline even Before Christ

The Romans eventually affirmed an alliance with the Maccabean leaders and encouraged other nations in the region to do the same.

The map shown here displays this complex political world of the Near East around 90 B.C., shortly before the Romans absorbed the Seleucid Empire and the Maccabean Kingdom in 63 B.C.
Source: Bible Mapper Atlas

~ 90 B.C.
- After Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., his empire was divided among his generals, including Ptolemy and Seleucus.
  - Seleucid Empire led Antiochus IV Epiphanes
- open rebellion by faithful Jews under the leadership of Mattathias Maccabeus and his sons in 167 B.C.
- The Romans eventually affirmed an alliance with the Maccabean leaders and encouraged other nations in the region to do the same. The map shown [above] displays this complex political world of the Near East ~90 B.C.,
- the Romans absorbed the Seleucid Empire and the Maccabean Kingdom in 63 B.C.
  - source
Antiochus IV Epiphanes sought to unify his diverse domain by forcing Greek religious and political practices upon all his subjects (1 Maccabees 1; 2 Maccabees 6-7) – source

Division

Before Christ, the GREAT Hellenist ALEXANDER had died in the BABYLON he conquered in a world to the EAST from where Judeans had earlier returned home to Jerusalem under Nehemiah.

Alexander’s thrice-divided Kingdom would eventually leave Jerusalem divided between Maccabean and Hellenist. The ruthless and GREAT builder King Herod also left legacy of a thrice-divided Kingdom to sons upon his death [~4 BC].

The JUDEA (and Jerusalem) prominent in the times of JESUS and Paul does NOT include a separate Samaria (home of the Maccabean revolt) OR Galilee.

Herod had not only named his great harbor and fortress CAESAREA (a clear concession to a Hellenist Rome) but had built a town and fortress to the north also named for the Hellenist father of Alexander, CAESAREA PHILLIPI.

SAUL (Paulos) in Caesarea
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Arriving before Saul - Philip
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- Jerusalem:
Now in those days, while the disciples were multiplying in number, there was grumbling from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
Acts of the Apostles 6:1 LSB

.. and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and began proclaiming the [Messiah] Christ to them.
ACTS of the Apostles 8:5 NASB20
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This had been at about the same time Saul was persecuting the church.
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What hinders me from being baptized?
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Philip the Evangelist and deacon from Jerusalem had travelled to Gaza, then was miraculously taken up to take the Gospel north to Caesarea where he would reside.
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But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 8:40 NASB

PAUL Returning 20 years later to Philip in Caesarea

we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.

9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

ACTS of the Apostles 21 – Paul’s return from his third missionary journey – To be continued…

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
April 19, 2024
Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens
The Lord’s apostle to the gentiles — Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, a Roman citizen of CILICIA — has hurriedly fled Thessaloniki and Berea MACEDONIA sailing south along the Aegean coast of ACHIA to Athens.
Sailing from Macedonia to Athens
Approaching Athens
Unknown gods and goddesses
Acts of the Apostles 17:
The Jews (in the eyes of Athens)
Dialogue with men in the Agora
Sailing from Macedonia to Athens

Although fleeing the Jews we must think of Paulos as a ROMAN citizen on some sort of commercial Roman ship traveling from Macedonia to Achia. Yes, the destination of his ticket in Athens – a city of a 300 year old fading glory – but the more important city of Roman Achia is now Corinth.

What is more important here along Paul’s nearly 300 mile journey here is the context of culture so evident as he sails to Athens and then walks through the entrance of a city steeped in its former Hellenist glory.

Jews in Berea receive and believe the Gospel

Previously we addressed the ‘Greek‘ influence of Alexander the Great and Macedonian culture.

This modern-day statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, Greece partially demonstrates this Macedonian’s lasting influence even since his death in 323 B.C.

Paul would have no sooner left port in Macedonia than all would have viewed the great mountains of Greek mythology on their starboard side.
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(We will approach these gods Zeus and others upon arrival in Athens.)
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Mount Olympus – Highest peak in Greece, home of Zeus and the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses

As we noted earlier the apostles’ journey along this mountainous coast of about 300 miles takes them from Macedonia (with its Alexandrian history) to Achia, the Roman region of strategic importance which includes Corinth on an inland isthmus and the port of Athens, formerly devastated by war but brought back to prominence by Rome as a ‘free city.’

Approaching Athens

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As their commercial Roman sailing ship rounded mountains descending into the Aegean on their approach Athens, Paul would have seen ruins of the destroyed Acropolis appear on the hill to their starboard side prior to their ship docking in port.

acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”). – source – Flickr (same as photo)

Upon arrival, as we noted last time, Paul sent his Berean brothers back to let the church know that he had arrived safely — again a 300 mile return trip while the Apostle Paul takes in the sights of this ancient ruined Greek city of Hellenist influence and lessor free city of Rome gaining the attention of its Emporer (a Caesar and god of the people).

Visitors to the Athens of A.D. 50 would have walked along streets lined with monuments and statues as they ascended the hill into the city and its agora (marketplace).

Unknown gods and goddesses

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
Acts of the Apostles 17:16

NOTE: Although I have researched several sources as a background for Paul’s Acts 17 speech in Athens, you will find this one most useful and detailed. – Roger@TalkofJesus.com

https://thomascahill.com/books

YOU and I cannot fully understand Paul’s more contemporary knowledge of his first century A.D. context of clashes between Hellenist, Roman and Hebrew cultures; however after a brief overview of the text we will take a glance at Athens through the A.D. 50 eyes of all.

Acts of the Apostles 17:

17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles,

and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.

18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are speaking? 20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.”
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Luke now inserts a parenthetical glance at our 1st century A.D. philosophers of Athens.
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21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)
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Luke's account continues from ACTS 17:22 'So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus..

We will listen to the apostle to the gentiles addressing the men of Athens next time, but first some CULTURAL CONTEXT.
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The Jews (in the eyes of Athens)

Saulos of Tarsus frequented the synagogues of his Hebrew brothers first in many other cities. He is a Pharisee who had believed in the Resurrection even prior to meeting the risen Messiah Jesus (same as Joshua in Hebrew) live and in Person.

This belief in the resurrection of JESUS, Ἰησοῦς in the common Greek language, yᵊhôšûaʿ or Joshua in Hebrew, held by some Pharisees and some Essenes but not the Jewish sect of the Sadducees attracted Pharisaic Jews and proselytes to Christ’s fulfillment of Hebrew Scripture.

Jews were merchants who mostly seemed to fit into the Pax Romana like any other religious culture except for one strange belief: Jews only had One God.

An even more strange belief of some Jews about what happened to the body after death seemed somewhat ghoulish. (Just imagine some neighbor walking around Athens after he died — laughable!) What a strange belief of some of these Jews.

For the Jews, who had little or no belief in the immortality of the soul, only salvation in one’s body could have any meaning.
Thomas Cahill, Why the Greeks Matter, p.260

The ‘peace’ of Rome accomplished in Athens by conquest was tenuous. Athenians and Romans were somewhat suspicious of Jews who the Emperor Claudius had just expelled from Rome.

Therefore, just as Saul of Tarsus had fled Macedonia secretly and swiftly, Jews in Achia and other cities of the Roman Empire most likely worshiped somewhat ‘under the radar’ in A.D. 50 so as to peaceably blend in with other Greeks.

As to Jewish cultural traditions of the past, Hellenist and Roman alike would have admired the great Jewish Empire of Solomon which was even more ancient than the centuries-old fallen glory of Alexander of Macedon who also conquered all of the world including the ancient cities of Greece.

To the Hellenist eyes of Athenian philosophers Jewish wisdom differed from their own ancient Greek wisdom. Paul understood both.

.. a Hebrew mode of argument .. proceeds by assertion and contrast rather than step-by-step reasoning [of ‘Socratic method’]
Thomas Cahill, excerpt ibid. p.165

17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles

Dialogue with men in the Agora

.. and in the marketplace^G58 every day with those who happened to be present.

You might think that based on previous witness in other cities the apostle would have steered clear of the agora where everybody who’s anybody gathers in town.

A cultural clash at the Agora in Roman Philippi

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, – Acts 16:19 LSB

Paulos, sent out by Christ to the world of the Greeks, is a Roman citizen with a public duty, a Greek-speaking orator with a heart for the One God revealed in Hebrew Scripture and by the Messiah and the Spirit of the Living God.

This visitor to Athens brings a unique perspective to Roman authorities and citizens of this free Roman city in addition to an appeal to traditional and classic Greek values represented in-part by their many gods.

The agora in Athens is crowded with Gentiles EVERY DAY.

ἀγορά –
1. any assembly, especially of the people
2. the place of assembly
3. market place, street
- Source: BlueLetterBible.org
The Greek or Hellenist or Roman agora is a multi-purpose public place.

For: public debating, in-person democratic elections, trials, for buying and selling and all kinds of business

Aristotle & the pantheon of Athenian gods of philosophy
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Classic Greece is long gone. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., his student Plato in 347 B.C. and Socrates had accepted his death sentence of hemlock for disbelief in the gods of Athens way back in 399 B.C.
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~A.D. 50

Acts 17:18

And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.

Who are these endless debaters of the Agora?

Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?”

Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Classic Schools of Philo-sophy [love of wisdom]

Roman and Hellene aristocratic families would send their young men to Athens. It’s schools included: Cynicism, Stoicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism and others. Among these that Paul would have encountered:

Stoics taught virtuous detachment from the physical things of the world (a sort of monastic approach). Epicureans taught to love of life and pleasure much to the liking of most powerful Roman and well-healed Greek men celebrating so many festivals of various gods with little thought of wisdom at all.

In fact, over the centuries since the esteemed Greek philosophers Athens and other Hellenist cities had had so many varied festivals and pantheons of gods that no man could truly remember them all.

THE LOVERS OF WISDOM continually TALKED about gods and religion as a contest between PHILOSOPHERS seeking advantage over their opponent without seeking the TRUTH of the LOGOS which the Apostle Paul was about to present.

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus

Acts of the Apostle Paul in ATHENS — To be continued…
April 14, 2023
Jews in Berea receive and believe the Gospel
What do Christians mean when they call themselves Bereans?

Berean Bible Believer

Are YOU one?

No doubt you have your own imagery.

(Let’s set our pictures of the past aside for a moment and go straight to the source – THE BIBLE – for some context of Paul’s visit to Berea.)
Acts of the Apostles 17:
A Brief Stay in Berea
Βέροια – Berea or beroia
The Clash of Titans and Cultures
What is Luke’s point in Acts 17:11?
Nobility
Why are they more noble-minded?
Paul’s briefer stay in Berea
Timothy and Silas in Berea
NEXT: Paul in Athens, ACHIA
Acts of the Apostles 17:
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So IF you are a Berean sort of believer you will first want to examine the Scriptures of our Source. Here they are!
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10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17

This, of course, was where we left Thessalonica with Paul, Silas and Timothy last time in v. 10a

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts of the Apostles 17:11 – English Standard Version

12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.

A Brief Stay in Berea

Luke, as you can see, covers this apostolic visit to Berea in just four and a half verses. And from their arrival [v. 10b] until Paul’s hurried departure [14a] even less time and scripture.

Yet hardly a Protestant Church lacks a “Berean” Bible Study or group of some sort (even those churches lacking a Berean store front to bring in believers of the Bible).

Βέροια – Berea or beroia

Pronunciation
ber‘-oy-ah

Modern Veria in Central Macedonian Greece

Mount Olympus and Berea near base of Olympus Mountains

Although the drama of Paul in this place was most brief, the mythical influence of the ancient Greek gods of Mount Olympus impacted nearby Berea. Olympus is a familiar stage of the Hellenist culture of all Greece.

The Clash of Titans and Cultures

ALEXANDER – the Great Macedonian

The former classical glory of Alexander’s empire had faded into a Hellenist culture for nearly four centuries and was then absorbed into a modern Roman culture of the A.D. 1st century.

As Rome’s Caesars sought to conquer the vast lands ruled by Alexander they discovered that the same ancient Babylonians, Medes and Persians to the East had all been influenced by the Hellenist culture of Alexander.

A Pax Romana created a culture of peace with Rome’s captive peoples and incorporated their gods and traditions into local practice.

41 foot tall statue of the god of gods Zeus

The cultural clashes between Jews, Greeks and other Hellenist-influenced peoples of the Roman Empire are inevitable, undeniable and central to Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel to Greeks.

No better place than Berea near Mount Olympus to set the stage for the world into which these apostles have been sent to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is Luke’s point in Acts 17:11?

FIRST, what it is NOT:

The Scriptures here are NOT the New Testament (which will later include two letters of Paul to to the Thessalonians).

And although like in OTHER Jewish synagogues Paul undoubtedly had proclaimed the Gospel to these Jews AND probably shared the letter from the Council of Jerusalem with believers, the SCRIPTURES referenced here were EXCLUSIVELY ‘Old Testament’ similar to earlier preaching of Peter, Paul, Stephen and others connecting it all to Jesus the risen Messiah of Israel.

Nobility

Why does Luke refer to these Jews as ‘more noble than those in Thessalonica?’
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(After all, Paul will later write two encouraging letters to those in Thessalonica and the Epistles do NOT include a single correspondence to Berea.)

Let's take a 'Berean' examination of the Scriptures illustrating Luke's meaning.
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“noble” occurs 18 times in 16 verses in the ESV, yet only 7 times in 7 verses in the KJV.
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Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,
for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Proverbs 8:6-7 ESV

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?


Jeremiah 2:21 KJV (after the LORD asking Judah in v.11: 
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? 
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Luke, using Greek also common to Macedonia’s Roman rulers uses the word εὐγενής, meaning, ‘more noble-minded.’

Nobility refers associatively to a higher class; kings, princes, the well-born of certain families.

(Remember that Roman, Hellenist or Greek and Eastern cultures included many slaves as well; although Christ taught that more slaves than rich would follow the righteousness attached to nobility and ‘leading Jews.’)

Paul later addresses two Roman Governors as ‘most noble’ when addressing them.

It is this same meaning attached to the Greek women of high standing [v.12] as well.

Why are they more noble-minded?

Rather than being dissuaded by cultural arguments of leading Jews who rejected Jesus the Messiah of Scripture these Berean Jews examined what Paul had taught from the Scriptures.

δέχομαι – they received the word [logos]

Luke also records an attitude perhaps equally important to new Christians receiving the Word, who was and IS and will be, the LORD God of the heavens and earth.

“they received the word with all eagerness.”

Your Savior from sin and death, the Messiah of Israel will be the judge of ALL men. JESUS saved you!

SO DO YOU RECEIVE OUR LORD WITH ALL EAGERNESS?

μετά [meta] πᾶς [pas] προθυμία [prothymia]

‘with great (or all) eagerness‘

zeal, spirit, inclination, readiness of mind

The Macedonians of these towns and cities who examined the true witness of the Hebrew Scriptures and obeyed the guidance of the Council of Jerusalem formed a strong, vibrant, and spirited church who witnessed the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the Hellenists, Romans and anyone else who believed.

Paul’s briefer stay in Berea

14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea,
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Christians generally note the moving on of the apostle Paul to Athens and what will become one of his most important speeches. However here we will continue our focus on the work of two remaining apostles sent out to Macedonia, Silas and Timothy.
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Timothy and Silas in Berea

.. but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens,

and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

While the Berean brothers helped Paul to flee the Thessalonian Jewish posse, Silas and Timothy stayed on (as Paul and other apostles had done in the past) to organize this church who studied the Scriptures daily.

Once arriving in distant Athens, Paul then commands them to return home and send Silas and Timothy to continue their journey later when they too will finally arrive from Macedonia NOT in Athens, but in the larger nearby city of Corinth.

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 18:5 ESV

NEXT: Paul in Athens, ACHIA

To be continued…

ACTS of the Apostles 17:16-
March 31, 2023