GRECIANS, GREEKS
i. Distinction of the Words.
1. Greek.—The name Ἐ?λλην, derived from a small tribe living in Thessaly, was extended to include all of Greek race, whether natives of Greece or of the Greek islands or colonies. This is the use in classical Greek, and it also appears in the NT, e.g. Acts 18:17 (T R [Note: R Textus Receptus.]), ‘All the Greeks took Sosthenes,’ etc.; Romans 1:14 (the Greek division of mankind into Greeks and non-Greeks or Barbarians); perhaps also 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 (Schleusner). This meaning was widened by the Jews to include all non-Jews who lived as the Greeks, using their language and manners. Where Ἕ?λληνες are opposed to Jews, the primary reference is to a difference of religious worship (Grimm).
So in LXX Septuagint of Isaiah 9:10 where Ἕ?λληνες appears for ‘Philistines’; cf. also 2Ma_4:13; 2Ma_6:9 . Thus the Jews divided mankind into Jews and Greeks, which corresponds to the division of Jews and Gentiles; cf. Acts 14:1, Acts 19:10, Romans 1:16, Romans 2:9-10, Romans 3:9, Romans 10:12, 1 Corinthians 10:32, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11. In this sense Titus was a Greek (Galatians 2:3), and also the father of Timothy (Acts 16:3). This use of the word was continued by the Christian Fathers, such as Justin Martyr, Tatian, and Athanasius.
2. Grecian.—Ἑ?λληνιστής (from Ἑ?λληνίζω), Authorized Version ‘Grecian,’ one who copies the customs and uses the language of the Greeks, received among the Jews the technical meaning of a Jew of the Dispersion, born outside Palestine and living among the Gentiles. These remained faithful to Judaism, but spoke Hellenistic Greek, the vernacular of daily life in the Gentile world. In the NT Ἑ?λληνιστής is opposed to Ἑ?βραῖ?ος, a Palestinian Jew (see Trench, NT Synonyms); cf. Acts 6:1. See J. H. Moulton, Gram. of N.T. Greek, ch. i.
ii. Greek Influence in Palestine.
1. Historical.—The conquests of Alexander the Great (b.c. 331) opened the East to Greek settlers. Numbers of his veterans settled in Syria, and Greek colonists were welcomed by his successors. Old towns (as Gaza, Askalon, Ashdod, and Samaria) were Hellenized, and new Greek towns (as Scythopolis, Pella, and Gerasa) were built. Alexander’s policy of Hellenizing his conquests was to a great extent successful, and a large section of the inhabitants of Palestine favoured Greek culture. It appeared likely that Hellenism would slowly conquer Judaism, and that the zealous adherents of the Mosaic law would become a minority in the nation. Had this happened, the blending of Greek culture with Judaism might have taken place on Palestinian soil as it did in Alexandria. Judaism, however, was saved through the injudicious action of Antiochus Epiphanes, who ruled Syria b.c. 175–164. In b.c. 168, Antiochus endeavoured to thoroughly Hellenize Judaea. He forbade the Jewish worship, and ordered sacrifices to be offered to heathen deities in the cities of Judaea. The penalty of disobedience was death (1Ma_1:41-57). This led to the rebellion of the Maccabees. During the troubled years which followed, the Jewish national party regained much of their lost ground. Hellenism was discouraged, and even persecuted. Subsequently Jewish patriotism took the form of zealous observance of the Law, and there resulted the strongly marked division between Jew and Greek which we find in the Gospels.
2. Extent of Greek influence in Palestine in the time of Christ.
(1) Greek districts.—The districts of Palestine which in the time of Christ were chiefly Jewish were Judaea, Galilee, and Peraea (Josephus BJ iii. 3; Schürer, HJ P [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. 3 ff.). Close to these were districts predominantly Greek. The towns of Philistia had heathen temples. The whole seaboard of the Mediterranean was Greek except Joppa and Jamnia. On the north, heathen territory was reached in Caesarea Philippi, where there was a celebrated temple to Pan. On the east we find the Greek league of Decapolis (G. A. Smith, HGH L [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] p. 593). Even in central Palestine heathen temples existed at Samaria and Scythopolis. In the Greek cities athletic contests took place, and the usual amusements of the theatre and gymnasium were provided. Thus within a few miles of the scenes of the Saviour’s ministry there were Gentile cities with temples, society, and culture, fully Greek. but although Jesus went into the country districts of the Gentile portions of Palestine, we have no record of His entering any Greek cities. For instance, we do not know that He ever entered Tiberias, although frequently in that neighbourhood.
(2) Jewish districts.—Even in the Jewish districts of Palestine, Greek influence was distinctly felt. Foreign as the theatre and amphitheatre were to Jewish notions, they were built at Jerusalem by Herod the Great (Josephus Ant. xv. viii. 1), and they also existed at Jericho. Greek architecture found its way even into Herod’s Temple. Even in the most Jewish localities there must have been a considerable number of Gentiles. Commerce and civilization bear witness to strong Greek influence. The Greek language must have been understood by many, although Aramaic was the usual tongue. This linguistic influence is evident in several ways: (a) the Greek words which are transliterated into Hebrew in the Mishna; (b) the three languages in which the inscription on the cross was written; (c) the Greek names of some of the Apostles, as Philip and Andrew; (d) the NT writers’ use of the colloquial Greek as found on papyri; (e) the quotations from the LXX Septuagint in the NT. Hence Christ lived among a people which, although strongly Jewish, was greatly influenced by Gentile thought and civilization. (See Schürer, HJ P [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. § 22; Edersheim, Life and Times, i. 84–92).
iii. Christ’s contact with the Greeks.—In two cases only do we find it explicitly stated that Greeks came to the Saviour. These are:
(1) The Syro-Phœnician woman (Mark 7:26).—The Saviour was either on Gentile ground (note the strongly supported reading διὰ? Σιδῶ?νος, Mark 7:37) or very near it (so Edersheim). The woman was a native of the country, and is called a Greek, in the sense of not being a Jew, and she was a heathen. Legends of the woman’s life are to be found in Clem. Homilies, ii. 19.
(2) The Greeks who asked to see Jesus (John 12:20).—Some have considered that these Greeks were really Grecian Jews (properly Ἑ?λληνισταί) (so Calvin, Ewald, and others). but there seems no reason for thinking that the word ‘Greek’ is not used here, as commonly, as equivalent to ‘Gentile.’ Evidently they were also proselytes (John 12:20 ‘to worship’).
There are other cases in which Christ apparently came in contact with ‘Greeks,’ but without the term being used—(a) The healing of the demoniac (Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39). Notwithstanding the uncertainty in the name of the place, it was evidently on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, where the inhabitants were mainly Gentile (note Decapolis, Mark 5:20). The keeping of so large a herd of swine betokens the presence of a Gentile population. (b) The centurion whose servant was healed (Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10). That the centurion was not a Jew appears from Luke 7:5. (c) The healing of one deaf and dumb (Mark 7:31-37). This was in the Greek region of Decapolis.
iv. Christ and the Grecians.—The Dispersion of the Jews had compulsory and voluntary causes. Large numbers of Israelites had been carried away captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians; and Pompey had taken many Jewish captives to Rome. but a much larger dispersion was due to voluntary emigration. From the time of Alexander the Great, Jewish colonies were gradually formed in the great commercial centres. Thus large numbers of Jews were to be found in Alexandria, in Antioch, in all the important cities on the Mediterranean, and even in Bithynia and Pontus. These Grecian Jews were active representatives of Judaism among the Gentiles, and won large numbers of proselytes from heathenism.
The word ‘Grecian’ (Ἑ?λληνιστής) does not occur in the Gospels, although, owing to the attendance of non-Palestinian Jews at the feasts and the residence of many in Palestine, our Saviour must often have met with Grecians. One reference only occurs, John 7:35. The Jews wondered whether Christ would go to ‘the dispersed among the Gentiles’ (ἠ? διασπορὰ? τῶ?ν Ἑ?λλήνων), and, from working among these Hellenistic Jews, proceed to teach even the Greeks (Ἔ?λληνες). In this surmise they really anticipated the way in which Christianity found in the Grecian Jews a bridge by which it passed to the conquest of the Gentile world.
For the Greek language see Language of Christ.
Literature.—Grimm-Thayer, s.vv.; Schürer, HJ P [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.], Index, s.vv. ‘Greek influences,’ ‘Hellenism’; Edersheim, Life and Times, i. 17–30, 84–92; artt. ‘Grecians,’ ‘Greece,’ in vol. ii. of Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, and ‘Diaspora’ in Ext. Vol.; art. ‘Hellenism’ in Encyc. Biblica; M‘Fadyen, art. ‘Hellenism’ in AJT h [Note: JTh American Journal of Theology.] . x. 30.
F. E. Robinson.