Ἑλληνιστής

From the study of Acts 11:20

Range of meaning

Built from the verb hellēnizō, 'to speak Greek, live like a Greek'. A Hellēnistēs is someone marked by Greek language and culture. The word is rare before the New Testament. In Acts 6:1 it means Greek-speaking Jews in Jerusalem, as against Aramaic-speaking 'Hebrews'; in 9:29 it again means Greek-speaking Jews who argued with Paul. The word itself names language and culture, not ethnicity, so it could in principle cover anyone who spoke Greek.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and NASB give 'Greeks'. WEB and YLT keep 'Hellenists', as does ESV. KJV's 'Grecians' is ambiguous: it uses the same word for Greek-speaking Jews in 6:1, yet uses 'Greeks' for ethnic Greeks elsewhere.

How it drifted

No modern drift as such. The difficulty is that Luke uses the same word in two senses, and an English reader who meets 'Hellenists' here after Acts 6 may assume these are Greek-speaking Jews again. That would empty the verse of its point.

Used elsewhere in the period

Acts 6:1; 9:29. The verb hellēnizō appears in classical and Hellenistic writers for speaking correct Greek or adopting Greek ways. Later Christian writers (e.g. Chrysostom) discuss what the term means in Acts. The early manuscripts that read Hellēnas ('Greeks') here show that ancient copyists already took the verse to mean Gentiles.

From the study of Acts 6:1

Range of meaning

Hellēnistēs comes from the verb hellēnizō, 'to speak Greek' or 'to live in Greek fashion'. It literally means 'one who uses Greek'. In Acts it marks Greek-speaking people (6:1; 9:29; possibly 11:20). Hebraios in the first century could mean an Israelite in an ethnic or old-fashioned sense. Set against 'Hellenists', it most naturally means Jews whose home language was Aramaic or Hebrew, usually people from the land of Israel. Paul calls himself 'a Hebrew of Hebrews' (Phil 3:5), probably claiming an Aramaic-speaking family background even though he was born in Tarsus.

Against the English

KJV 'Grecians' sounds to modern ears like 'Greeks', that is, Gentiles. BSB 'Grecian Jews / Hebraic Jews', NIV 'Hellenistic Jews / Hebraic Jews', and NLT 'Greek-speaking believers / Hebrew-speaking believers' all make clear that both groups were Jewish. NASB's 'native Hebrews' adds a correct but interpretive note about homeland.

How it drifted

In Elizabethan English 'Grecian' could mean a Greek-speaker or Greek scholar. That sense has faded, and readers now hear 'Greeks'. The Vulgate's Graecorum ('of the Greeks') had already flattened the distinction.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hellēnistēs is not found in Greek writing before Acts and may be Luke's word or the community's own label. Around 400 AD John Chrysostom (Homilies on Acts 14) took it to mean 'those who speak Greek'. Jerusalem had Greek-speaking Jewish institutions: the synagogue of the 'Freedmen, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia' (Acts 6:9), and the Theodotus inscription, a Greek dedication from before AD 70 for a Jerusalem synagogue with lodging 'for those from abroad'. Many Jerusalem ossuaries (bone boxes) carry Greek inscriptions. In 2 Cor 11:22 and Phil 3:5 'Hebrew' is a badge of rooted, traditional identity.