The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

48 BAG defines·E1111rivtaTtjc; as " a Hellenist, a Greek-speaking Jew in contrast to one speaking a Semitic language, " 9 and conversely, "·E~pa1oc; is "Hebrew ... as a name for the Aramaic– speaking Jews in contrast to those who spoke Gk. " 10 Windisch notes that: The dominant view is that the·E1111rivwTa( of Ac. 6: 1 are Jewish Christians of Greek language (and possible culture) as distinct from the·E~patot, i.e., believing Jews of Aramaic language and purely Jewish culture, the former being Jews of the otaanopa Twv·E1111tjvwv who had moved to Jerusalem and the latter native born Jews of Jerusa– lem.11 It is clear that Luke intends a contrast between· E~pa(ouc; and •EAATJYtaTtj<;. The question is does the contrast extend beyond simple language to culture and perhaps also to religion? Cohen cautions, on seeing a black and white distinction between native Jews and diasporan Jews. All the Judaisms of the Hellenistic period, of both the diaspora and the land of Israel , were Hellenized, that is, were integral parts of the culture of the ancient world. Some varieties of Judaism were more Hellenized than others, but none was an island unto .., Stern, section III, Jewish Traditions in Early Christian Literature, vol. 1, (n. p.: Van Gorcum, 1974), 32 . After reviewing material about the covenant fidelity of diasporan Jews and specifically the careful observance of Mosaic ritual by Philo, Tomson writes , "The halakha, we may safely conclude , was a vital element of ancient Judaism, in the diaspora at least a much as in Palestine . In contrast to what is generally supposed Philo , the proverbial repre en– tative of Hellenistic diaspora Judaism, appeared to be one of our more significant witne e , " Ibid ., 47 . 9 William Arndt , and F . Wilbur Gingrich , A Greek-English Lexicon of the ew Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BAG) , s .v . '" 1111ri vtaTtj<;," (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973) . 10 Ibid ., 213. 11 H . Windi ch , "" 1111ri v , " TDNT, 2: 511. Len ki di tingui he the term, " h 'c1111ri taTat (a word not found until it wa u ed b Luke) ere not " AATJ by extraction, by religion, or in the broader ultural en e. The r Je the oth r cla that i called 'Hebre . ' We read of all rt f Hell ni t in : 9-11 nd find th tr ynagogu m ntion d in 6:9 . hey had been r red in t r ign I nd , h d r pla d th Aram 1 wi th th e 1 nguag , and thu r ad th ir riptur n in th L tr n 1 ti n. In th dta po th c nd nd th third g n rati n 1 t th ir t d gr th in c 1pt1 n on th ir tomb ho t th H L n 1, 71 Act of the po tie (Minn 1), 4 .