In Acts, "Hellenists" are mentioned three times. Michael Zugmann analyzes the verb hellenizein and shows that hellenistes meant non-Greeks who spoke Greek. Then he deals with epigraphical and literary sources that bear witness to Greek-speaking Jews in the Diaspora because of their appreciation of the Temple and Torah.

In Acts, "Hellenists" are mentioned three times: a group of the Jerusalem church (6:1), Jewish opponents of Paul (9:29) and the pagan audience of Christian missionary preaching (11:20). The analysis of the verb hellenizein shows that hellenistes meant non-Greeks who spoke Greek. There were many hellenistai in antiquity, for example in Rome, Syria and Egypt. The main part of this work deals with epigraphical and literary sources that bear witness to Greek-speaking Jews in the Diaspora because of their appreciation of the Temple and Torah. When some of these "Hellenists" became adherents of Jesus, a conflict developed because of their criticism of the Temple (6:11-14). Their theology focused on the salvation through the death of Jesus (Rom 3:25-26) and its eschatological significance in contrast to the Temple (Mark 14:58).

Autorentext
Geboren 1972; Studium der Fachtheologie und Selbständigen Religionspädagogik; 2001-2002 Pastoralassistent in Linz-Christkönig; seit 2003 Universitätsassistent am Institut für Bibelwissenschaft des Alten und Neuen Testaments an der Katholisch-Theologischen Privatuniversität Linz (KTU), 2009 Promotion.