2022_01_21 Insight Post- Emma Keeton

Let’s take a moment to look further into the account of the widows’ food distribution. “The Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” Acts 6:2. In those days the widows would be cared for by the synagogue, as in keeping with the law of Moses. This duty was left to the church probably because the Jewish leaders saw the widows who were now disciples of Jesus as outcasts. More division is found inside the church. Hebraic Jews were traditionalists from Jerusalem and spoke Aramaic while the Hellenistic Jews were from the Roman Empire and spoke Greek. The traditional Jews thought the Greek Jews embraced Greek culture and saw them as unspiritual. Hence the unfair treatment in the distribution of food. The solution to this problem was brilliant. The apostles appointed 7 people to oversee the widows food distribution, but all these seven men had Greek names. The widows that were being discriminated against were being cared for by their own which sought to bridge the divide between these two camps of believers. “So the word of God spread.” Acts 6:7.