Acts 6:1

The number of the disciples of Jesus continued to grow. This is the first mention of the word "disciple" in Acts where it occurs 28 times. The word appears about 238 times in the Gospels but nowhere else in the New Testament. This is probably because when Jesus was present, or had just departed to heaven, the New Testament writers referred to His followers in relationship to Him. Afterward they identified them in relation to one another and society. [Note: Blaiklock, p. 74.]

Two types of Jews made up the Jerusalem church. Some were native "Hebrews" who had lived primarily in Palestine, spoke Aramaic predominantly but also Greek, and used the Hebrew Scriptures. The others were "Hellenists" who originally lived outside Palestine (Jews of the Diaspora) but were now living in Palestine. Many of these Jews returned to Palestine to end their days in their ancestral homeland. They spoke Greek primarily, as well as the language of the area where they had lived, and they used the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul classed himself among the Hebrews (2 Corinthians 11:22; cf. Philippians 3:5) though he grew up outside Palestine. The basic difference between the Hebrews and Hellenists, therefore, appears to have been linguistic. [Note: Witherington, pp. 240-43.] Those who could speak a Semitic language were Hebrews, and those who could not were Hellenists. [Note: C. F. D. Moule, "Once More, Who Were the Hellenists?" Expository Times 70 (October 1958-September 1959):100.] Within Judaism frequent tensions between these two groups arose, and this cultural problem carried over into the church. The Hebrews observed the Mosaic Law much more strictly than their Hellenistic brethren. Conversely the Hellenists typically regarded the Hebrews as quite narrow-minded and self-centered.

The Hebrews and the Hellenists had their own synagogues in Jerusalem. [Note: Jewish Encyclopaedia, s.v. "Alexandrians in Jerusalem," by Emil Schürer.] But when they became Christians they came together in one fellowship. As the church grew, some of the Christians believed that the church leaders were discriminating against the Hellenists unfairly (cf. Ephesians 4:31; Hebrews 12:15). The conflict arose over the distribution of food to church widows (cf. Acts 2:44-45; Acts 4:32 to Acts 5:11). Care of widows and the needy was a priority in Judaism (Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 10:18; et al.). The Jews provided for their widows weekly in the synagogues along with the poor. [Note: B. W. Winter, "Providentia for the Widows of 1 Timothy 5:3-16," Tyndale Bulletin 39 (1988):89. See also Barclay, p. 50; Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Christ, 2:437, n. 49; and Jeremias, Jerusalem in . . ., pp. 126-34.]

"It is not here said that the murmuring arose among the widows, but because of them. Women and money occasion the first serious disturbance in the church life." [Note: Robertson, 3:72-73.]