which corresponds to the divisii I .lews .iiul
Gentiles; cf. Ac l-l' loi", Ko \"' -y- '■> :>;' joi-, i Co
Greek (C.il ■„■■!, ! .iNm ihr f.illi.'i' .,| 'I'inmt.hy (Ac
16''). Tlus use oi ||„. wi.nl w.-is .■..nliiiued by the
Christian Fathers, such as Justin Martyr, Tatian, and Athanasius.
2. Grecian. — 'EXXtjuo-ti;! (from 'EWrji/i^u), AV ' Grecian,' one who copies the customs and uses the language of the Greeks, received among the Jews the technical meaning of a Jew of the Dis- persion, born outside Palestine and living among the Gentiles. These remained faithful to Judaism, but spoke Hellenistic Greek, the vernacular of daily life in the Gentile world. In the NT 'EXXi;- marris is opposed to 'E/iptiros, a Palestinian Jew (see Trench, AT Si/,ioni/,ii.s) ; cf. Ac 6'. See J. H. Moulton, Grci,,,. uf N.T. Greek, ch. i.
ii. Greek Influence in Palestine.- 1. His- torical.— The conquests of Alexander the Great (B.C. 331) opened the East to Greek settlers. Numbers of his veterans settled in Syria, and Greek colonists were welcomed by his succes- sors. Old towns (as Gaza, Askalon, Ashdod, and Samaria) were Hellenized, and new Greek towns (as Scythopolis, Pella, and Gerasa) were built. Alexander'.s policy of Hellenizing his conquests was to a great extent successful, and a large sec- tion of the inhabitants of Palestine favoured Greek culture. It appeared likely that Hellenism would slowly conquer Judaism, and that the zealous adherents of the Mosaic law would become a minority in the nation. Had this happened, the Mending of Greek oilture witli JiKhiisiii might have t^k™ pjaci- (,n I'.'ilcstini.-iii soil .-is il did in Alexandria, .ludaisni, h..w..vcr. w:is saw,! 1 1, rough the injudicious action of Aiitioclius l-'.piplianes, who ruled Syria B.C. 175-164. In B.C. 168, Anti- ochus endeavoured to thoroughly Hellenize Judfea. He forbade the Jewish worship, and ordered sacri- tiees to be offered to heathen deities in the cities of .Judiea. The penalty of disobedience was death (I Mac \*^-'>''). This led to the rebellion of the Maccabees. During the troubled years which followed, the Jewish national party regained nmch of their lost ground. Hellenism was discouraged, and even persecuted. Subsequently Jewish patriot- ism took the form of zealous observance of the Law, and there resulted the strongly marked divi- sion between Jew and Greek which we find in the Gospels.
2. Extent of Greek influence in Palestine in the time of Christ.— (1) Greek districts.— The Aiatxicis of Palestine which in the time of Christ wei'e chieHy Jewish were Judsea, Galilee, and Persea (Jos. 'BJ iii. 3 ; Schiirer, HJP II. i. 3 tt'.). Close to these were districts predominantly Greek. The towns of Philistia had heathen temples. The whole seaboard of the Mediterranean was Greek except Joppa and Jamnia. On the north, heathen territory was reached in Cfesarea Philippi, where there was a celebrated temple to Pan. On the east we find the Greek league of Decapolis (G. A. Smith, HGHL p. 593). Even in central Pale.stine heathen temples existed at Samaria and Scytho- polis. In the Greek cities athletic contests took place, and the usual amusements of the theatre and gymnasium were provided. Thus within a few miles of the scenes of the Saviour's ministry there were Gentile cities with temples, society, and culture, fully Greek. But although Jesus went into the country districts of the Gentile portions of Palestine, we have no record of His entering any Greek cities. For instance, we do not know that He ever entered Tiberias, although frequently in that neighbourhood.
('!) .Tfir'ixh districts.— Even in the Jewish districts of I'.ilcsliiic, Greek influence was distinctly felt. I'oici;;!! H.s the theatre and amphitheatre were to Jewish notions, they were built at Jerusalem by Herod the Great (Jos. Ant. XV. viii. 1), and they also existed at Jericho. Greek architecture found its way even into Herod's Temple. Even in the
GRECIANS, GEEEKS considerable number of ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ influence.
(n) the ^\^^eek ^^ ui _ ^ ^j^ ^j^ree languages in
Hebrew in the Ali^ima .J"! written ;
and cikization. (See.Schurei, fl^i^ H- i- S
Greeks came to the ^^'■^'>^''-,J,}'f;^,^^^ V™) -The Sav oui waf either on GentUe ^ouml (note^ he strongly -PP-r^/e'rlSfn) f^e o„^n ^al a
GREETINGS
For the Greek language see Language of Cheist.
r,;„„n Thaver .« m. : Schiirer, HJP, Index, LlTEBATfRE.— Grimm-in^.x . ^ Edersheira, Ll/e and
%".'■ ''^'tt^.^'^^'-'^rU '^^iiS^s 'Greece; in vol, ii.. of TiiMS, I. 1/-30, *>4-'-'. *;"•,:' p„t Vol • art. 'Hellenism' m Hastings' DB, and 'Diaspora in Ext. vol .,^ ^jj,^ ^ ^_ EncycrBMica ; M'Fadyen, art. Hellenjm^ RoBINSON.
GREETINGS.-' To greet' and 'to salute' st^d in NT for the same Gr. verb "<rxafe^«a. ■ AV venders indifferenUy'!,n-eet and salute ^^^K^V almost uniformly 'salute- Ihe exceP ■JQi AV 'embraced,' RV t"".'^ i'^*^® ?, , .' fVp , ,'» AV 'took leave of," RV ' bade farewell ; He U
native or inecuui.w J, ""----,-, heathen.
^t^^^'no^^^'u^-tcTbe found in
""b^rirX^J^o-asM to see Jesus (Jn 12-)^- Evidently they Avere also proselytes, (Jn i-
sion of the Je^^^ 1m t h ^^ .^^^.^^^ ,,j^j i,een causes Large ':"'"":, v-.yrians and Baby- carried away ca - " ; J.„ y^^ j,,,i,u cai- lonians ; and Po"n ^> ' , ' ndi lar-er dispersion was tives to Rome. But a ""Y„ , Kr on. tlie time of
Sr"; Antio -l^i^^ an the important cities on the Mediterranean, and even -^ B'^^-^'^^^^,^
instill Go^'e&ou^^^^^
of non-Pa'lestiman Jews a the ea. t^ ^^^^^^