Mat 23:15 ye travel sea and land to make a p
Act 13:43 p pious followed Paul already
Greek the one that comes after. This term designates the pagan converted to Judaism, Mt 23, 15; Acts 2, 11.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
The word gr. proselytes (from the verb proserkomai, to come to) is the current LXX translation of the Hebrew word ger, meaning foreign resident. It is normally translated as a stranger, as in the stranger who is within your gates (Exo 20:10; Deu 5:14). Before the time of the NT the word had come to be used to designate a more limited group in the religious sense, and a larger group in the geographical sense. In the NT and in the writings of Philo and Josephus, the word designates a person of Gentile origin who had accepted the Jewish religion, whether he lived in Palestine or elsewhere.
The word is used only four times in the NT:
(1) In Jesus’ denunciation speech (Mat 23:1-39);
(2) in the list of places and peoples represented in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10);
(3) in the selection of the first deacons (Acts 6:1-6);
(4) after Paul’s great sermon in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:14-41).
There has been much debate among scholars as to whether all proselytes were already initiated Jews or whether the term also included Gentiles who, while believing in God, had not accepted initiation rites but participated in synagogue worship at various times. degrees of communion. It is probable that the Jews of the first century did not use the term in a very fixed or rigid way, and that there were differences in meaning among themselves. Judaism up to the time of Jesus was not as restricted a racial and national religion as it is sometimes made to appear. There were evidently many Gentiles in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:16, Acts 13:26, Acts 13:43, Acts 13:50; compare Acts 10:2, Acts 10:7; Acts 16:14; Acts 18:7; Matt 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10).
In the OT, among those who worshiped the true God without being Israelites, we find Melchizedek, Job, Ruth, Rajab, Naaman, Uriah the Hittite, the Ninevites after Jonah’s preaching, and those converted at the time of Esther (Est 8 :17). The magicians (Matt 2:1) are in the same category.
The following passages are just some of those in the OT that indicate an evangelizing attitude toward the Gentiles: Psalm 15; Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 44:5; Jer 3:17; Jer 4:2; Jer 12:16; Zep 3:9-10; Zech 8:20-23.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
This was the name given to a Gentile converted to Judaism. The priest-ruler John Hyrcanus, when he conquered the Idumeans, forced them to adopt Judaism. The Idumeans, like Herod, were therefore e.g. In NT times the Pharisees made great efforts to convert Gentiles (“…you travel sea and land to make a p.† ). The historian Josephus testifies that in his time the Jews were very proselytizing. On the day of Pentecost many “Romans … both Jews and P.” (Acts 2:10) were present, that is, Jews who were Roman citizens and Romans who had become Jews by religion. †œNicolas p. from Antioch† was selected as one of the deacons of the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:5). Many Gentiles flocked to the synagogues, without being p. They were called “God fearers” (Acts 10:22; Acts 18:7).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
see, NOE
vet, (Gr.: “who has come to join”). Person of pagan origin, but converted to Judaism. The Pharisees traveled sea and land to make a proselyte (Mt. 23:15). The Latin poet Horace regards proselytism as a characteristic of Judaism (Sat. 1:4, 142, 143). There were proselytes in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10). Nicholas, one of the seven deacons of the apostolic church, was a proselyte from Antioch (Acts 6:5), a city in which there were numerous followers of Judaism (Acts 8:27). The royal family of Adiabena, east of the Euphrates, adopted the Jewish religion (Ant. 20:2, 4). In Pisidian Antioch, a large number of proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:43). In rabbinism, two categories of proselytes were distinguished: (a) The proselytes of justice: they adhered to circumcision, baptism, offered sacrifices, and practiced integral Judaism. (b) The less advanced proselytes of the gate followed the “seven precepts of Noah” (see NOE), but did not submit to circumcision or to the body of Jewish ordinances. Note also that the NT uses the expressions “proselyte” and “God-fearing” (Acts 10:2; 13:43; 16:14; 18:7). The proselytes, thus, were Gentiles who had given their adherence to Judaism, while the “fearers of God” were those who, without having taken this step, faithfully frequented the synagogue.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
In the Bible, a proselyte is called a pagan converted to Judaism who was integrated into the people of God through circumcision and who, like any other citizen, had to submit to all the precepts of the Law (Mt 23, 15; Act 2, 11; 6, 5; 13, 43). ->groups; context.
MNE
FERNANDEZ RAMOS, Felipe (Dir.), Dictionary of Jesus of Nazareth, Editorial Monte Carmelo, Burbos, 2001
Source: Dictionary of Jesus of Nazareth
Convert, someone who has converted to Judaism and, if male, has been circumcised. (Mt 23:15, footnote) The Greek word pro·se·ly·tos is used in both the Septuagint and the Christian Greek Scriptures.
For more than nineteen centuries, Jehovah dealt with a special people he had chosen: the family of Abraham and his descendants, primarily the nation of Israel. However, if someone who was not a Hebrew or an Israelite wanted to serve Jehovah according to the requirements of true worship, he could do so, although he had to convert to the true religion, that is, proselyte. The Mosaic Law made specific provisions for a person who was not of Israelite origin but who lived in Israel. Such an “alien resident” could become a true worshiper of Jehovah, circumcising himself, if he were male, in recognition that he accepted true worship. (Ex 12:48, 49) The proselyte was responsible for obeying the entire Law, and natural Jews were to treat him as a brother. (Le 19:33, 34; 24:22; Ga 5:3; see ALIEN RESIDENT.) Although the Hebrew word ger, which is translated “alien resident” (usually translated as “foreigner” in Val, 1960), does not always refer to a convert to the religion (Ge 15:13; Ex 2:22; Jer 14:8), in the more than 70 occasions in which the Septuagint translators believed that it did refer, they translated it by the Greek word pro·se·ly·tos.
Throughout Israel’s history Gentiles proselytized Jews, implicitly saying of the Jews what Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi: “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16; Jos 6:25; Mt 1:5) Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple reflects God’s open and generous attitude towards those from many other nations who would like to proselyte him. (1Ki 8:41-43) Among the non-Jews mentioned by name who proselytized were: Doeg the Edomite (1Sa 21:7), Uriah the Hittite (2Sa 11:3, 11), and Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Jer 38:7-13). In the time of Mordecai, when the Jews were given permission to stand up and defend themselves, “many individuals among the peoples of the land declared themselves Jews.” (Es 8:17) The Septuagint says: “And many of the Gentiles were circumcised, and became Jews.”
Active in proselytizing. As a result of the exile in Babylon, Judaism spread widely. Diaspora Jews came into contact with pagans from many nations. The founding of synagogues and the availability of the Hebrew Scriptures in the Greek language made it easier for people throughout the Roman world to learn about the Jewish religion. Ancient writers, such as Horace and Seneca, testified that large numbers of people from various countries joined the Jews and thus became proselytes. Josephus reported that the Jews living in Syrian Antioch “converted many Greeks to their religion, and these were henceforth members of their community.” (The War of the Jews, book VII, chap. III, sec. 3.) The Interpreter†™s Dictionary of the Bible says that “the Jews of Rome exhibited a spirit of proselytism so intense that they were accused of try to infest the Romans with their cult, so that in 139 BC the government expelled the main propagandists from the city† (GA Buttrick ed., 1962, vol. 3, p. 925). Of course, this accusation may have been unfounded or exaggerated, perhaps driven by politics or some racial or religious bias. However, Jesus himself said that the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees “go through sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, they make him worthy of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.” (Mt 23:15.)
proselytes by force. Not all Jewish proselytes converted by peaceful means. The historian Josephus reported that when John Hyrcanus I conquered the Idumeans around 125 B.C. CE, he told the people that if they wished to remain in their country, they had to undergo circumcision, and in this way he forced them to become proselytes. (Jewish Antiquities, book XIII, chap. IX, sec. 1.) Aristobulus, the son of John Hyrcanus, did the same with the Itureans (book XIII, chap. XI, sec. 3). Later, Jews under Alexander Janeus destroyed Pela (Pella) because its inhabitants refused to become proselytes (book XIII, chap. XV, sec. 4). No doubt what moved them to make proselytes were political reasons, rather than missionary zeal.
Proselytes who became Christians. The Christian Greek Scripture record indicates that some circumcised Jewish proselytes sincerely worshiped Jehovah. The crowd from many lands who heard Peter on the day of Pentecost 33 CE and became Christians were “both Jews and proselytes” (Acts 2:10), for proselytes from other lands had journeyed to Jerusalem in obedience to Jehovah’s law. The Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip baptized had also gone to Jerusalem to worship, and was reading God’s Word as he traveled back to his house. (Acts 8: 27-38.) The word eunuch here must have the meaning of “court official,” because if he were castrated, he could not have become a proselyte. (De 23:1; see ETHIOPIA, ETHIOPIA.) In the early days of the Christian congregation, “Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch” was appointed to handle special duties connected with the distribution of…