Greeks

Biblical Usage

In the New Testament, the term "Greek" appears chiefly in Acts and the Pauline Epistles.

• Gospels: Mark 7:26 introduces the Syrophoenician woman with the words "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation." In John 12:20, certain Greeks who had come up to worship at the feast ask to see Jesus.
• Acts: Acts records on several occasions that Paul preached the gospel in the synagogue to Jews and Greeks alike (Acts 14:1; 17:4; 18:4; 19:10). The father of Timothy was a Greek (Acts 16:1).
• Pauline Epistles: The paired expression "Jew or Greek" refers to all people (Romans 1:16; 10:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13). Galatians 2:3 records that Titus, although a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word Yavan designates the Greek region and its people (Genesis 10:2). The New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders this term as "Hella" (Greece) in passages such as Daniel 8:21 and Zechariah 9:13.

Background

The Korean term "Hella" derives from Hellas, the name by which the Greeks called their own land. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, the Greek language and Greek culture spread widely throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Both the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and the New Testament were written in Greek.

Against this background, the New Testament term "Greek" often refers not only to ethnic Greeks but more broadly to non-Jews living within the Greek cultural sphere, that is, to Gentiles in general. The phrase "both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians" in Romans 1:14 reflects a contemporary way of distinguishing people inside the Greek cultural world from those outside it. Greek-speaking Jews are called Hellenistic Jews (Acts 6:1) and are distinguished from Greeks.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

For Paul, "Jew and Greek" is a distinction representing the people who received the law and those who did not. Paul holds that both are under sin (Romans 3:9) and that both are justified by the same faith. He also teaches that in Christ this distinction is not a condition of salvation (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). This conviction is connected with the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), which addressed the question of circumcision, and with the theological foundation of the Gentile mission.

Interpretation and Issues

• "To the Jew first" (Romans 1:16): Some interpreters read this verse as describing the historical order in which the gospel was proclaimed, while others read it as indicating that Israel continues to hold a special place. Dispensationalism tends to emphasize the distinction between Israel and the church, whereas covenant theology tends to emphasize the continuity of the one people of God.
• The scope of Galatians 3:28: In discussions of women's ordination, denominations differ over whether this verse speaks only of equality in salvation or also applies to offices and roles within the church.
• "The Greeks seek after wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:22): This verse is commonly cited as the basis for a sharp contrast between "Hebrew thought" and "Greek thought." Such a contrast, however, is not something the text directly states, and some scholars criticize it as an overgeneralization.

In the Korean Church

Korean churches commonly refer to the original language of the New Testament as Hellaeo ("the Hellenic language," i.e., Greek), and Greek is part of the seminary curriculum. In preaching, the expression "if we look at the original Greek" is frequently used. Galatians 3:28 is often cited as a sermon text on the unity of the church.