Who were the Grecians mentioned in Acts 11?
Grecians were Jews who were citizens of another nation and not natives of Palestine; a Greek, by contrast, is a Gentile. In Acts 11 the term likely should be Greeks, indicating Gentiles, because the preaching was shifting from Jews only to the Gentile world.
Les explains that the word here should likely be Greeks rather than Grecians. He defines a Grecian as a Jew who was a citizen of some other nation except Palestine, not a native of Palestine, whereas a Greek is a Gentile. It would not have been unusual for Jewish believers to talk to fellow Jews, because that is what a Grecian was. Grecians had appeared earlier in chapter 6, where their widows were not getting a fair share. But approaching Greeks was a change in venue and modus operandi, since they had not been talking to Greeks before. God had begun moving toward the Gentile world by saving Saul and then sending Peter to Cornelius; now Saul had returned from three years of learning and the revelation of the mysteries, so the Gospel was going out to the Gentiles. These Jews who had preached to Jews only began speaking to Greeks and preaching the Lord Jesus; the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
More Questions
Should Acts 11 read 'Greeks' or 'Grecians'?
The correct wording in this Acts passage is 'Greeks' (Hellenes), meaning Gentiles, not 'Grecians' (Hellenists), who were Greek-speaking Jews.