Greeks, Grecians
Greeks, Grecians
GREEKS, GRECIANS.Both these terms are used indifferently in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] of OT Apocr. [Note: Apocrypha, Apocryphal.] to designate persons of Gr. extraction (1Ma 1:10; 1Ma 6:2; 1Ma 8:9, 2Ma 4:36 etc.). In NT the linguistic usage of EV [Note: English Version.] makes a distinction between the terms Greeks and Grecians. Greeks uniformly represents the word Hellns, which may denote persons of Gr. descent in the narrowest sense (Act 16:1; Act 18:4, Rom 1:14), or may be a general designation for all who are not of Jewish extraction (Joh 12:20, Rom 1:16; Rom 10:12, Gal 3:28). Grecians, on the other hand (Act 6:1; Act 9:29), is AV [Note: Authorized Version.] tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of Hellnistai, which means Gr.-speaking Jews (RV [Note: Revised Version.] Grecian Jews). See preced. art. and Dispersion. An interesting question is that of the correct reading of Act 11:20. Were those to whom the men of Cyprus and Cyrene preached, Grecians or Greeks? In other words, were they Jews or Gentiles? The weight of MS authority is in favour of Grecians, but it is held by many that internal evidence necessitates Greeks.