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God-fearers (Koine Greek:φοβούμενοι τὸν Θεόν,phoboumenoi ton Theon)[1] orGod-worshippers (Koine Greek:θεοσεβεῖς,Theosebeis)[1] were a numerous class ofGentile sympathizers toHellenistic Judaism that existed in theGreco-Roman world,[6] which observed certainJewish religious rites and traditions without becoming fullconverts to Judaism.[10] The concept has precedents in theproselytes of theHebrew Bible. Many of these Greco-Roman sympathizers to Hellenistic Judaism were worshippers ofCaelus (theRoman name/equivalent toYahweh).[11] More generally,God-fearing has come to mean someone who is honestly religious.
Since the mid-1980s, a growing number of scholars ofJudaic studies andhistory of Judaism became interested in the subject of God-fearers and their relationship withHellenistic Judaism andearly Christianity.[13] According to the popular opinion,[14] Jews that lived in theGreco-Roman world during theHellenistic andRoman period were not involved in active missionary efforts of mass conversion amongPagans,[15][16] although many historians disagree.[20]
As Jews emigrated and settled in theRoman provinces of the Empire, Judaism became an appealing religion to a number of Pagans, for many reasons;[21] God-fearers and proselytes that underwent full conversion wereGreeks orRomans, and came from allsocial classes: they were mostlywomen[17] andfreedmen[17] (liberti), but there were alsoartisans,soldiers and few people of high status, likepatricians andsenators.[17] Despite their allegiance to Judaism, the God-fearers were exempted from paying the "Jewish tax" (fiscus Judaicus).[9]
Martin Goodman stated that Jews converted non-Jews by passively living by example. Non-Jews were given a choice on how to respond. But he notes that some Jews, like thePharisees, were mostly interested in converting other Jews.[22]
The class of God-fearers existed between the 1st[18] and the 3rd centuryCE.[23][24] They are mentioned inLatin andGreek literature,Flavius Josephus' andPhilo's historical works,rabbinic literature,early Christian writings, and other contemporary sources such assynagogueinscriptions fromDiaspora communities[25] (Palestine,[17]Rome,[2] andAsia Minor).[26]
In the Ancient Greek theatre of Miletus, some sitting places seem to have been reserved for the God fearer.[27]
In theHebrew Bible, there is some recognition of Gentilemonotheistic worship as being directed toward theGod of the Jews. This forms the category ofyir’ei HaShem/yir’ei Shamayim (Hebrew:יראי השם, meaning "Fearers of the Name"/"Fearers of Heaven",[28] "the Name" being a Jewisheuphemism forYahweh, cf.Psalm115:11).[29][30] This was developed by laterrabbinic literature into the concept ofNoahides, i. e. Gentiles that follow theSeven Laws of Noah, which rabbinic writings assigned to theNoahic Covenant.[9][31]
TheGreek andLatin terms that refer to God-fearers (theosebeis,sebomenoi,phoboumenoi,metuentes)[33] are found inancient literature (Greek,Roman, andJewish) and inscriptions discovered inAphrodisias,[35]Panticapaeum,Tralles,Sardis,Venosa,Lorium (inRome),Rhodes, Deliler (Philadelphia) and at a theater inMiletus.[37]
Judging from the distinctions in the Acts of the Apostles, it is thought that they did not becomegerim tzedekim,[38] whichrequired circumcision,[40] although the evidence across the centuries varies widely and the meaning of the term may have included all kinds of sympathetic Gentiles, proselytes or not.[41] There are also around 300 text references (4th century BCE to 3rd century CE) to a sect ofHypsistarians, some of whom practicedSabbath and which many scholars see as sympathizers with Judaism related to God-fearers.[42]
In the New Testament andearly Christian writings, theGreek termsGod-fearers andGod-worshippers are used to indicate those Pagans who attached themselves in varying degrees toHellenistic Judaism without becoming full converts,[43] and are referred to primarily in theGospel of Luke (7:1–10)[1] and more extensively in the Acts of the Apostles,[46] which describes theApostolic Age of the1st century.
SoPaul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: "Men of Israel, andyou that fear God (οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν), listen".
— Acts 13:16 (RSV)
Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, andthose among you that fear God (ἐν ὑμῖν φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν), to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
— Acts 13:26 (RSV)
Judaizing Gentiles and God-fearers are considered by modern scholars to be of significant importance to the growth ofearly Christianity;[49] they represented a group of Gentiles who shared religious ideas and practices with Jews, to one degree or another.[50] However, the God-fearers were only "partial" converts, engaged in certainJewish rites and traditions without taking a step further to actualconversion to Judaism, which would have required full adherence to the613 Mitzvot (including various prohibitions such askashrut,circumcision,Shabbat observance, etc.) that were generally unattractive to would-be Gentile (largely Greek) converts.[51] Therite of circumcision was especially unappealing and execrable inClassical civilization[54] because it was the custom to spend an hour a day or so exercisingnude in thegymnasium and inRoman baths, therefore Jewish men did not want to be seen in public deprived of theirforeskins.[55]Hellenistic andRoman culture both found circumcision to be cruel and repulsive.[56]
TheApostle Paul in hisletters fiercely criticized the Judaizers thatdemanded circumcision for Gentile converts, and opposed them;[62] he stressed instead thatfaith inChrist constituted aNew Covenant with God,[61] acovenant which essentially provides thejustification andsalvation for Gentiles from the harsh edicts of theMosaic Law, a New Covenant that did not require circumcision[63] (see alsoJustification by faith,Pauline passages supporting antinomianism,Abrogation of Old Covenant laws).Lydia of Thyatira, who became Paul's firstconvert to Christianity in Europe, is described in the New Testament as "a worshipper of God" (Acts 16:14); the Roman soldierCornelius and theEthiopian eunuch are also considered by modern scholars as God-fearers who converted to Christianity.[66] Nonetheless, American scholar of Jewish studiesA. Thomas Kraabel asserts that the God-fearers named in theNew Testament (such asCornelius the Centurion) should be considered as fictional characters in theActs of the Apostles.[2]
Eventually, theApostolic Decree issued byJames the Just inJerusalem (c. AD 48–50) decided that Gentiles whoconverted to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the rules prescribed to the Jews by theMosaic Law, such asJewish dietary laws and other specific rituals, including rules concerning thecircumcision of Jewish males.[67] In Paul's message of salvation through faith in Christ as opposed to submission under the Mosaic Law,[68] many God-fearers[1] found an essentially Jewish group to which they could belong without the necessity of their accepting Jewish Law.[1] Aside from earning Paul's group a wide following, this view was generalized in the eventual conclusion that conversion to Christianity doesn't require to follow the Jewish Law, a fact indispensable to thespread of the early Christian communities in the Roman Empire which would eventually lead to thedistinction between Judaism and Christianity as two separate religions.[67]
We know from Pagan, Christian, and Jewish sources that during theHellenistic andearly Roman periods some Gentiles were so strongly attracted to Judaism that they becameconverts and undertook to observeJewish laws and customs in the same manner as did the Jews themselves. [...] It is also commonly assumed that there were some Gentiles who did not go so far as to become converts but indicated their belief inmonotheism and gave up theworship of Pagan gods. How far they went in openly dissociating themselves from Paganism and in associating themselves with Judaism we do not know. These Gentile sympathizers are commonly thought to be referred by the termssebomenoi orphoboumenoi ton theon andmetuentes in Greek and Latin sources, andyir᾿ê shamayim "fearers of Heaven" (i.e. God-fearers) in some early Rabbinic passages.
Many scholars see a parallel between the "God-fearers" inrabbinic literature and the "God-fearers" in theNew Testament (NT). In rabbinic literature theger toshab was a Gentile who observed theNoachian commandments but was not considered a convert to Judaism because he did not agree tocircumcision. [...] some scholars have made the mistake of calling theger toshab a "proselyte" or "semiproselyte." But theger toshab was really a resident alien inIsrael. Some scholars have claimed that the term "those who fear God" (yir᾿ei Elohim/Shamayim) was used in rabbinic literature to denote Gentiles who were on the fringe of the synagogue. They were not converts to Judaism, although they were attracted to the Jewish religion and observed part ofthe law.
... in 1975, a large stele had actually been found in Carian Aphrodisias that does, in fact, usetheosebeis as some sort of technical category, at least on one face, if not on both. After the formal publication of the inscription in 1987, the already considerable bibliography on 'Godfearers' proliferated, and many studies of the Roman period now seem regularly to presume the presence of such persons throughout the ancient Mediterranean, over a period of at least half a millennium.
The people did not spread, but the Jewish religion spread. Judaism was a converting religion. Contrary to popular opinion, in early Judaism there was a great thirst to convert others. TheHasmoneans were the first to begin to produce large numbers of Jews through mass conversion, under the influence ofHellenism. The conversions between theHasmonean Revolt andBar Kochba's rebellion are what prepared the ground for the subsequent, wide-spreaddissemination of Christianity. After thevictory of Christianity in the fourth century, the momentum of conversion was stopped in the Christian world, and there was a steep drop in the number of Jews. Presumably many of the Jews who appeared around the Mediterranean became Christians. But then Judaism started to permeate other regions – pagan regions, for example, such asYemen andNorth Africa. Had Judaism not continued to advance at that stage and had it not continued to convert people in the pagan world, we would have remained a completely marginal religion, if we survived at all.
Galatians 2:14: "how is it that you compel the Gentiles to judaize?" "To judaize" was a quite familiar expression, in the sense "to live like a Jew", "to adopt a distinctively Jewish way of life"–with reference to Gentiles taking up Jewish customs like observance of the sabbath. [...] Judaism at that time was notably uninterested in evangelism, though open and accepting of Gentile God-fearers and proselytes.
In contradistinction to the ger toshab, the full proselyte was designated as "ger ha-ẓedeḳ," "ger ha-berit" (a sincere and righteous proselyte, one who has submitted to circumcision; see Mek., Mishpaṭim, 18; Gerim iii.). The common, technical term for "making a convert" inrabbinical literature is "ḳabbel" (to accept), or "ḳareb taḥat kanfe ha-Shekinah" (to bring one near, or under the wings of, theShekinah). This phrase plainly presupposes an active propaganda for winning converts (comp. Cant. R. v. 16, where God is referred to as making propagandic efforts). In fact, that proselytes are welcome inIsrael and are beloved of God is the theme of many a rabbinical homily (Ruth R. iii.; Tan., Wayiḳra [ed. Buber, 3]; see also Mek., Mishpaṭim, 18; Tosef., Demai, ii. 10; Bek. 32a).
Contact with Grecian life, especially at the games of the arena [which involvednudity], made this distinction obnoxious to the Hellenists, or antinationalists; and the consequence was their attempt to appear like the Greeks byepispasm ("making themselves foreskins"; I Macc. i. 15; Josephus, "Ant." xii. 5, § 1; Assumptio Mosis, viii.; I Cor. vii. 18; Tosef., Shab. xv. 9; Yeb. 72a, b; Yer. Peah i. 16b; Yeb. viii. 9a). All the more did the law-observing Jews defy the edict ofAntiochus Epiphanes prohibiting circumcision (I Macc. i. 48, 60; ii. 46); and the Jewish women showed their loyalty to the Law, even at the risk of their lives, by themselves circumcising their sons.;Hodges, Frederick M. (2001)."The Ideal Prepuce in Ancient Greece and Rome: Male Genital Aesthetics and Their Relation to Lipodermos, Circumcision, Foreskin Restoration, and the Kynodesme"(PDF).Bulletin of the History of Medicine.75 (Fall 2001).Johns Hopkins University Press:375–405.doi:10.1353/bhm.2001.0119.PMID 11568485.S2CID 29580193. Retrieved11 April 2020.
