Acts 11:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

See, they preach to the Greeks. It is therefore likely that they knew how to speak Greek, and that there were many such people in Antioch. Perhaps, because they did not know how to speak Hebrew, they were called Greeks.

“They spoke to the Greeks.” He says, “to the Greeks.” Perhaps they were called Greeks because they did not know Hebrew.

Therefore among those who had been scattered there were some who had already had dealings with Gentiles and knew the good traits in their souls. These were Cypriots and Cyrenians.

When they came to Syrian Antioch, they spoke to the Greeks, that is, to the Gentiles, preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Of the aforementioned disciples of Christ, some, Cypriots and Cyrenians by birth, went to Antioch and taught the Hellenes there. These were people who by race and confession were Jews, but by place of residence and language were Hellenes.

To these Hellenes they preached the Lord, that is, Jesus. They proclaimed and preached to them all things concerning Him.

"And," says the Apostle, "the hand of the Lord was with them." The divine Luke calls miracles the hand of the Lord not only in this place, but also elsewhere.

He does so when he speaks in the person of the Apostles: "by stretching out Your hand to heal" (Acts 4:30). Likewise, he speaks in Paul's person: "And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind" (Acts 13:11).

Thus these holy men performed miracles in Antioch, confirming the evangelical word preached by them. For this reason they converted a great multitude of the people living there to the faith of Christ.

Preaching in certain coastal cities, such as Azotus, Joppa, and Caesarea, could serve to spread the Gospel even into distant lands. Yet even now some were going beyond the borders of Palestine: to the island of Crete, to Phoenicia, to Syria, specifically to Damascus and Antioch.

At first they preached only to the Jews. These newly founded churches from the Jews entered into relations with Jerusalem, the mother of the churches. Though diminished in the number of her own members, she now had incomparably more churches dependent upon her.

While the events described by the historian in Acts 8:1-11 and 18 were taking place, the beneficial consequences for the spread of the Gospel continued to grow and multiply. These consequences came from the persecution that began with the killing of the protomartyr Stephen.

The Christians scattered by this persecution continued the path of preaching on which they had set out from the first steps of their departure from Jerusalem (Acts 8:4). Among other places, they reached Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria.

Yet, as they passed through cities populated for the most part by Gentiles, they at first addressed the word of the Gospel only to the Jews living among them.

When the persecution against Christians began in Jerusalem, some of the fleeing Christians also took refuge in Antioch. Certain Hellenists did not fail to address the preaching of the Gospel not only to Jews, but also to the mixed population of Antioch in general.

They preached to the Gentiles, specifically to Greeks, in whose language they could express themselves freely. To their great joy, the preaching was accompanied by considerable success: "a great number believed and turned to the Lord."

It is very possible that these Greeks were in the same state of soul as Cornelius. They thirsted for religious truth, were proselytes of the gate, and gladly heeded the Gospel, which could heal their spiritual wounds.

“Some of them were Cypriots and Cyrenians.” Among those scattered from Jerusalem, and therefore members of the Christian community of Jerusalem, some were natives of Cyprus and Cyrene. See the note on Acts 2:10.

Thus they were Christians from among the Hellenist Jews. Coming to Antioch, they preached the Gospel to the Greeks, that is, to the Gentiles. Perhaps they already had news of what had happened in Caesarea.

Thus the reception of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, having begun in Caesarea, continued in Antioch. Here it continued with particular success.

Turning his gaze to other regions, the historian, in connection with what precedes, reports how the work of preaching proceeded there.

He says that in Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch they preached at first only among Jews. Later, in Antioch, certain Christians who had come from Cyprus and Cyrene began to preach to Greeks known to them.

This, of course, was a movement similar to what had taken place in Caesarea, though far from identical with it.

In any case, the work of spreading the faith and ordering the Church advanced considerably here also. Thus the persecution that arose because of Stephen, and the scattering of the Christians after his killing, proved very fruitful.