Acts 6:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Perhaps it arose because of the multitude of disciples, since in such a case there cannot fail to be difficulty. Therefore there was a daily ministry for the widows.

See how he calls it ministry, and not simply almsgiving. By this he exalts both those who give and those who receive.

This neglect of the widows did not come from ill will, but probably from inattention because of the large number of people.

Therefore it was brought to notice, and the evil was not small, so that it might be corrected at once.

Do you see how, even at the beginning, there were troubles not only from without, but also within? Yet do not look only at the fact that it was corrected. Look also at the fact that it was a great evil.

In the daily distribution of food to the Christians, the administrators began to show a very marked preference and special love for their own Jews, that is, the Palestinians. They began to neglect poor Christians who were also Jews, but not Palestinian Jews.

They made their poor widows and orphans wait long for their daily bread from the Church storehouse. They gave them what was needed in smaller quantity than to the Palestinian Jews, perhaps with reproaches. The poor families of Christians from foreign Jews had to endure all this in a strange land. Because of this, they only murmured against the native Jews.

The attendants of this daily service neglected the widows of those Greeks. This happened either because the number of believers in Christ increased day by day, or because of negligence, or for some other reason.

In what way did they neglect them? Perhaps they thought that those Greek widows were unworthy to serve the apostles and disciples, and did not admit them to this service.

Perhaps they did not give them the same support as they gave to the Hebrew widows living in Jerusalem. Or perhaps they assigned them to the heavier and lowest services.

When those Greeks saw this, they complained against the Hebrews living in Judea, who, as is evident, were overseers of that ministry.

Thus the Apostle narrates this: in those days, he says, when the apostles and disciples were all in Jerusalem, the number of disciples multiplied.

The Greeks saw that in the daily preparation and distribution of food the Hebrews, who were the heads of this work, neglected their widows. They began to murmur and complain about this to those very Hebrews.

What then did the apostles do when they heard such murmuring?

By the name disciples here, and in some places below, all the faithful who accepted Christ’s teaching are meant.

They witnessed the miracle of the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the apostles. They heard Peter’s preaching about Christ, believed, and joined the community of Christ (Acts 2:9-11).

The first Christians formed one family, in which the apostles were householders and stewards. Therefore the Hellenists who, after converting to Christianity, did not return to their homeland but remained in Jerusalem, became part of this holy family.

They entered this community of brothers and sisters, where there was one heart and one soul. No one called any of his possessions his own, but they had everything in common (Acts 4:32).

The more the number of Christians increased, the more difficult it naturally became for them to live together, not only in one dwelling but even on one street of the city.

Probably they divided into larger or smaller groups. Each group, when necessary, received from the apostles everything needed for material support and maintained its own household.

This division into groups could not fail to be influenced by the stated difference among Christians in origin and language. There was a difference between native Jews, who spoke Hebrew, and Hellenists, who spoke Greek.

Through this difference it naturally came about that Hellenists usually joined with Hellenists for their dwelling, and Hebrews with Hebrews.

Moreover, those who needed material assistance did not always personally turn to the apostles to receive what they needed. Because of illness and other reasons, the apostles daily carried or sent what was needed for life to the poor through trusted disciples.

Therefore, with the great number of Christian families needing help, it sometimes happened that the widows of the Hellenists were left without their needs being met, despite all the apostles’ attention.

It is understandable why this lack of attention affected not other poor Christians, but specifically the widows of the Hellenists. They were less known than the native Hebrews.

As a result, the Hellenists began to complain against the Jews because of inattention to their poor.

By Hebrews, the Apostle means Jews who spoke their own language, or Aramaic, and who lived chiefly in Palestine and Babylonia. Both groups are understood as having accepted faith in Jesus Christ.

The Hellenists, since they lived among pagans and had adopted the Greek language from them, did not strictly fulfill the law of Moses. They retained many customs of the lands in which they lived.

The Hebrews, who spoke the ancestral Hebrew language, fulfilled the law of Moses more strictly and observed national customs. Therefore the Hebrews were prejudiced against the Hellenists and claimed precedence over them.

We read in the Acts of the Holy Apostles: “There was not anyone among them,” the first Christians, “who lacked. For all who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the price of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Distribution was made to each as anyone had need” (Acts 4:34-35).

When the number of believers increased day by day, and the Church of Christ already consisted of many thousands of members, satisfying the needy had to become gradually more difficult for the apostles. The number of those in need was increasing quickly.

The appointed managers of the common funds were, in all probability, chiefly from among the Hebrews, since the greater part of the first Church’s members came from them.

Therefore it is not surprising if these managers, not free from national prejudices against the Hellenists, showed some inequality toward their needy widows in comparison with the other widows.

Although many of them were also zealous guardians of the law of Moses, their life among pagans and their submission to Greek culture and customs inspired some mistrust toward them among the Palestinian Jews.

Thus a certain division constantly existed between them, at times passing into mutual suspicion and hostility.

This feeling partly showed itself in the Church of Christ. When the number of believers increased, a clash between these two different classes became almost unavoidable.

So it happened: “there arose a complaint by the Hellenists against the Hebrews.” The particular cause of this complaint was real or imagined neglect of the Hellenists’ widows in the daily distribution of food and alms.

Some dissatisfaction could have arisen because all offices in the Church were in the hands of the Hebrews. Naturally, they could pay more attention to the needs of their own close countrywomen.

Widows were the class that most of all needed help. It is known what attention the Apostle Paul gave to their condition even in Corinth.

Some of the wisest ordinances attributed to Gamaliel were directed toward easing the sufferings inseparable from their condition.

Because of the seclusion in which women in the East lived by age-old custom, the lot of a widow could indeed be bleak when there were no people to care for her.

Inequality toward them could naturally arouse murmuring, especially since before their conversion to Christianity these widows had a right to assistance from the corban, that is, the temple treasury.

Hellenists was the name given to Jews who lived in various countries of the pagan world and spoke Greek, the language then very widespread. Since the Jews were settled, and continued to settle, chiefly in the lands of the Greco-Roman world, the name Hellenists was also transferred to Jews who lived in lands not inhabited by Greeks. It seems that proselytes, that is, pagans who had accepted the Jewish faith, were sometimes included under this general name (cf. v. 5). Hellenists sometimes moved from pagan lands to live in Palestine and Jerusalem. Or they traveled to Jerusalem for the feasts and remained there for a longer or shorter time. Or they came and lived there for trade and other affairs. Some of them, and perhaps many, entered the Christian community. By Hebrews here are meant Christians from among the Palestinian Jews, who lived in their native land and spoke the Hebrew language. Mutual dissatisfaction arose between these two constituent parts of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. Specifically, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of necessities. From the common treasury, which was at the apostles' disposal, each needy person received what he needed (Acts 4:34-35; 2:45) for daily maintenance, and chiefly for food (v. 2, serving tables). There is nothing improbable in supposing that common meals were arranged in different parts of the city, in places where Christians gathered publicly (Acts 2:46). This was in addition to what was given to each needy person. In this matter it seemed to the Hellenists that their widows were being neglected. This neglect, of course, did not come from the apostles themselves, but from the subordinate immediate administrators of the almsgiving. It is not entirely clear where this neglect came from. St. Chrysostom thinks that "this happened not from ill will, but probably from inattention because of the multitude of people... for in such a case there cannot but be difficulty." One may also suppose that this neglect of the Hellenist widows arose from the arrogance of the Hebrews. Living in their native land, near the temple, they could fulfill the Law of Moses more strictly, with its rigorous demands of purity and righteousness. They had no special occasions to be infected by impure pagan customs. Therefore the Palestinian Hebrews treated with a certain arrogance their brethren who lived among pagans and were, willingly or unwillingly, more or less influenced by the pagan environment. It is evident that even the lofty spirit of Christianity in the first Jerusalem community could not entirely smooth away this difference between the two constituent parts of the community. Now it appeared in the neglect of the Hellenist widows by those who administered the distribution of necessities, probably Hebrews. The fact that widows in particular experienced this neglect is explained by this: lacking a head of household, they had no one to care for them and, if necessary, defend them. But it was all the more painful for the Hellenists to see that their defenseless widows were the very ones being neglected.

“That the widows in particular experienced this neglect is explained by the fact that, lacking the head of a household, they had no one to care for them and defend them when necessary.

“But it was all the more painful for the Hellenists to see that precisely their defenseless widows were neglected.

“As is evident, even the lofty spirit of Christianity in the first Jerusalem community could not completely erase the differences between the two component parts of the community.

“This difference now showed itself in the neglect of the Hellenist widows by those who managed the distribution of what was needed, probably Hebrews.”

“The ministry to the widows was a daily matter,” says blessed Theophylact. “The neglect of the widows came from the people’s carelessness. Therefore, as soon as concern for them was set before the people, their grief ceased.”

“The testimony of the writer of Acts concerning this complaint fully agrees with the spirit of that time and does not contradict the state of the first Christian community.

“This murmuring was an echo of the social hostility of that time between pure Hebrews and Hellenists.

“The intensified entrance of Hellenists into the Christian Church aroused in proud Jews a jealous feeling and fear of losing their dominant importance in the community. They had not freed themselves from their exclusiveness and had not yet fully acquired the Christian freedom of the spirit.

“By mentioning this discord, the writer of Acts gives us strong proof that his account corresponds to historical truth.

“His narrative depicts with photographic accuracy the historical setting in which the Church of Christ developed and was strengthened.”