The Book of Acts: Cast of Characters

Luke: Paul’s “dear friend Luke, the doctor” (Col 4:14) and “fellow worker”Luke was probably a Gentile by birth, well educated in Greek culture, a physician by profession, a companion of Paul.

Not only does Luke have a large vocabulary compared with other NT writers, but he also uses these words in literary styles that fit the cultural settings of the events he is recording. At times he employs good, classical Greek; at other times the Palestinian Aramaic of the first century shows through his expressions. This is an indication of Luke’s careful practice of using language appropriate to the time and place being described. Aramaisms are used when Luke is describing happenings that took place in the Holy Land (chs. 1–12). When, however, Paul departs for Hellenistic lands beyond the territories where Aramaic-speaking people live, Aramaisms cease.

Theophilus, whose name means “one who loves God” and almost certainly refers to a particular person rather than to lovers of God in general. The use of “most excellent” with the name further indicates an individual, and supports the idea that he was a Roman official or at least of high position and wealth. He was possibly Luke’s patron, responsible for seeing that the writings were copied and distributed. Such a dedication to the publisher was common at that time.

Saul of Tarsus who becomes Paul the Apostle In addition to its wealth, Tarsus was known for its commitment to culture and education. Saul and his family were part of a city steeped in Greek learning, philosophy, rhetoric, and athletics. One can easily see these cultural influences in Paul’s New Testament writings. “To his Tarsian heritage [Saul, later Paul] owed his fluency in the Greek language and probably much of his cultural orientation. His ministry would mainly be in Hellenistic cities like Tarsus; his early years in that city prepared him” Saul was a Roman citizen. And having been born in Tarsus, he was a Roman citizen by birth. Studying under the well-respected Gamaliel (Acts 2:3), Saul mastered the Torah and the entire Jewish law, taking his place as a Pharisee. According to the book of Acts, Gamaliel was a moderate in his perspective toward Christians. Not so with Saul, who broke with his master, siding with those Jews who regarded Christian teachings as blasphemy. Saul aggressively persecuted Christians and was responsible for many of their deaths.

The Secular Government

Herod ruled from 37 B.C.E. to 4 B.C.E. Quite a long and impressive reign from just the political perspective. But, at his death, his kingdom, which was the largest extent for the Jewish state since the time, really, of David and Solomon, was subdivided among three of his sons. One son, Herod Antipas, took the northern territories of the Galilee and those on the east side of the Jorda

n River. Another son, Phillip, took the areas to the east of the Sea of Galilee … the area now thought of as the Golan Heights, and a good stretch of territory over in that direction. The third son, Archelaeus, took the major portion, and in fact the most important cities… Now this region, which we would probably call Judea, was really the most important of the three sub-divisions. But Archelaeus, in contrast to his two half-brothers, didn’t fare as well as his father. And within ten years, he was removed by the Roman overlords, and replaced with military governors … what we usually refer to as Procurators, or Prefects, posted there by the Roman administration to oversee the political activities of the state.

Pontius Pilate, is one of these first round of governors posted to the province of Judea, once it was given over to Roman military governorship. And the stone that we now have from Caesarea … is very important. It gives us three pieces of information. First, it tells us that Pontius Pilate was the Governor. Secondly, it calls him a Prefect. That’s what we see in line three of the text. Thirdly, and in some ways most interestingly, the first line tells us that Pilate had built a Tibereum. What that means is, a temple for the Emperor Tiberius, as part of the Imperial Cult. Thus, here we have, at Caesarea

Maritima, a Roman Governor building a temple in honor of the Roman Emperor.

Roman Legions were composes of typically about 6000 men. 3 legions were assigned to this area, but more could be called in if needed.

The Pharisees were the most powerful of the Jewish sects in first century Israel. The Bible includes almost 100 references to them, and other ancient historians confirm their influence. They emerged during a turbulent time when Judaism was struggling to maintain its identity. The priesthood was corrupt, immorality was rampant, and the dominant spread of Greek culture threatened the Jewish way of life. In light of this crisis, a group of pious laymen responded by sounding the alarm on their brethren. Only separation from all that was not Jewish would save the people and their faith. People began to call this group “the separated ones,” or the Pharisees. Other sects controlled the Jewish priesthood and politics, but the Pharisees gained a foothold in local synagogues and among the common people. They were educated, received extensive training, and became the primary Bible teachers in each village. When it came to theological debates, the Pharisees were sharp, biblically-based, tradition-honoring, and conservative in their views. They held an extremely high view of the Torah (God’s Law from the first five books of the Old Testament). Strict obedience to the Torah – both the written commands and the oral traditions – was essential to their faith and identity. Ultimately, the Pharisees believed that if the Jewish people would turn back to God and obey the Torah down to the smallest details, then and only then would God bless the nation. There were around 6,000 Pharisees during Jesus’ time on earth. Pharisees were leaders in the local synagogue.  Most every Jewish community had their own synagogue, while there was only one temple and it was in Jerusalem.

The Sadducees oversaw many formal affairs of the state^.   Members of the Sadducees:

Administered the state domestically ,Represented the state internationally , Participated in the Sanhedrin, and often encountered the Pharisees there.  Collected taxes. These also came in the form of international tribute from Jews in the Diaspora. Equipped and led the army  Regulated relations with the Romans  Mediated domestic grievances

According to Josephus, the Sadducees believed that: There is no fate , God does not commit evil man has free will; “man has the free choice of good or evil” the soul is not immortal; there is no afterlife, and there are no rewards or penalties after death . The Sadducees rejected the belief in resurrection, which was a central tenet of the growing Jesus movement. This often provoked hostility between the two groups. Furthermore, the Sadducees rejected the oral law as proposed by the Pharisees. Rather, they saw the written law as the sole source of divine authorities. The written law, in its depiction of the priesthood, corroborated the power and enforced the hegemony of the Sadducees in Judean society.They often disagreed with the Pharisees because the Sadducees rejected the oral traditions and much of the doctrine of the Pharisees.

The Sadducees were opposed to Jesus because there was the supposed threat that Jesus could potentially overthrow the Roman government, thus jeopardizing their positions of prestige. Sadducees lived primarily in Jerusalem and their lives were often focused around the happenings of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

The Sanhedrin (the judicial council of the Jewish people) was comprised primarily of Sadducees.

The Sanhedrin

Tannaitic sources describe the Great Sanhedrin as a religious assembly of 71 sages who met in the Chamber of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Great Sanhedrin met daily during the daytime, and did not meet on the Sabbath, festivals or festival eves. It was the final authority on Jewish law and any scholar who went against its decisions was put to death as a zaken mamre (rebellious elder). The Sanhedrin was led by a president called the nasi (lit. “prince”) and a vice president called the av bet din (lit. “father of the court”). The other 69 sages sat in a semicircle facing the leaders. It is unclear whether the leaders included the high priest.

The Sanhedrin judged accused lawbreakers, but could not initiate arrests. It required a minimum of two witnesses to convict a suspect. There were no attorneys. Instead, the accusing witness stated the offense in the presence of the accused and the accused could call witnesses on his own behalf. The court questioned the accused, the accusers and the defense witnesses.

The Great Sanhedrin dealt with religious and ritualistic Temple matters, criminal matters appertaining to the secular court, proceedings in connection with the discovery of a corpse, trials of adulterous wives, tithes, preparation of Torah Scrolls for the king and the Temple, drawing up the calendar and the solving of difficulties relating to ritual law.

In about 30 C.E., the Great Sanhedrin lost its authority to inflict capital punishment. After the Temple was destroyed, so was the Great Sanhedrin.

The Torahis the primary document of Judaism. Torah, which means “teaching”, is God’s revealed instructions to the Jewish People. It teaches Jews how to act, think and even feel about life and death.
The Torah contains 613 commandments (mitzvot). which are divided into 365 restrictions and 248 positive commands. The Ten Commandments are considered the most important commandments of the Torah. The Torah also contains stories that teach us about God’s relationship with the Jewish People. There are two parts to the Torah: 1. Written Torah 2. Oral Torah
Written Torah The Written Torah is often called the Tanakh, which stands for Torah (T), Nevi’im (N) and Ketuvim (K). The Written Torah contains: 1. Five Books of Moses (Chumashe Torah) 2. Prophets (Nevi’im) 3. Writings (Ketuvim)

Oral Torah: The Talmud

In addition to the written scriptures we have an “Oral Torah,” a tradition explaining what the above scriptures mean and how to interpret them and apply the Laws. Orthodox Jews believed God taught the Oral Torah to Moses, and he taught it to others, down to the present day. This tradition was maintained only in oral form until about the 2d century C.E., when the oral law was compiled and written down in a document called the Mishnah. Over the next few centuries, additional commentaries elaborating on the Mishnah were written down in Jerusalem and Babylon. These additional commentaries are known as the Gemara. The Gemara and the Mishnah together are known as the Talmud. This was completed in the 5th century C.E. . Fence Laws were developed from the Gamara.

Scribes The word “scribe” is the English translation of the Greek word “Grammateis”, which means “student of the scriptures.”  Scribes were men whose primary occupation was writing out copies of the Jewish Scriptures and teaching the people what the law said. Because they copied the Old Testament books, they were familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures and were respected in society for their literacy and knowledge. The scribes provided teaching that was the religious and moral backbone for the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. Because of their role, there were often addressed as, “Teacher.”

The Temple 

The Second Temple stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE, during which time it was the center of Jewish sacrificial worship. It was the second temple in Jerusalem, built to replace the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon.

The gleaming white marble of the edifice was visible from well outside the walls of the city. The scale of the building was designed to impress, and it dominated the landscape, effectively becoming the focal point of Jerusalem. Even the three great towers near Herod’s palace seemed small in comparison.The present Temple Mount was constructed by Herod the Great beginning in 20 B.C.  Construction on it continued for 83 years until 64 A.D. when a halt was called to the project and 18,000 workers were laid off (riots resulted).  The Temple Mount is 1/6 the size of today’s Old City and covers 35 acres.

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