Bible Dictionaries
Hellenistic

Holman Bible Dictionary

(hehl luh nihss' tihc) Word derived from Greek, hellas , the Greek name for Greece. It describes customs or features of the Greek culture. Hellenistic people are those speaking Greek and following Greek culture even though they are not necessarily Greek by race. In the New Testament differences arose in the early church between those Christians more closely tied to Hebrew and Jewish practices and culture and those identifying themselves more closely with Greek language and culture (Acts 6:1; Acts 9:29 ).