Hellenists (Hel´uh-nists)

A term found in (Acts 6:1 and Acts 9:29), probably denoting Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in the early church in Jerusalem. The Hellenists probably interpreted the Torah less stringently than did the “Hebrews,” the Aramaic-speaking Jewish Christians in the Jerusalem church. The presence of these Hellenists may have served as an intermediate point of transition for the Christian movement in its spread into the Greek-speaking gentile world.