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Did you know? Why were the Jews so widely scattered by the time of Jesus? When Jesus told a group of listeners that where he was going they could not come, the Jews asked themselves: "Where does this man intend going....? He does not intend to go to the Jews dispersed amount the Greeks....does he?(John 7:32-36) Not long after Christians missionaries preached the good news amount Jews dispersed throughout the Mediterranean basin (Acts 2:5-11; 9:2; 13:5,13+14; 14:1; 16:1-3; 17:1; 18:12,19; 28:16+17) This dispersion, or Diaspora, arose because the Jews were exiled from their homeland by conquering nations - first by the Assyrians, in 740B.C.E., then by the Babylonians, in 607B.C.E. Only a remnant of the exiles ever returned to Israel. (Isaiah 10:21+22) The rest remained scattered. Hence, in the fifth century B.C.E., Jewish communities were found in the 127 jurisdictional districts of the Persian Empire. (Esther 1:1; 3:8) Jewish efforts to win converts to Judaism meant that, in time, a large number of people came to have some knowledge of Jehovah and of the Law that He gave to the Jews. (Matthew 23:15) Jews from many lands were present in Jerusalem for the Festival of Pentecost in 33C.E., at which they heard the good news about Jesus. (Acts 2:1-11) Therefore, the dispersion of Jews throughout the Roman Empire contributed to the rapid spread of Christianity. |
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