A little background. Jerusalem was a linguistically diverse city. Life long local inhabitants spoke Aramaic with some Hebrew (called the Hebrews here). The elite, of course, would have spoken Greek as well. Yet there was a section of the population of the Jews, a minority, that spoke Greek as their first language. They most likely made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and then had stayed, having grown up in the larger world under Greek influence. This group seemingly had believed in Jesus as the resurrected Messiah of Israel.

Perhaps it might be fun sharing stories, if you have them, of trying to live or travel in a setting where you did not speak or understand the majority language well or at all. What is it like? Did you miss anything? Did those who represented the majority language know that you missed anything? Why?

Read verse 1: why did some of the Hellenists Jewish believers, the Greek speakers, complain to the Hebrew Jewish believers? What does this presuppose that was part of the regular practice of the Jerusalem church? Why the special concern for widows? Also note here that the Temple daily distributed food as well. What is the church acting like? Why would "the Hebrews" "neglect" the Hellenistic widows?

Verse 2: Who makes the decision of what should be done? Why? What do the twelve not take direct responsibility for the daily distribution? What is their role?

Vv. 3-4: Do the twelve therefore not care about the issue? What solution do they offer? What are the qualifications that they look for from the seven? Why these qualifications? Why do the 12 not pick them themselves?

V. 5: Look at the names -- can you tell if tell if these names are Hebrew or Greek as far as the place of their birth? Notice that at least one is named after a character in The Lion King. Who have they chosen? Why?

V. 6: Why would they bring them before the Apostles? What is the function of the laying on of hands?

v. 7: What is the result of the adminstrative changes? What do you think it means that many priests "were obedient to the faith"? What does this suggest about "the faith"?

Perhaps a discussion is in order about dealing with administration of "programs" within the church, how to handle problems that arise, how to handle the complaints as they come in, and what to avoid, what to embrace, and what the function of organization and authority are. What is the relationship between "office" (i.e., the 12 and "expertise" (decision of which 7 should ensure the widows receive their allotments)? Why?

Enjoy!!