The Jewish World in the First Century

How many Jews were in the Diaspora in the first century? Many scholars seem to agree with the publication Atlas of the Jewish World: “Absolute figures are hard to arrive at, but it has been plausibly estimated that shortly before 70 there were two and a half million Jews in Judaea and well over four million in the Roman diaspora. . . . It is likely that the Jews represented something like a tenth of the whole population of the empire, and in the places where they were most concentrated, in the cities of the eastern provinces, they may have been a quarter or more of the inhabitants.”

The main centers were in Syria, Asia Minor, Babylon, and Egypt, in the East, with smaller communities in Europe. Some well-known early Jewish Christians had a Diaspora background, such as Barnabas from Cyprus, Prisca and Aquila from Pontus and then Rome, Apollos from Alexandria, and Paul from Tarsus.​—Acts 4:36; 18:2, 24; 22:3.

The Diaspora communities had many links with their homeland. One was the annual tax sent to the temple in Jerusalem, a way to participate in temple life and worship. Regarding this, scholar John Barclay observes: “There is good evidence that the collection of this money, supplemented by extra donations from the wealthy, was scrupulously undertaken by Diaspora communities.”

Another link was the tens of thousands of pilgrims who went to Jerusalem every year for the festivals. The account at Acts 2:9-11 about Pentecost 33 C.E. illustrates this. The Jewish pilgrims present came from Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Crete, and Arabia.

The temple administration in Jerusalem communicated with Jews in the Diaspora in writing. It is known that Gamaliel, the law teacher mentioned at Acts 5:34, sent letters to Babylon and other parts of the world. When the apostle Paul arrived as a prisoner in Rome about 59 C.E., “the principal men of the Jews” told him that “neither have we received letters concerning you from Judea, nor has anyone of the brothers that has arrived reported or spoken anything wicked about you.” This indicates that letters and reports were frequently sent from the homeland to Rome.​—Acts 28:17, 21.

The Bible of the Diaspora Jews was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Septuagint. A reference work notes: “It is plausible to conclude that the LXX [Septuagint] was read and received throughout the diaspora as the diaspora Jewish Bible or ‘holy writ.’” The same translation was extensively used by the early Christians in their teaching.

Jewish Communities in the East

During the first century C.E., Egypt had the largest Diaspora community, especially in its capital, Alexandria. This center of trade and culture had a Jewish population numbering into the hundreds of thousands, with synagogues scattered all over the city. Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, claimed that in all of Egypt, there were at least a million Jews at that time. A considerable number had also settled in nearby Libya, in the city of Cyrene and vicinity.

Some Jews who became Christians were from these areas. We read of “Apollos, a native of Alexandria,” “some men of Cyprus and Cyrene,” and “Lucius of Cyrene,” who supported the congregation in Syrian Antioch. (Acts 2:10; 11:19, 20; 13:1; 18:24) Otherwise the Bible is silent about the early Christian work in Egypt and its vicinity, except for the Christian evangelizer Philip’s witnessing to the Ethiopian eunuch.​—Acts 8:26-39.

Babylon, with extensions into Parthia, Media, and Elam, was another major center. One historian says that “every territory in the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates, from Armenia to the Persian gulf, as well as northeastward to the Caspian Sea, and eastward to Media, contained Jewish populations.” The Encyclopaedia Judaica estimates their number at 800,000 or more. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus tells us that tens of thousands of Babylonian Jews traveled to Jerusalem for the annual festivals.

Were some of the Babylonian pilgrims baptized at Pentecost 33 C.E.? We do not know, but among those who heard the apostle Peter on that day were ones from Mesopotamia. (Acts 2:9) We do know that the apostle Peter was in Babylon about 62-64 C.E. While there, he wrote his first letter and possibly the second one as well. (1 Peter 5:13) Babylon with its large population of Jews was obviously considered part of the territory assigned to Peter, John, and James at the meeting referred to in the letter to the Galatians.