The “God-Fearer”

An Excerpt from: Ger Toshav. Section: The “God-Fearer”

According to the prophet Isaiah, when God moves to restore Israel during the Messianic era, four kinds of individuals will seek to identify with the Lord:

Some will say, ‘I belong to the Lord’; others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; still others will write on their hand,‘I belong to the Lord,’ and will name Israel’s name with honour.” – Isaiah 44:5

According to Jewish tradition, the four mentioned, represented the righteous among Israel, the proselyte, the penitent, and the “God-Fearer”:

“Four types of pious ones stand before the Almighty; as it says [in Isaiah 44:5], “One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s.’ This nation will say, “I am the Lord’s.” He belongs completely to the Almighty, and has no sinful ways in him. “One will call on the name of Jacob.” This refers to the righteous proselyte [i.e., convert]. “Another shall write on his hand, ‘belonging to the Lord.’” This refers to the penitents. One “Will name Israel’s name with honor.” This refers to the God-Fearers. – Numbers Rabbah 8:2

The last phrase, “will name Israel’s name with honor” is best translated as “name himself by the name of Israel.” The sentiment made, is that of a foreigner wishing to honor Israel by identifying with them in a strong way. This gesture would not only constitute an affirmation of the people of Israel, but of the God they serve. Consequently, such a foreigner could be regarded as one who fears/reveres God – The God of Israel.

Mention of the “God-Fearer” (in Hebrew: ‘Yir-e’) as a designation for righteous gentiles is first found in the Psalms. Similar to Isaiah 44, The Psalms set the precedent for dividing the eschatalogical people of God into a number of categories. The Psalms specify at least three:

• The community of Israel as a whole
• The house of Aaron (The Aaronic Priesthood)
• And “those who fear the Lord”

Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.” – Psalm 118:2-4

Oh Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. Oh house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. – Psalm 115:9-11

The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will bless those who fear the Lord — small and great alike. – Psalm 115:12-13

The concept of the “God-Fearer” in contrast to the Toshav, is rather undefined. It may refer to a gentile residing in the land but is not limited to it. The point is, allegiance to the God of Israel is done out of religious conviction and not as a compromise for the land. The God-Fearer is therefore a gentile living anywhere who has come to adopt the God of Israel as their God, and as a result, identifies with the people of Israel in a strong way. It is important to note that although the God-Fearer has joined Israel in worship of the Lord, a distinction remains. The God-Fearer still has not undergone conversion. Such a process would result in the formation of a “Proselyte”.

The book of Acts contains two Greek terms to identify the gentile God-Fearer: sebomenoi (meaning, “those fearing”) and phoboumenoi ton theon (“those reverencing God”). The first reference is found in Acts 10. Cornelius, the Roman centurion is described as a “devout man who feared God” (Acts 10:1-2):

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing [Phoboumenoi ton theon]; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.”

In Acts 13:26, Paul addresses the crowd: “men of Israel and you who fear God.”

“Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God [phoboumenoit ton theon], give audience.” – Acts 13:16

English translators have approached the Greek term “Sebomenoi” a variety of ways, assigning a number of English translations: “devout”, “religious”, “worshipping”, etc:

“And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout [sebomenoi] Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.” – Acts 17:4

“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped [sebomenoi] God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” – Acts 16:14

The God-Fearers were massive in number and very influential:

“In Diaspora there was an increasing number, perhaps millions by the first century, of sebomenoi [God-fearers], gentiles who had not gone the whole route towards conversion.” – Encyclopedia Judaica 10:55, s.v. “Jewish Identity”.

“[There was a] numerous class [of God-Fearers]…although most of them did not feel able to shoulder the whole burden of the Law, they sympathised with Judaism…They were to be found in the provinces as well as in Italy, even in Rome…As they often belonged to upper classes their mere presence added in the eyes of the authorities weight of Jewish influence…” – M. Avi-Yonah, the Jews of Palestine (Oxford, 1796) 37.

“[Because of the] Many God-fearers…Hellenistic Judaism had almost succeeded in making Judaism a world religion in the literal sense of the words.” – Dr. Flusser, “Paganism in Palestine,” in Compendia rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum I.2, edd. S. Safrai and M. Stern (Assen, 1976) 1097.

According to  A.T. Kraabal, author of “the disappearance of the God-Fearers” Christianity owes much of its early success to those within the ranks of the God-Fearers:

“In the traditional reconstruction of the historical situation, the characteristics of the God-fearer are as follows: 1) They are gentiles interested in Judaism, but not converts = proselytes; the men are not circumcised. 2) They are found in some numbers in teh synagogues of the Diaspora, from Asia Minor to Rome. 3) The God-Fearer as traditionally understood is particularly significant for students of the New Testament and early Christianity; it was from the ranks of the God-fearers that Christianity supposedly had recruited a great number of its first members.” – A. T. Kraabel, Numen, Vol. 28, Fasc. 2 (Dec., 1981), pp. 114

Israeli scholar, Shlomo Pines writes:

“The early Christian community was addressed chiefly, and perhaps solely, to these ‘God-Fearers’, and that it had its first successes among them.” – God Fearers, Tony Janicki, page 44, Pines 146-147