The biblical references to Greece and the Greek people are often unclear. In the Old Testament, some passages refer to Greece or the Greeks as "Javan" or "the sons of Javan." Javan was the fourth son of Japheth, who appears in the "table of nations" in Genesis 10. Just as the name Israel comes from Jacob, the name Javan is used for his descendants.
The Bible’s descriptions of Javan and his sons show that they lived in the land of Greece and were the Greeks (1 Chronicles 1:5, 7; Isaiah 66:19; Ezekiel 27:13). The book of Daniel even describes the empire of Alexander the Great, which confirms that Javan means Greece. When Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint), they often replaced the name Javan with the word for "Greek." This happens in passages such as Daniel 8:21; 10:20; 11:2; Zechariah 9:13; and Joel 3:6.
In the New Testament, the word "Greek" appears to have the special sense of Hellenist, referring to Jews living in Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) cities (Acts 6:1; 9:29; 11:20). The word in John 12:20, Acts 14:1, and 16:1–3 seems to refer to Greeks specifically. But often in the New Testament the word "Greek" was used to mean "non-Jews." The Jews recognized only Jews and non-Jews, so the word was virtually synonymous with gentiles (Romans 1:16; 10:12; 1 Corinthians 1:22, 24; Galatians 2:3; 3:28).
Sometimes the word "Greek" refers to the language (John 19:20; Acts 21:37; Revelation 9:11). The use of the word "Greek" for the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:26) may be a cultural word. Acts refers to Greeks in the synagogues as observers. These may have been Greeks, it is uncertain (Acts 14:1; 17:4; 18:4).
Geography
The ancient Greek homeland comprised the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. But Greek language speakers lived in the islands of the Aegean Sea, western Asia Minor, south Italy, and Sicily.
The Emergence of Greek Culture
After the Persian Wars ended (497 BC), Athens entered into a remarkable period of greatness. Athens was rebuilt and its port of Piraeus was fortified. When the Athenian citizens embarked on a course of unrestricted rule by the people, chaos seemed to threaten. Pericles, a brilliant leader, restored the balance of the state and Athens soon regained glory.
Vast buildings were built on the Acropolis, notably the Parthenon (dedicated to Athena, the goddess of Athens). Athens became wealthy, partly from the contributions to the Delian League. Athenian sea power grew.
Many people lived in Athens:
slaves
artisans
craftsmen
foreign traders
artists
poets
philosophers
teachers
actors
athletes
scientists
physicians
historians
religious teachers
military and naval experts
Great writers of the fifth and early fourth centuries BC included:
dramatists like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes
historians like Thucydides and Herodotus
philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Great art and architecture thrived during this period. It was a golden age of spectacular achievement in art, thought, literature, and architecture.
The Age of Hellenism
Athens's power and influence declined before the fourth century BC was over. Philip of Macedon, with ambitions of empire, drove west. By 338 BC Athens and Thebes were overwhelmed. Greece became united into a Macedonian Empire. Philip was assassinated in 366 BC, but his son Alexander educated in the Athenian tradition, took up his father’s work. Before his own death in 323 BC, Philip conquered Persia and reached to the Punjab in India.
In the end, he controlled an area from the Caucasus (mountain region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea) to the Libyan Desert and the borders of Ethiopia as well. Alexander's vast territories were divided among four generals at his death. After some adjustments, three divisions emerged. Ptolemy ruled Egypt. Seleucus ruled Asia Minor, Syria, and the East. Antigonus ruled the third division, Macedonia.
The Greek area eventually came entirely under the control of the Romans, who moved into Greek areas in 198 BC. Over the years, they established Roman provinces, such as Achaia (Acts 18:12). It was into the world of Hellenism, now under Rome, that the Christians moved with the message of the good news about Jesus (the gospel) in the first century AD.
The Greeks in Palestine
Excavations have shown that there was contact between Palestine and the Aegean areas over many centuries.
From the middle Bronze period (the time of the early biblical fathers), middle Minoan II pottery has been found at some sites. The Philistines formed part of the Sea Peoples in the 13th century BC. They settled in areas of coastal Palestine and developed their own culture there, leaving a great deal of their pottery. Between 1370 and 1200 BC, various peoples from the Aegean and western Asia Minor found their way to Palestine.
Mycenaean pottery is a common artifact. Attic black-figure pottery artifacts from the sixth century BC indicate Greek presence. Attic red-figure pottery examples from the period around 530–300 BC exist as well.
Silver coins struck in imitation of Attic drachmas come from the same period. Greek influence increased with the rise of Hellenism. Eventually, Ptolemaic and Seleucid rulers occupied Palestine. Pottery artifacts and architectural features show Greek influence in Palestine. This influence extends throughout the Levant region.
With the coming of the Romans, these influences continued. Greek was the language of commerce. Indeed, the New Testament was written in the Greek of ordinary people. A wide variety of Greek inscriptions have come to light from Roman times.