God-Worshipers and God-Fearers

Some gentiles attached themselves to Judaism by worshiping in synagogues and observing some laws and traditions, even as they retained a non-Jewish identity. Josephus distinguishes Jews from “those who worship God,” or God-worshipers (Greek: theosebeis, sebomenoi). Depending on context, the term God-fearers (Greek: phoboumenoi, Latin: metuentes, or Hebrew: yir’ei shamayim) can be applied to Jews or gentiles. When referring to gentiles, it may connote a gentile who has affiliated to some degree with Jewish observance and tradition, as is suggested in the Josephus text. Philo asserts that the term proselyte (the Septuagint Greek translation for Hebrew ger, sometimes translated into English as “sojourner”) can refer not only to persons who undergo circumcision and thereby join the covenant but also to persons of moral character who take “refuge in God the savior.”

The rabbinic texts here make a distinction between full converts and yir’ei shamayim. Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Nezikin 18, interprets Exodus 22:20, the same text discussed by Philo in an excerpt included here. The Mekhilta describes four categories of worshipers of God, including heaven-fearers and full converts. The final text, y. Megillah 1:10, 72b, seeks to determine whether the Roman emperor Antoninus was a full convert to Judaism or a sympathizer who observed some, but not all, Jewish practices (see “Antoninus and Judah the Prince”).