Early Jewish Diaspora Communities: Antioch

The city of Antioch was founded by Seleucus I Nicator around 300 BCE and remained under Seleucid control until it fell to the Romans in 64 BCE. Textual evidence for early Jewish settlers in Antioch comes from Josephus, who claims that the Jews settled there amid quite favorable relations with the Seleucid king. Most scholars view these earliest settlers as retired military men, either immigrating from Babylon or perhaps even indigenous to the region. While Josephus claims the city contained a sizable Jewish population, the Jewish communities of ancient Antioch do not figure prominently in either the late Second Temple discussion of Jewish sectarianism or the later emergence of rabbinic Judaism. However, many scholars have offered some limited discussion of the Jewish community of Antioch in relation to the subsequent development of Christianity in that city. The New Testament book of Acts, for example, appears to reflect a time when the early Christians—still very much rooted in their Judaism—were forming fellowship communities in Antioch.