3 EKOBEE

“Kaɛ Edɔɔ̄ Bee Mma Loo Dɛ̄dɛɛ̄ Aba”

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Nu a bee sira sɔ̄ kaɛ edɔɔ̄ Bari bee mma nyɔɔ pya nɛɛ bie Pɛntikɔst

1. Baatɛ̄ nu a wee sira bie Doonu Pɛntikɔst.

JERUSALEM—THE CENTER OF JUDAISM

Much of the action of the first chapters of Acts takes place in Jerusalem. This city stands among the hills of Judea’s central mountain range, about 34 miles (55 km) east of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1070 B.C.E., King David conquered the hilltop fortress of Mount Zion, located here, and the city that grew up around it became the capital of the ancient nation of Israel.

Close by Mount Zion stands Mount Moriah, where, according to ancient Jewish tradition, Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac, some 1,900 years before the events described in Acts. Mount Moriah became part of the city when Solomon built the first temple of Jehovah atop it. This edifice came to be the focal point of Jewish public life and worship.

It was to Jehovah’s temple that all devout Jews regularly gathered from all over the inhabited earth to sacrifice, worship, and observe seasonal festivals. They did so in obedience to God’s command: “Three times a year, all your males should appear before Jehovah your God in the place that he chooses.” (Deut. 16:16) Jerusalem was also the seat of the Great Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court and national administrative council.

2. Amunu nu alu nyɛŋia na a bee sira bie Pɛntikɔst bu zua 33 C.E. a?

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3. (a) Ena anua i dap kɔ Pɛntikɔst 33 C.E. dap lu ekue dee a kuī bu eloh kere akiiloo kaka taāŋabah a? (b) Bu mɛ sīdee na ue Pita gbaaloo ue a kɔ “igarabū loo Buɛ̄-mɛnɛ” a?

³ Buū bu English

“Dɛ̄dɛɛ̄ Aba Bee Bɔŋanaloo Aba Dɔ” (Doonu 2:1-4)

4. Bu mɛ sīdee na bɔŋanaloo Pya Nɛɛ Kraist bu ilii dee ama kiisī lo esitam a wee lu esi bu bɔŋanaloo a bee lu eyere bu zua 33 C.E. a?

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5. Amunu leelee na pya a bee su loo biiloo bɔŋanaloo Pya Nɛɛ Kraist bu tua sɔ̄ o’oo tup zua a, le nii’ee ɛrɛ a?

⁵ Buū bu English

ROME—CAPITAL OF AN EMPIRE

During the period of time covered by the book of Acts, Rome was the largest and politically the most important city in the then-known world. It was the capital of an empire that at its peak dominated lands stretching from Britain to North Africa and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf.

Rome was a melting pot of cultures, races, languages, and superstitions. A network of well-maintained roads brought travelers and merchandise from every corner of the empire. At the nearby port of Ostia, ships that plied busy trade routes unloaded foodstuffs and luxury goods destined for the city.

By the first century C.E., well over a million people lived in Rome. Perhaps half of the population were slaves—condemned criminals, children sold or abandoned by their parents, and prisoners captured during campaigns by the Roman legions. Among those brought to Rome as slaves were Jews from Jerusalem, following the conquest of that city by Roman General Pompey in 63 B.C.E.

Most of the free population were paupers, who lived in crowded multistory housing and depended on government subsidies. The emperors, however, adorned their capital with some of the most magnificent public buildings ever seen. Among them were theaters and great stadiums that offered such spectacles as stage performances, gladiatorial contests, and chariot racing—all free for the entertainment of the masses.

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8. Amunu yerebah na i ɛrɛ aāloo bɔŋanaloo Pya Nɛɛ Kraist a?

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“Ziī Ziī Nɛɛ Bee Wa Dā . . . Bu Ye Muɛ̄ Ue” (Doonu 2:5-13)

“We hear them speaking in our languages about the magnificent things of God.”—Acts 2:11

9, 10. Bu mɛ sīdee na pio nɛɛ esua loo nɛ lo ezue ue nɛ pya nɛɛ a kɔ dɔɔ̄na muɛ̄ ue a?

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11. Bu mɛ sīdee na i kpɛ̄naloo ezue le yereue nɛ pya nɛɛ a kɔ dɔɔ̄na muɛ̄ ue a?

¹¹ Buū bu English

JEWS IN MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT

The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–A.D. 135) states: “In Mesopotamia, Media and Babylonia lived the descendants of members of the kingdom of the ten tribes [of Israel], and of the kingdom of Judah, once deported there by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.” According to Ezra 2:64, only 42,360 Israelites returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile. This took place in 537 B.C.E. Flavius Josephus remarks that in the first century C.E., the Jews who “dwelt about Babylonia” numbered into the tens of thousands. In the third to the fifth centuries C.E., these communities produced the work known as the Babylonian Talmud.

Documentary evidence exists of a Jewish presence in Egypt at least as early as the sixth century B.C.E. During that period, Jeremiah directed a message to Jews living in various localities of Egypt, including Memphis. (Jer. 44:1, ftn.) It is likely that large numbers immigrated to Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Josephus says that Jews were among the first settlers of Alexandria. In time, an entire section of this city was allotted to them. In the first century C.E., Jewish writer Philo asserted that a million of his fellow countrymen lived throughout Egypt, from “the side of Libya to the boundaries of Ethiopia.”

“Pita Yira Yah” (Doonu 2:14-37)

12. (a) Ena nɛɛ mɔmanudɛɛ̄ Joel kɔ lo a gbaaloo nu a bee sira bie Pɛntikɔst 33 C.E. a? (b) Ena anua pya a wee nyɔɔnɛ dumɛ Jizɔs bee ɛmadɛɛ̄ kɔ mɔmanudɛɛ̄ Joel edooa gbɔ̄mɛɛ bu tua sɔ̄ o’oo tup zua a?

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13, 14. Bu mɛ sīdee na Pita bee ina bu beenyiɛ pya a bee ye gbaɛ̄tɔ̄loo a, e i dap nɔ ye edoba doodoo wa?

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CHRISTIANITY IN PONTUS

Among those who heard Peter’s speech at Pentecost 33 C.E. were Jews from Pontus, a district of northern Asia Minor. (Acts 2:9) Evidently, some of them took the good news back to their homeland, for those to whom Peter addressed his first letter included believers who were “scattered about” in such places as Pontus. a (1 Pet. 1:1) His writing reveals that these Christians had been “distressed by various trials” because of their faith. (1 Pet. 1:6) Likely, this included opposition and persecution.

Further tests faced by Christians in Pontus are alluded to in correspondence between Pliny the Younger, governor of the Roman province of Bithynia and Pontus, and Emperor Trajan. Writing from Pontus in about 112 C.E., Pliny reported that the “contagion” of Christianity threatened everyone, regardless of gender, age, or rank. Pliny gave those accused of being Christians opportunity to deny it, and those who would not, he executed. Any who cursed Christ or recited a prayer to the gods or to Trajan’s statue were released. Pliny acknowledged that these were things that “those who are really Christians cannot be made to do.”

a The phrase rendered “scattered about” comes from a Greek word that means “of the Diaspora.” The term has Jewish overtones, indicating that many of the first converts were from Jewish communities.

‘Doolo Ziī Ziī Bui Liamaā’ (Doonu 2:38-47)

15. (a) Ena Pita bee kɔ a, e ena a bee sira aabu a? (b) Ena anua gbɛnɛ-edo nɛɛ a bee dā le yereue bie Pɛntikɔst bee nyim tura lo eliamaā aba lo dee a?

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WHO WERE THE PROSELYTES?

“Both Jews and proselytes” heard Peter’s preaching at Pentecost 33 C.E.—Acts 2:10.

Among the qualified men appointed to care for the “necessary matter” of the daily distribution of food was Nicolaus, who is identified as “a proselyte of Antioch.” (Acts 6:3-5) Proselytes were Gentiles, that is, non-Jews, who had converted to Judaism. They were considered Jews in all respects, since they accepted the God and the Law of Israel, rejected all other gods, underwent circumcision (if male), and joined themselves to the nation of Israel.

After the Jews were released from exile in Babylon in 537 B.C.E., many settled far from the land of Israel but continued to practice Judaism. By this means, people throughout the ancient Near East and beyond became acquainted with the Jewish religion. Ancient writers, such as Horace and Seneca, testify that multitudes in different lands who were attracted to the Jews and their beliefs joined their communities and became proselytes.

16. Bu mɛ sīdee na Pya Nɛɛ Kraist bu tua sɔ̄ o’oo tup zua bee ɛrɛ elap dogo su loo waāna zɔɔ a?

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17. Pya ena alu ebɛɛ̄ kɔ nɛɛ a doo lɛɛ a gae nyim tura lo eliamaā a?

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18. Amunu dee na a kpaā nɛ pya a gaa nyɔɔnɛ dumɛ Kraist ba eliamaā a?

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