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Libertines
YOUNG
APE OPLE
’S
AD I CTI ONARY AOF A
SC R I PTU RAL •&•R E LI G I O U SATE R M S
The word Libertines appears only once in the KJV Bible. Evidently this was a group
of Jews who had been taken captive as Roman slaves under the Roman Emporer
Pompey. They were carred to Rome and architectural evidence has been found here
of a synagogue of the Libertines.
The reason these Jews were call Libertines was that at some time after their capture
and slavery, there were granted liberty by the Roman empire. Many of these Jews,
once set at liberty, chose to remain living in Rome. However, many would travel to
Jerusalem and spend time there before going back to their home in Rome.
They could properly be called “Freedmen” because that is exactly what the Roman
government did to them, freeing them from slavery. They were looked down on and
dissaproved of by the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes and elders dwelling in
Jerusalem and in Judea, because the Libertines were, for the most part, content to
dwell in Rome after they were freed from Roman bondage.
The only time the Libertines are mentioned is in regard to the martrydom of
Stephen as recorded in Acts 6 and 7. There (Acts 6:9) they allied with other Jews
from Cilica (Saul of Tarsus was from this province), from Alexandria in Egypt, and
from Cyrene (all Gentile lands where Ptolemy had placed many Jews originally
from Jerusalem and Judea.
The Libertines, though making their ‘home’ in Rome, built a synagogue in
Jerusalem and were faithful in attending there when visiting. It was there that the
dispute between these Jews and Stephen broke out.
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