‘Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women’. (Acts 17, 4). When Paul preached in the synagogue in Thessaloniki, he was addressing the Jewish inhabitants of the city, in accordance with Christ’s instruction, which became standard practice for him: he would speak first to his co-religionists for whom he was especially concerned, judging by the epistles (Rom. 9-11). Thereafter he would turn his attention to the pagans. In the specific case of Thessaloniki, after Paul had preached for three Sabbaths in the synagogue, the results, as regards conversions, were limited: ‘some of them were persuaded’. But of the devout Greeks, that is those ...
