Berean Fact Sheet Number 004

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The Name “Berean”
Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Larry G. Overton

About a decade ago a house fellowship I was part of helped to sponsor a Christian concert in our community. Although we did not request it, the concert promoters took it upon themselves to announce the names of the sponsors at the beginning of the concert. The announcer was a disk jockey from a local Christian radio station. When the time came for her to announce our name (Berean Christian Fellowship), she stumbled over its pronunciation, finally settling upon what for the world sounded like “Buryin’ Christian Fellowship.” The first thing that passed through my mind at that moment was “Apparently we’re killing them here in Corpus Christi!”

This young DJ is not alone in her ignorance of the name “Berean” (pronounced Bear-ee-an, by the way). In my experience, many Christians are unfamiliar with the name. And in my opinion, that’s something we need to change. This particular fact sheet, therefore, is dedicated to educating the body of Christ as to the significance of the name “Berean.”

To begin with, Christians should know this, if for no other reason, because it is a Biblical name. Berea (the modern spelling is Verria) is the name of a city located 50 miles southwest of Thessalonica that Paul visited on his second missionary journey. After several weeks of preaching the Gospel in the synagogue at Thessalonica, the Jews became jealous of the reception Paul was getting, and they started a riot. The new Thessalonian believers responded by sending Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. True to form, Paul preached the Gospel in their synagogue as well, this time with more favorable results.

It is that favorable reception the Bereans gave to the Gospel that makes their name so significant. At this point, let me let the Scriptures speak for themselves.

11 And these [in Berea] were nobler than those in Thessalonica, inasmuch as they favorably received for themselves the message with all eagerness, investigating the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. [Acts 17:11, LGO]

The Jews of Berea were said to be “nobler” than the Thessalonian Jews. This was not simply man’s assessment of their character, but the Lord’s. The Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write these words describing the Bereans. I don’t know how this affects you, but when I read about someone in Scripture that the Spirit of God commends, that gets my attention. I want to know what they did right so that I may follow their example. After all, I want to please my Lord, to hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant.” So, in that spirit, just what was it that was so “noble” about the Bereans? What did they do to merit this divine compliment?

Receptivity

First of all, these Bereans were receptive, or, as our text says, “they received the message with great eagerness.” The “message” they were receptive to was of course the Gospel, the good news about salvation in Jesus their Messiah. The Greek word for “received” is edexanto (ε̉δέξαντο, the aorist tense, middle voice, indicative mood, third person plural form of the verb dechomai [δέχομαι]) which means “to take with the hand, to take up, to receive favorably, to embrace, to make one’s own.” The picture presented here is that of the Bereans extending their hands, metaphorically speaking, to favorably receive the Gospel. They were ready to embrace this revelation of the Messiah, to receive this teaching, even though it was new to them.

Their disposition toward the Gospel message is further described by the Greek term prothumias [προθυμίας], which means “zeal, eagerness.” It is a word that is found only four times in the NT: here, and three times in 2 Corinthians ( 8:11, 19; 9:2). In these three references, Paul is describing the “eagerness” the Corinthians had in giving aid to the assemblies in Judea. Here in Acts 17:11, the word describes the Berean receptivity to the good news as “great eagerness,” or more literally, “with all eagerness.”

Objectivity

And yet the Bereans were not gullible. The word translated “investigated” (or “examined,” or “searched,” depending on your translation) is anakrinontes [α̉νακρίνοντες], the present participle, active voice, nominative case, masculine plural form of the verb anakrinō [α̉νακρίνω], which means “to question, examine; judge, evaluate; sit in judgment on, call to account.” The use of this word here suggests that the Bereans conducted a thorough investigation of the Scriptures. The word is also a present active participle, which means it was an ongoing investigation. The conclusion that this was indeed an ongoing investigation into the Scriptures is supported by the word “daily.”

So we see that the openness of the Bereans was not characterized by an uncritical acceptance of whatever was the latest wind of doctrine. On the contrary, they knew that there was an objective standard by which doctrine was to be tested. That standard was the Scriptures, which in their day was the Hebrew Scriptures (what we would refer to as the Old Testament). They knew that if Paul’s message about Jesus of Nazareth was true, it would stand up under the scrutiny of the prophetic Scriptures. The Bereans therefore examined the Scriptures for themselves on a daily basis to be sure they were being told the truth.

Conclusion

Putting all of this word study information together, we find that the Bereans were open to favorably receiving with complete eagerness the message concerning Jesus the Messiah. They were open. . .they were teachable. . .they were receptive. And yet they were not gullible. They balanced their willingness to receive something new to them by careful and consistent scrutiny of God’s Word. They were objective. In fact, you could say that they had a receptive objectivity. And for this, they were commended of the Lord.

It is this “nobler” attitude that I believe needs to be present in our own day. I have chosen the name “Berean” for my Bible Study Pages for the very reasons just mentioned in this Fact Sheet. I also believe that every person professing to be a Christian should want to emulate the example of the Bereans of old. We should strive to reach the goal of being open and receptive while at the same time maintaining the balance of objectivity based on the Word of God.