The Synagogue of the Freedmen (Acts 6,9) and the Theodotos Inscription

Joanna Jaromin

Wrocław

Abstract

The first part is an attempt to interpret and identify the Synagogue of the Freedmen mentioned in Acts of the Apostles. Many commentators agree that they probably were the descendants of Jews who were kidnapped to be enslaved by Pompeius in 63 BCE, and, after the return from Rome, built a synagogue in Jerusalem — just like other Jews from diaspora did.
The second part deals with the inscription discovered in the years 1913–1914, which is regarded as a foundational inscription of the Synagogue of the Freedmen. There is no unanimity among the scholars with reference to this fact. But still, the inscription of Theodotos provides plenty of information on the functioning of synagogues existing in the first century in Jerusalem.