Acts 6:5

All seven men whom the congregation chose had Greek names. Luke gave the impression by using only Greek names that these seven were from the Hellenistic group in the church, though many Palestinian Jews at this time had Greek names. Thus Hellenists appear to have been given responsibility for settling a Hellenist complaint, a wise approach.

"One commentator has called it the first example of affirmative action-’Those with political power generally repressed complaining minorities; here the apostles hand the whole system over to the offended minority.’" [Note: Witherington, p. 248. His quotation is from Craig Keener, Bible Background Commentary, p. 338.]

Stephen and Philip appear later in Acts in important roles as apologist and evangelist respectively. Luke did not mention Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas again. Nicolas was a Gentile who had become a Jew by the proselyte process and then became a Christian. He came from Antioch of Syria, which Luke may have mentioned because of Antioch’s later prominence as a center of Christianity. Traditionally Antioch was Luke’s hometown. Tradition also links this Nicolas with the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6; Revelation 2:15), but this connection is questionable since there is no solid evidence to support it. Many Jews lived in Syria because of its proximity to Judea, and most of these lived in the city of Antioch. [Note: Irena Levinskaya, The Book of Acts in Its Diaspora Setting, p. 128.]