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Glite Dictionary
🧔 Sect member ✡️ Jewish-Christian
Ebionite

Ebionite

1 9.9
A person from an early Jewish Christian group who followed Jewish law and accepted Jesus as the promised savior
  • noun
  • /ˈɛbiəˌnaɪt/
  • Specialized
: ebionita
  • Several ancient texts describe the beliefs of the Ebionites in detail.

Examples

  • The Ebionite community followed strict dietary laws.

  • The Ebionites maintained strict observance of Jewish law while accepting Jesus as the Messiah.

  • Modern scholars have debated the historical influence of the Ebionites on early Christianity.

  • Many Ebionites rejected the writings of Paul.

  • The Ebionite community followed Jewish law while recognizing Jesus as the Messiah.

  • In ancient times, an Ebionite would have emphasized adherence to Jewish traditions.

  • Many scholars study the beliefs of the Ebionites to understand early Christianity.

Synonyms

Nazarene
vsEbionite
7 9.9

An early follower of Jesus of Nazareth

is a narrower group that kept Jewish law and rejected Pauline epistles

Surface Forms

Ebionite singular
Ebionites plural

Morphology

Ebionite = Ebion (semi-transparent) = Ebion + ite

The suffix '-ite' indicates membership of a group, but the root 'Ebion' is an unfamiliar proper name, so the full meaning is not obvious to most learners.

Etymology

Ebionite comes from the Hebrew word evyon, which means 'poor', since the people called themselves 'the poor' as they followed Jewish law and lived simply. So an Ebionite is a member of that early Jewish-Christian group.