Judaizers
Christians who insist that their co-religionists should follow the Law of Moses
The Judaizers were a faction of the Jewish Christians, both of Jewish and non-Jewish origins, who regarded the Levitical laws of the Old Testament as still binding on all Christians. They tried to enforce Jewish circumcision upon the Gentile converts to early Christianity and were strenuously opposed and criticized for their behavior by the Apostle Paul, who employed many of his epistles to refute their doctrinal positions.
The term is derived from the Koine Greek word Ἰουδαΐζειν (Ioudaizein), used once in the Greek New Testament (Galatians 2:14), when Paul publicly challenged the Apostle Peter for compelling Gentile converts to early Christianity to "judaize". This episode is known as the incident at Antioch.
Most Christians believe that much of the Old Covenant has been superseded, and many believe it has been completely abrogated and replaced by the Law of Christ. The Christian debate over judaizing began in the lifetime of the apostles, notably at the Council of Jerusalem and the incident at Antioch. It has been carried on parallel to continuing debates about Paul the Apostle and Judaism, Protestant views of the Ten Commandments, and Christian ethics.
Origin
The meaning of the verb judaize, from which the noun Judaizer is derived, is derived from its various historical uses. Its biblical meaning is inferred and is not clearly defined beyond its obvious relationship to the word "Jew". The Anchor Bible Dictionary, for example, says: "The clear implication is that gentiles are being compelled to live according to Jewish customs."
The word Judaizer comes from judaize, which is seldom used in English Bible translations (an exception is the Young's Literal Translation for Galatians 2:14).
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1710868. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Judaizers” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.