6:5

Stephen, . . . Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus: All seven of these names are Greek, raising the possibility that from among all the qualified men available in the Jerusalem congregation, the apostles selected Greek-speaking Jews or proselytes. However, Nicolaus is the only one called a proselyte of Antioch, which suggests that he may have been the only non-Jew of the group. The Greek names of the others were common even among natural Jews. Still, the apostles, acting as a governing body, seem to have chosen these particular men out of consideration for the feelings of the Greek-speaking Jews.​—Ac 6:1-6.

Antioch: This city, mentioned here for the first time in the Bible, lay some 500 km (300 mi) N of Jerusalem. Antioch became the capital of the Roman province of Syria in 64 B.C.E. By the first century C.E., it was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. While Antioch of Syria was admired for its beauty and its extensive political, commercial, and cultural influence, the city also acquired a reputation for moral corruption. A sizable population of Jews in Antioch reportedly made many proselytes among the Greek-speaking people there. Nicolaus became such a proselyte and later converted to Christianity. Barnabas and the apostle Paul spent a year teaching in Antioch, and Paul used that city as the base from which he launched his missionary tours. It was first in Antioch that Christ’s followers “were by divine providence called Christians.” (See study notes on Ac 11:26.) This Antioch is not to be confused with Antioch in Pisidia, mentioned at Ac 13:14.​—See study note on Ac 13:14 and App. B13.