DISPERSED, DISPERSION.

DISPERSED', DISPER'SION. These terms are usually applied to the Jews who after their captivity, and during the time of the second temple,were scattered abroad through the earth. Jas 1:1; 1 Pet 1:1. In the time of Christ they were divided into three great sections — the Babylonian, the Syrian, and the Egyptian. The Epistles of James and Peter were addressed to them. Apostolic preaching followed the line of these Jewish settlements. The settlement of the Jews in Rome dates from the conquest of Palestine by Pompey, b.c. 63. But long ere this Jews became residents in other lands. Naturally, they gave up some of their distinctive customs. The thrice-a-year visitation of the temple was impossible. The temple in Jerusalem, although their national centre, was no longer their religious home. The synagogue became their usual place of meeting. Thus the loosening of the stiff hold of original Judaism prepared them for the change to the freedom of Christianity.