Thus it came to pass that as disciples were multiplied, the enemy succeeded in arousing the suspicions of some who had formerly been in the habit of looking with jealousy on their brethren in the faith and of finding fault with their spiritual leaders, and so "there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews." The cause of complaint was an alleged neglect of the Greek widows in the daily distribution of assistance. Any inequality would have been contrary to the spirit of the gospel, yet Satan had succeeded in arousing suspicion. Prompt measures must now be taken to remove all occasion for dissatisfaction, lest the enemy triumph in his effort to bring about a division among the believers.

Derfor skete det, at da disciplenes antal forøgedes, lykkedes det fjenden at vække mistanke hos nogle, der tidligere havde været vant til at betragte deres brødre i troen med skinsyge og til at kritisere deres åndelige ledere; og derfor "begyndte de græsktalende jødekristne at knurre imod de hebraisktalende." Grunden til klagen var en påstand om, at de græske enker blev forsømt ved den daglige uddeling af hjælp. Enhver ulighed ville have været i modstrid med evangeliets ånd, og dog var det lykkedes Satan at vække mistanke. Der måtte hurtigt tages forholdsregler for at fjerne enhver anledning til misfornøjelse, for at ikke fjenden skulle triumfere i sine bestræbelser for at bringe splittelse blandt de troende.