Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Acts 7:46

οἴκῳ for θεῷ with אBDH. Vulg. has ‘Deo.’

46. εὑρεῖν σκήνωμα τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ, to find a tabernacle for the house of Jacob. This is the reading preferred by most critics. Tischendorf says ‘τῷ οἴκῳ minime sensu caret, sed facile apparet cur τῷ θεῷ a tot testibus cum omnibus interpretibus substitutum sit.’

The text must mean ‘to find a fit place in which the house of Jacob might worship.’ But the reference is so clearly to Psalms 132:5, ‘until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob,’ that it seems impossible to accept the evidence of אBDH when ACEP and all the versions are on the other side.

Moreover St Stephen’s argument has nothing to do with the place of worship of the house of Israel, but with the fact that God’s tabernacle, where His presence dwelt, was frequently changed, and that David was anxious to change it again, having no feeling that God’s presence was tied to one place. On this Chrysostom says ὁρᾷς, ὅτι ἐκεῖ τόπος ἅγιός ἐστιν, ἔνθα ἂν ᾖ θεός.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Acts 7:46

Old Testament

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