VII. (1) THEN SAID THE HIGH PRIEST, ARE THESE THINGS SO? — The question was analogous to that put to our Lord. The accused was called on to plead guilty or not guilty, and had then an opportunity for his defence. On that defence we now enter.... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN, BRETHREN, AND FATHERS. — The discourse which follows presents many aspects, each of special interest. (1) It is clearly an unfinished fragment, interrupted by the clamours of the by-standers (Acts 7:51) — the _torso,_ as it were, of a great _apologia._ Its very incompleteness, the difficulty of... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THENCE, WHEN HIS FATHER WAS DEAD. — In Genesis 11:26; Genesis 11:32, Terah, the father of Abraham, is said to have died at the age of 205 years, and after he had reached the age of seventy to have begotten Abram, Nahor, and Haran; while Abraham in Genesis 12:4 is said to have been seventy-five... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE GAVE HIM NONE INHERITANCE. — The apparent exception of the field and cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23:9) was not a real one. That was purchased for a special purpose, not given as an inheritance.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THAT THEY SHOULD BRING THEM INTO BONDAGE... — Here again there is another apparent discrepancy of detail. Taking the common computation, the interval between the covenant with Abraham and that with Moses was 430 years (Galatians 3:17), of which only 215 are reckoned as spent in Egypt. The Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THAT SHALL THEY COME FORTH. — The verse combines the promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:17 with a free rendering of the sign given to Moses (Exodus 3:12), which referred not to Canaan but to Horeb. What St. Stephen does is to substitute with the natural freedom of a narrative given from memo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE GAVE HIM THE COVENANT... — Here we trace an indirect reference to the charge that he had spoken “against the customs.” He does not deny the specific charge that he had said that Jesus of Nazareth should change them. He probably had taught that the change was about to come. He does assert (1)... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PATRIARCHS, MOVED WITH ENVY. — This, interpreted by what follows, is the first step in the long induction which is to show that the elect of God had always been opposed and rejected by those who were for the time the representatives of the nation. Envy had actuated the patriarchs when they sold... [ Continue Reading ]
(11-14) NOW THERE CAME A DEARTH... — So far as we can trace the sequence of thought, there seems the suggested inference that as those who, in the history of Joseph, had persecuted him, came afterwards to be dependent on his bounty, so it might prove to be, in the last parallel which the history of... [ Continue Reading ]
THREESCORE AND FIFTEEN SOULS. — Seventy is given as the number, including Jacob, Joseph, and his sons, in Genesis 46:27; Exodus 1:5; Deuteronomy 10:22. Here, however, Stephen had the authority of the LXX. of Genesis 46:27, which gives the number at seventy-five, and makes it up by inserting the son... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WERE CARRIED OVER INTO SYCHEM. — The words appear to include Jacob, who was buried not at Sychem, but Machpelah (Genesis 1:13). If we limit the verb to the patriarchs, which is in itself a tenable limitation, we are met by the fresh difficulty that the Old Testament contains no record of the bur... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH GOD HAD SWORN TO ABRAHAM. — The better MSS. give, _which God promised. _... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH KNEW NOT JOSEPH. — The idiom was originally a Hebrew one, for “not remembering, not caring for;” but as the words are quoted from the LXX. they do not affect the question as to the language in which the speech was delivered.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THAT THEY CAST OUT THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN. — Literally, _to make their children cast out so that they should not be brought forth alive._ The latter verb is used in the LXX. narrative (Exodus 1:17).... [ Continue Reading ]
EXCEEDING FAIR. — Literally, as in the margin, _fair to God._ The adjective is found in the LXX. of Exodus 2:2, as applied to Moses. The special idiom for expressing pre-eminent excellence is itself essentially Hebrew, the highest goodness being thought of as that which approves itself as good to Go... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES WAS LEARNED IN ALL THE WISDOM OF THE EGYPTIANS. — Better, _was trained,_ or _instructed._ There is no direct statement to this effect in the history of the Pentateuch, but it was implied in Moses being brought up as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and was in harmony with later paraphrases and e... [ Continue Reading ]
IT CAME INTO HIS HEART. — The distinct purpose in going out to look after his brethren is stated somewhat more emphatically than in Exodus 2:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AVENGED HIM. — The Greek phrase is noticeable as identical with that used by St. Luke (Luke 18:7) in reporting the lesson drawn by our Lord from the parable of the Unjust Judge.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE SUPPOSED HIS BRETHREN WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD... — Better, _and he supposed._ The Greek conjunction never has the meaning of “for,” and the insertion of that word gives to the act of slaying the Egyptian a deliberate character which, in the narrative of Exodus 2:11, does not belong to it. WOUL... [ Continue Reading ]
WOULD HAVE SET THEM AT ONE AGAIN. — Literally, _brought them to peace._ The better MSS. give “was bringing them.” SIRS. — Literally, _Ye are brethren,_ without any word of address. The phrase is the same as “we be brethren” in Genesis 13:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO MADE THEE A RULER AND A JUDGE? — The stress laid on this afterwards, in Acts 7:35, shows that it took its place in the induction which was to show that the whole history of Israel had been marked by the rejection of those who were, at each successive stage, God’s ministers and messengers for its... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN FLED MOSES AT THIS SAYING. — The rapid survey of the history passes over the intermediate link of Pharaoh’s knowledge of the murder of the Egyptian, and his search for Moses.... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS. — With the exception of the substitution of Sina, or Sinai, for the less familiar Horeb, the fact is stated in nearly the same words as in Exodus 3:2. The reference to this revelation, besides the bearing it had on the main argument of the speech, was indirec... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VOICE OF THE LORD CAME UNTO HIM. — The speech agrees with Exodus 3:4 in ascribing the voice to the Lord, the Eternal, while the visible manifestation was that of the angel of the Lord. It hardly belongs to the interpretation of the speech to discuss the relation between the two statements. Speak... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM. — It is probable, on the assumption that Stephen had been one of the Seventy disciples of Luke 10:1, that he knew that these words had been cited by the Lord Jesus (Matthew 22:32) as witnessing against the unbelief of the Sadducees. In any case, the fact could hardly have been fo... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID THE LORD TO HIM.... — The words are almost a verbal reproduction of Exodus 3:5; Exodus 3:7. The citation was in part an implied answer to the charge of disregarding the sanctity of places in which man stands as in the presence of God, partly an implied protest against the narrowing thought... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAME DID GOD SEND TO BE A RULER AND A DELIVERER. — Literally, _a ruler and redeemer._ The word is not found elsewhere in the New Testament, but is formed from the noun for “ransom” in Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45, and appears to have been chosen to emphasise the parallelism which the speech indicat... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THAT HE HAD SHEWED WONDERS AND SIGNS. — The two nouns are joined together, as in Deuteronomy 6:22; Matthew 24:24. The words express different relations, it may be, of the same phenomena, rather than phenomena specifically different; — the first emphasising the wonder which the miracle produces... [ Continue Reading ]
A PROPHET SHALL THE LORD YOUR GOD RAISE UP. — The parallelism previously suggested is now distinctly proclaimed, and shown to be a fulfilment of the prediction of Deuteronomy 18:18. The prediction itself is cited freely, as before. (See Note on Acts 3:22.) The definite application of the words by St... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WAS IN THE CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS. — The word _ecclesia_ is used, as it had been in the LXX. (Deuteronomy 18:16; Deuteronomy 23:1; Psalms 26:12), for the “congregation” of Israel. Of the earlier versions. Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Genevan, had given “congregation.” Even the Rhemish contented... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WHOM OUR FATHERS WOULD NOT OBEY. — The historical parallelism is continued. The people rejected Moses then (the same word is used as in Acts 7:27) as they were rejecting Christ now, even after He had shown Himself to be their redeemer from a worse than Egyptian bondage. IN THEIR HEARTS TURNED BA... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE US GODS. — The speech follows the LXX. and the English version of Exodus 32:4 in giving the plural, but it is probable that the Hebrew, E_lohim,_ was used in its ordinary sense as singular _in_ meaning, though plural in form, and that the sin of the Golden Calf was thus a transgression of the S... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY MADE A CALF. — The fact is stated in a compound word which is not found in the LXX. version, and which St. Stephen apparently coined for the purpose. REJOICED IN THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS. — The verb expresses specially the joy of a feast, as in Luke 15:23; Luke 15:29; Luke 16:19; and is th... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOST OF HEAVEN. — The word includes the host or army of the firmament, sun, moon, and stars, as in 2 Chronicles 33:3; 2 Chronicles 33:5; Jeremiah 8:2. The sin of Israel was that it worshipped the created host, instead of Jehovah Sabaoth, the “Lord of hosts.” IN THE BOOK OF THE PROPHETS. — The t... [ Continue Reading ]
YE TOOK UP THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH. — The verb implies the up-lifting of the tabernacle of Moloch, in the same manner as the ark was borne (Exodus 25:14; 1 Kings 2:26), as a sacred ensign in the march of the Israelites. The Hebrew word for “tabernacle” (_Siccuth_) is an unusual one, and may have be... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS. — The word was applied by the LXX. to the Tabernacle, as in Numbers 9:15; Numbers 17:7, as containing the Two Tables of Stone, which were emphatically the testimony of what was God’s will as the rule of man’s conduct (Exodus 25:16; Exodus 25:21; Exodus 31:18). It should be... [ Continue Reading ]
BROUGHT IN WITH JESUS. — This is, of course, as in Hebrews 4:8, the “Joshua” of the Old Testament. It would, perhaps, have been better, as a general rule, to have reproduced the Hebrew rather than the Greek form of Old Testament names in the English version of the New. On the other hand, there is, i... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO FOUND FAVOUR BEFORE GOD. — Again we trace, though still in the form of a narrative, an indirect answer to the accusation brought against Stephen. He was ready to acknowledge without reserve that the Temple was planned by the man after God’s own heart, and built by the wisest of the sons of men.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT THE MOST HIGH DWELLETH NOT IN TEMPLES. — The sequel shows the impression which these words made on the hearers. Stephen had risen to the truth which, though it had been proclaimed before, had been practically dormant. It broke down the thought of any exclusive holiness in the Temple, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
YE STIFFNECKED AND UNCIRCUMCISED... — The sudden change of tone from calm argument to vehement indignation cannot be thought of as spontaneous. The excitement of the Sanhedrin, perhaps of the listening crowd also, at this point, would seem to have become uncontrollable. The accused seemed to them to... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH OF THE PROPHETS HAVE NOT YOUR FATHERS PERSECUTED? — St. Stephen echoes, as it were, our Lord’s own words (Matthew 5:12; Luke 13:34). Every witness for the truth had in his day had to suffer. The prophet was not only “without honour,” but was exposed to shame, treated as an enemy, condemned to... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HAVE RECEIVED... — More accurately, _who received._ BY THE DISPOSITION OF ANGELS. — Better, _as ordained of angels;_ or, more literally, _as ordinances of angels._ The Greek preposition cannot possibly have the meaning of “by.” The phrase expressed the current Jewish belief that angels were the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WERE CUT TO THE HEART. — Literally, _were sawn through and through._ (See Note on Acts 5:33.) The word describes a keener pang than the “pricked” of Acts 2:37, producing, not repentance, but the frenzy of furious anger. THEY GNASHED ON HIM WITH THEIR TEETH. — The passage is worth noting as the... [ Continue Reading ]
BEING FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST. — There is something suggestive in the fact that this description comes at the close, as at the beginning, of the record of St. Stephen’s work (Acts 6:8). From first to last he had been conspicuous as manifesting the power of the higher life which had, as it were, illum... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I SEE THE HEAVENS OPENED. — It is manifest that the vision was given to the inward spiritual eye, and not to that of sense. No priest or scribe saw the glory of the opened heavens, and, therefore, the words which declared that Stephen saw them seemed to them but an aggravation of guilt that... [ Continue Reading ]
RAN UPON HIM WITH ONE ACCORD. — The violence reported presents a singular contrast to the general observance of the forms of a fair trial in our Lord’s condemnation. Then, however, we must remember, the Roman procurator was present in Jerusalem. Now all restraint was removed, and fanaticism had full... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STONED HIM. — Literally, _were stoning him._ The verb is repeated in Acts 7:59, as if to show that the shower of stones went on even during the martyr’s prayers. THE WITNESSES LAID DOWN THEIR CLOTHES. — The Law required, as if to impress on witnesses their solemn responsibility, that they shoul... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD JESUS, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT. — The words are memorable as an instance of direct prayer addressed, to use the words of Pliny in reporting what he had learned of the worship of Christians, “to Christ as God” (_Epist_ x. 97). Stephen could not think of Him whom he saw at the right hand of God, but as... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, LAY NOT THIS SIN TO THEIR CHARGE. — Here again we cannot help finding proof, not only that the mind of Stephen was after the mind of Christ, but that the narrative of the Crucifixion, as recorded by St. Luke, was, in some measure, known to him. The resemblance to the prayer of Christ, “Father,... [ Continue Reading ]