1Der HohepriesterG749 aberG1161 sprachG2036: IstG1487 G2192 [denn]G686 diesesG5023 alsoG3779 ? 2Er aberG1161 sprachG5346: BrüderG80 undG2532 VäterG3962, höretG191! Der GottG2316 der HerrlichkeitG1391 erschienG3700 unseremG2257 VaterG3962 AbrahamG11, als er inG1722 MesopotamienG3318 warG5607, eheG4250 G2228 er inG1722 HaranG5488 wohnteG2730, 3undG2532 sprachG2036 zuG4314 ihmG846: "GeheG1831 ausG1537 deinemG4675 LandeG1093 undG2532 ausG1537 deinerG4675 VerwandtschaftG4772, undG2532 kommG1204 inG1519 das LandG1093, dasG3739 ich dirG4671 zeigenG1166 werdeG302 ". 4DaG5119 gingG1831 er ausG1537 dem LandeG1093 der ChaldäerG5466 und wohnteG2730 inG1722 HaranG5488; und von daG2547 übersiedelteG3351 er ihnG846, nachdemG3326 seinG846 VaterG3962 gestorbenG599 war, inG1519 diesesG5026 LandG1093, inG1519 welchemG3739 ihrG5210 jetztG3568 wohnetG2730. 5UndG2532 er gabG1325 ihmG846 keinG3756 ErbeG2817 darinG1722 G846, auch nichtG3761 einen FußbreitG4228 G968; undG2532 er verhießG1861, esG846 ihmG846 zumG1519 BesitztumG2697 zu gebenG1325 undG2532 seinemG846 SamenG4690 nachG3326 ihmG846, als erG846 keinG3756 KindG5043 hatteG5607. 6GottG2316 aberG1161 sprachG2980 alsoG3779: " SeinG846 SameG4690 wirdG2071 ein FremdlingG3941 seinG2071 inG1722 fremdemG245 LandeG1093, undG2532 man wirdG1402 ihnG846 knechtenG1402 undG2532 mißhandelnG2559 vierhundertG5071 JahreG2094. 7UndG2532 die NationG1484, welcherG3739 G1437 sie dienenG1398 werden, werdeG2919 ichG1473 richtenG2919 ", sprachG2036 GottG2316, "undG2532 danachG3326 G5023 werden sie ausziehenG1831 undG2532 mirG3427 dienenG3000 anG1722 diesemG5129 OrteG5117 ". 8UndG2532 er gabG1325 ihmG846 den BundG1242 der BeschneidungG4061; undG2532 alsoG3779 zeugteG1080 er den IsaakG2464 undG2532 beschnittG4059 ihnG846 am achtenG3590 TageG2250, undG2532 IsaakG2464 den JakobG2384, undG2532 JakobG2384 die zwölfG1427 PatriarchenG3966. 9UndG2532 die PatriarchenG3966, neidischG2206 auf JosephG2501, verkauftenG591 ihn nachG1519 ÄgyptenG125. UndG2532 GottG2316 warG2258 mitG3326 ihmG846 10undG2532 retteteG1807 ihnG846 ausG1537 allenG3956 seinenG846 DrangsalenG2347 undG2532 gabG1325 ihmG846 GunstG5485 undG2532 WeisheitG4678 vorG1726 PharaoG5328, dem KönigG935 von ÄgyptenG125; undG2532 er setzteG2525 ihnG846 zum VerwalterG2233 überG1909 ÄgyptenG125 undG2532 seinG846 ganzesG3650 HausG3624. 11Es kamG2064 aberG1161 eine HungersnotG3042 überG1909 das ganzeG3650 [Land]G1093 ÄgyptenG125 undG2532 KanaanG5477 undG2532 eine großeG3173 DrangsalG2347, undG2532 unsereG2257 VäterG3962 fandenG2147 keineG3756 SpeiseG5527. 12Als aberG1161 JakobG2384 hörteG191, daß inG1722 ÄgyptenG125 GetreideG4621 seiG5607, sandteG1821 er unsereG2257 VäterG3962 zum ersten MaleG4412 ausG1821. 13UndG2532 beimG1722 zweiten MaleG1208 wurdeG319 JosephG2501 von seinenG846 BrüdernG80 wiedererkanntG319, undG2532 dem PharaoG5328 wurdeG1096 das GeschlechtG1085 JosephsG2501 offenbarG5318. 14JosephG2501 aberG1161 sandte hinG649 und ließG3333 seinenG846 VaterG3962 JakobG2384 holenG3333 undG2532 dieG846 ganzeG3956 VerwandtschaftG4772, anG1722 fünfundsiebenzigG1440 G4002 SeelenG5590. 15JakobG2384 aberG1161 zog hinabG2597 nachG1519 ÄgyptenG125 undG2532 starbG5053, erG846 undG2532 unsereG2257 VäterG3962; 16undG2532 sie wurdenG3346 nachG1519 SichemG4966 hinübergebrachtG3346 undG2532 inG1722 die GrabstätteG3418 gelegtG5087, welcheG3739 AbrahamG11 für eine SummeG5092 GeldesG694 vonG3844 den SöhnenG5207 HemorsG1697, des VatersG3588 SichemsG4966, kaufteG5608. 17AlsG2531 aberG1161 die ZeitG5550 der VerheißungG1860 nahteG1448, welcheG3739 GottG2316 dem AbrahamG11 zugesagtG3660 hatte, wuchsG837 das VolkG2992 undG2532 vermehrte sichG4129 inG1722 ÄgyptenG125, 18bisG891 ein andererG2087 KönigG935 über Ägypten aufstandG450, derG3739 JosephG2501 nichtG3756 kannteG1492. 19DieserG3778 handelte mit ListG2686 gegen unserG2257 GeschlechtG1085 und mißhandelteG2559 dieG2257 VäterG3962, so daßG4160 sie ihreG846 KindleinG1025 aussetzenG1570 mußten, damitG1519 sie nichtG3361 am Leben bliebenG2225. 20InG1722 dieserG3739 ZeitG2540 wurdeG1080 MosesG3475 geborenG1080, undG2532 er warG2258 ausnehmendG2316 schönG791; undG3739 er wurdeG397 dreiG5140 MonateG3376 aufgezogenG397 inG1722 dem HauseG3624 desG846 VatersG3962. 21Als er aberG1161 ausgesetztG1620 worden war, nahmG337 ihnG846 die TochterG2364 PharaosG5328 zu sichG337 undG2532 zogG397 ihnG846 aufG397, sichG1438 zumG1519 SohneG5207. 22UndG2532 MosesG3475 wurde unterwiesenG3811 in allerG3956 WeisheitG4678 der ÄgypterG124; er warG2258 aberG1161 mächtigG1415 inG1722 seinen WortenG3056 undG2532 WerkenG2041. 23AlsG5613 erG846 aberG1161 ein AlterG5550 von vierzig JahrenG5063 erreicht hatteG4137, kamG305 es inG1909 seinemG846 HerzenG2588 aufG305, nachG1980 seinenG846 BrüdernG80, den SöhnenG5207 IsraelsG2474, zu sehenG1980. 24UndG2532 als er einenG5100 Unrecht leidenG91 sahG1492, verteidigteG292 er ihn undG2532 rächteG1557 G4160 den UnterdrücktenG2669, indem er den ÄgypterG124 erschlugG3960. 25Er meinteG3543 aberG1161, seineG846 BrüderG80 würden verstehenG4920, daßG3754 GottG2316 durchG1223 seineG846 HandG5495 ihnenG846 RettungG4991 gebeG1325; sie aberG1161 verstandenG4920 es nichtG3756. 26UndG5037 am folgendenG1966 TageG2250 zeigte er sichG3700 ihnenG846, als sie sich strittenG3164, undG2532 triebG4900 sieG846 zumG1519 FriedenG1515, indem er sagteG2036: IhrG5210 seidG2075 BrüderG80, warumG2444 tutG91 ihr einanderG240 unrechtG91 ? 27Der aberG1161 dem NächstenG4139 unrecht tatG91, stießG683 ihnG846 wegG683 und sprachG2036: WerG5101 hatG2525 dichG4571 zum OberstenG758 undG2532 RichterG1348 überG1909 unsG2248 gesetztG2525 ? 28WillstG2309 duG4771 michG3165 etwaG3361 umbringenG337, wieG3739 G5158 du gesternG5504 den ÄgypterG124 umgebrachtG337 hast? 29MosesG3475 aberG1161 entflohG5343 beiG1722 diesemG5129 WorteG3056 undG2532 wurdeG1096 FremdlingG3941 imG1722 LandeG1093 MidianG3099, woG3757 er zweiG1417 SöhneG5207 zeugteG1080. 30UndG2532 als vierzigG5062 JahreG2094 verflossenG4137 waren, erschienG3700 ihmG846 inG1722 der WüsteG2048 des BergesG3735 SinaiG4614 ein EngelG32 inG1722 einer FeuerflammeG5395 G4442 eines DornbuschesG942. 31Als aberG1161 MosesG3475 es sahG1492, verwunderte er sichG2296 über das GesichtG3705; während er aberG1161 hinzutratG4334, es zu betrachtenG2657, geschahG1096 eine StimmeG5456 des HerrnG2962 G4314 G846: 32"IchG1473 bin der GottG2316 deinerG4675 VäterG3962, der GottG2316 AbrahamsG11 undG2532 IsaaksG2464 undG2532 JakobsG2384 ". MosesG3475 aberG1161 erzitterteG1096 G1790 und wagteG5111 nichtG3756 es zu betrachtenG2657. 33Der HerrG2962 aberG1161 sprachG2036 zu ihmG846: "LöseG3089 die SandaleG5266 von deinenG4675 FüßenG4228, dennG1063 der OrtG5117, aufG1722 demG3739 du stehstG2476, istG2076 heiligesG40 LandG1093. 34GesehenG1492 habe ich die MißhandlungG2561 meinesG3450 VolkesG2992, dasG3588 inG1722 ÄgyptenG125 ist, undG2532 ihrG846 SeufzenG4726 habe ich gehörtG191, undG2532 ich bin herniedergekommenG2597, sieG846 herauszureißenG1807. UndG2532 nunG3568 kommG1204, ich willG649 dichG4571 nachG1519 ÄgyptenG125 sendenG649 ". 35DiesenG5126 MosesG3475, denG3739 sie verleugnetenG720, indem sie sagtenG2036: "WerG5101 hatG2525 dichG4571 zum OberstenG758 undG2532 RichterG1348 gesetztG2525 ?" diesenG5126 hatG649 GottG2316 zum OberstenG758 undG2532 RetterG3086 gesandtG649 mitG1722 der HandG5495 des EngelsG32, derG3588 ihmG846 inG1722 dem DornbuschG942 erschienG3700. 36DieserG3778 führteG1806 sieG846 herausG1806, indem er WunderG5059 undG2532 ZeichenG4592 tatG4160 imG1722 LandeG1093 ÄgyptenG125 undG2532 imG1722 RotenG2063 MeereG2281 undG2532 inG1722 der WüsteG2048, vierzigG5062 JahreG2094. 37DieserG3778 istG2076 der MosesG3475, derG3588 zu den SöhnenG5207 IsraelsG2474 sprachG2036: "Einen ProphetenG4396 wirdG450 euchG5213 GottG216 ausG1537 eurenG5216 BrüdernG80 erweckenG450, gleichG5613 mirG1691; [ihnG846 sollt ihr hören]G191 ". 38DieserG3778 istG2076 es, der inG1722 der VersammlungG1577 inG1722 der WüsteG2048 mitG3326 dem EngelG32, welcherG3588 aufG1722 dem BergeG3735 SinaiG4614 zu ihmG846 redeteG2980, undG2532 mit unserenG2257 VäternG3962 gewesen istG1096; derG3739 lebendigeG2198 AussprücheG3051 empfingG1209, um sie unsG2254 zu gebenG1325; 39welchemG3739 unsereG2257 VäterG3962 nichtG3756 gehorsamG5255 seinG1096 wolltenG2309, sondernG235 stießen ihn von sichG683 undG2532 wandten sichG4762 in ihrenG846 HerzenG2588 nachG1519 ÄgyptenG125 zurückG4762, 40indem sie zu AaronG2 sagtenG2036: "MacheG4160 unsG2254 GötterG2316, dieG3739 vorG4313 unsG2257 herziehenG4313 sollen; dennG1063 dieserG3778 MosesG3475, derG3739 unsG2248 ausG1537 dem LandeG1093 ÄgyptenG125 geführtG1806 hat - wir wissenG1492 nichtG3756, wasG5101 ihmG846 geschehenG1096 ist". 41UndG2532 sie machten ein KalbG3447 inG1722 jenenG1565 TagenG2250 undG2532 brachtenG321 dem GötzenbildeG1497 ein SchlachtopferG2378 undG2532 ergötzten sichG2165 anG1722 den WerkenG2041 ihrerG846 HändeG5495. 42GottG2316 aberG1161 wandte sich abG4762 undG2532 gabG3860 sieG846 dahinG3860, dem HeereG4756 des HimmelsG3772 zu dienenG3000, wieG2531 geschrieben stehtG1125 imG1722 BucheG976 der ProphetenG4396: "HabtG4374 ihr mirG3427 etwaG3361 vierzigG5062 JahreG2094 inG1722 der WüsteG2048 OpfertiereG4968 undG2532 SchlachtopferG2378 dargebrachtG4374, HausG3624 IsraelG2474 ? 43JaG2532, ihr nahmetG353 die HütteG4633 des MolochG3434 aufG353 undG2532 das GestirnG798 [eures]G5216 GottesG2316 RemphanG4481, die BilderG5179, welcheG3739 ihr gemachtG4160 hattet, sieG846 anzubetenG4352; undG2532 ich werdeG3351 euchG5209 verpflanzenG3351 überG1900 BabylonG897 hinausG1900 ". 44UnsereG2257 VäterG3962 hattenG2258 die HütteG4633 des ZeugnissesG3142 inG1722 der WüsteG2048, wieG2531 der, welcher zu MosesG3475 redeteG2980, befahlG1299, sieG846 nachG2596 dem MusterG5179 zu machenG4160, dasG3739 er gesehenG3708 hatte; 45welcheG3739 auchG2532 unsereG2257 VäterG3962 überkamenG1237 und mitG3326 JosuaG2424 einführtenG1521 beiG1722 der BesitzergreifungG2697 des Landes der NationenG1484, welcheG3739 GottG2316 austriebG1856 vonG575 dem AngesichtG4383 unsererG2257 VäterG3962 hinwegG575, bis zuG2193 den TagenG2250 DavidsG1138, 46welcherG3739 GnadeG5485 fandG2147 vorG1799 GottG2316 undG2532 eine WohnstätteG4638 zu findenG2147 begehrteG154 für den GottG2316 JakobsG2384. 47SalomonG4672 aberG1161 bauteG3618 ihmG846 ein HausG3624. 48AberG235 der HöchsteG5310 wohntG2730 nichtG3756 inG1722 WohnungenG3485, die mit Händen gemachtG5499 sind, wieG2531 der ProphetG4396 sprichtG3004: 49"Der HimmelG3772 ist meinG3427 ThronG2362, undG1161 die ErdeG1093 der SchemelG5286 meinerG3450 FüßeG4228. Was für einG4169 HausG3624 wolltG3618 ihr mirG3427 bauenG3618, sprichtG3004 der HerrG2962, oderG2228 welchesG5101 ist der OrtG5117 meinerG3450 RuheG2663 ? 50HatG4160 nichtG3780 meineG3450 HandG5495 diesG5023 allesG3956 gemachtG4160 ?" 51Ihr HalsstarrigenG4644 undG2532 UnbeschnittenenG564 an HerzG2588 undG2532 OhrenG3775! ihrG5210 widerstreitetG496 allezeitG104 dem HeiligenG40 GeisteG4151; wieG5613 eureG5216 VäterG3962, so auchG2532 ihrG5210. 52WelchenG5101 der ProphetenG4396 habenG1377 eureG5216 VäterG3962 nichtG2756 verfolgtG1377 ? UndG2532 sie haben die getötetG615, welcheG3588 die AnkunftG1660 des GerechtenG1342 zuvorG4012 verkündigtenG4293, dessenG3739 VerräterG4273 undG2532 MörderG5406 ihrG5210 jetztG3568 gewordenG1096 seid, 53die ihrG3748 das GesetzG3551 durchG1519 AnordnungG1296 von EngelnG32 empfangenG2983 undG2532 nichtG3756 beobachtetG5442 habt. 54Als sie aberG1161 diesG5023 hörtenG191, wurdenG1282 ihreG846 HerzenG2588 durchbohrtG1282, undG2532 sie knirschtenG1031 mit den ZähnenG3599 gegenG1909 ihnG846. 55Als er aberG1161, vollG4134 HeiligenG40 GeistesG4151 G5225, unverwandtG816 genG1519 HimmelG3772 schauteG816, sahG1492 er die HerrlichkeitG1391 GottesG2316, undG2532 JesumG2424 zurG1537 RechtenG1188 GottesG2316 stehenG2476; 56undG2532 er sprachG2036: SieheG2400, ich seheG2334 die HimmelG3772 geöffnetG455, undG2532 den SohnG5207 des MenschenG444 zurG1537 RechtenG1188 GottesG2316 stehenG2476! 57Sie schrieenG2896 aberG1161 mit lauterG3173 StimmeG5456, hieltenG4912 ihreG846 OhrenG3775 zuG4912 undG2532 stürztenG3729 einmütigG3661 aufG1909 ihnG846 losG3729. 58UndG2532 als sie ihn ausG1854 der StadtG4172 hinausgestoßenG1544 hatten, steinigtenG3036 sie ihn. UndG2532 die ZeugenG3144 legtenG659 ihreG846 KleiderG2440 abG659 zuG3844 den FüßenG4228 eines JünglingsG3494, genanntG2564 SaulusG4569. 59UndG2532 sie steinigtenG3036 den StephanusG4736, welcher beteteG1941 undG2532 sprachG3004: HerrG2962 JesuG2424, nimmG1209 meinenG3450 GeistG4151 aufG1209! 60UndG1161 niederkniendG5087 G1119 riefG2896 er mit lauterG3173 StimmeG5456: HerrG2962, rechneG2476 ihnenG846 dieseG5026 SündeG266 nichtG3361 zuG2476! UndG2532 als er diesG5124 gesagtG2036 hatte, entschliefG2837 er.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 DEFENSE AND MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. (Acts 7:1-60)
The God of glory--A magnificent appellation, fitted at the very outset to rivet the devout attention of his audience; denoting not that visible glory which attended many of the divine manifestations, but the glory of those manifestations themselves, of which this was regarded by every Jew as the fundamental one. It is the glory of absolutely free grace.
appeared unto our father Abraham before he dwelt in Charran, and said, &c.--Though this first call is not expressly recorded in Genesis, it is clearly implied in
Gen 15:7 and
Neh 9:7; and the Jewish writers speak the same language.
4 when his father was dead, he removed into this land--Though Abraham was in Canaan before Terah's death, his settlement in it as the land of promise is here said to be after it, as being in no way dependent on the family movement, but a transaction purely between Jehovah and Abraham himself.
6 four hundred years--using round numbers, as in
Gen 15:13,
Gen 15:16 (see on
Gal 3:17).
7 after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place--Here the promise to Abraham (
Gen 15:16), and that to Moses (
Exod 3:12), are combined; Stephen's object being merely to give a rapid summary of the leading facts.
8 the covenant of circumcision--that is, the covenant of which circumcision was the token.
and so--that is, according to the terms of this covenant, on which Paul reasons (Gal. 3:1-26).
the twelve patriarchs--so called as the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.
9 the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him--Here Stephen gives his first example of Israel's opposition to God's purposes, in spite of which and by means of which those purposes were accomplished.
14 threescore and fifteen souls--according to the Septuagint version of
Gen 46:27, which Stephen follows, including the five children and grandchildren of Joseph's two sons.
17 But when--rather, "as."
the time of the promise--that is, for its fulfilment.
the people grew and multiplied in Egypt--For more than two hundred years they amounted to no more than seventy-five souls; how prodigious, then, must have been their multiplication during the latter two centuries, when six hundred thousand men, fit for war, besides women and children, left Egypt!
20 In which time--of deepest depression.
Moses was born--the destined deliverer.
exceeding fair--literally, "fair to God" (Margin), or, perhaps, divinely "fair" (see on
Heb 11:23).
22 mighty in words--Though defective in utterance (
Exod 4:10); his recorded speeches fully bear out what is here said.
and deeds--referring probably to unrecorded circumstances in his early life. If we are to believe JOSEPHUS, his ability was acknowledged ere he left Egypt.
23 In
Acts 7:23,
Acts 7:30,
Acts 7:36, the life of Moses is represented as embracing three periods, of forty years each; the Jewish writers say the same; and though this is not expressly stated in the Old Testament, his age at death, one hundred twenty years (
Deut 34:7), agrees with it.
it came into his heart to visit his brethren--his heart yearning with love to them as God's chosen people, and heaving with the consciousness of a divine vocation to set them free.
24 avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian--going farther in the heat of his indignation than he probably intended.
25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood, &c.--and perhaps imagined this a suitable occasion for rousing and rallying them under him as their leader; thus anticipating his work, and so running unsent.
but they understood not--Reckoning on a spirit in them congenial with his own, he had the mortification to find it far otherwise. This furnishes to Stephen another example of Israel's slowness to apprehend and fall in with the divine purposes of love.
26 next day he showed himself unto them as they strove--Here, not an Israelite and an Egyptian, but two parties in Israel itself, are in collision with each other; Moses, grieved at the spectacle, interposes as a mediator; but his interference, as unauthorized, is resented by the party in the wrong, whom Stephen identifies with the mass of the nation (
Acts 7:35), just as Messiah's own interposition had been spurned.
28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?--Moses had thought the deed unseen (
Exod 2:12), but it now appeared he was mistaken.
29 Then fled Moses, &c.--for "when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses" (
Exod 2:15).
30 an angel of the Lord--rather, "the Angel of the Covenant," who immediately calls Himself JEHOVAH (Compare
Acts 7:38).
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge, &c.--Here, again, "the stone which the builders refused is made the head of the corner" (
Ps 118:22).
37 This is that Moses which said . . . A prophet . . . him shall ye hear--This is quoted to remind his Moses-worshipping audience of the grand testimony of their faithful lawgiver, that he himself was not the last and proper object of the Church's faith, but only a humble precursor and small model of Him to whom their absolute submission was due.
38 in the church--the collective body of God's chosen people; hence used to denote the whole body of the faithful under the Gospel, or particular sections of them.
This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel . . . and with our fathers--alike near to the Angel of the Covenant, from whom he received all the institutions of the ancient economy, and to the people, to whom he faithfully reported the living oracles and among whom he set up the prescribed institutions. By this high testimony to Moses, Stephen rebuts the main charge for which he was on trial.
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, &c.--Here he shows that the deepest dishonor done to Moses came from the nation that now professed the greatest jealousy for his honor.
in their hearts turned back . . . into Egypt--"In this Stephen would have his hearers read the downward career on which they were themselves entering."
42 gave them up--judicially.
as . . . written in the book of the prophets--the twelve minor prophets, reckoned as one: the passage is from
Amos 5:25.
have ye offered to me . . . sacrifices?--The answer is, Yes, but as if ye did it not; for "neither did ye offer to Me only, nor always, nor with a perfect and willing heart" [BENGEL].
43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Molech, &c.--Two kinds of idolatry are charged upon the Israelites: that of the golden calf and that of the heavenly bodies; Molech and Remphan being deities, representing apparently the divine powers ascribed to nature, under different aspects.
carry you beyond Babylon--the well-known region of the captivity of Judah; while "Damascus" is used by the prophet (
Amos 5:27), whither the ten tribes were carried.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness--which aggravated the guilt of that idolatry in which they indulged, with the tokens of the divine presence constantly in the midst of them.
45 which . . . our fathers that came after--rather, "having received it by succession" (Margin), that is, the custody of the tabernacle from their ancestors.
brought in with Jesus--or Joshua.
into the possession--rather, "at the taking possession of [the territory of] the Gentiles."
unto the days of David--for till then Jerusalem continued in the hands of the Jebusites. But Stephen's object in mentioning David is to hasten from the tabernacle which he set up, to the temple which his son built, in Jerusalem; and this only to show, from their own Scripture (
Isa 66:1-
Isa 66:2), that even that temple, magnificent though it was, was not the proper resting-place of Jehovah upon earth; as his audience and the nations had all along been prone to imagine. (What that resting-place was, even "the contrite heart, that trembleth at God's word," he leaves to be gathered from the prophet referred to).
51 Ye stiffnecked . . . ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, &c.--It has been thought that symptoms of impatience and irritation in the audience induced Stephen to cut short his historical sketch. But as little farther light could have been thrown upon Israel's obstinacy from subsequent periods of the national history on the testimony of their own Scriptures, we should view this as the summing up, the brief import of the whole Israelitish history--grossness of heart, spiritual deafness, continuous resistance of the Holy Ghost, down to the very council before whom Stephen was pleading.
52 Which of, &c.--Deadly hostility to the messengers of God, whose high office it was to tell of "the Righteous One," that well-known prophetic title of Messiah (
Isa 53:11;
Jer 23:6, &c.), and this consummated by the betrayal and murder of Messiah Himself, on the part of those now sitting in judgment on the speaker, are the still darker features of the national character depicted in these withering words.
53 Who have received the law by the disposition--"at the appointment" or "ordination," that is, by the ministry.
of angels, and have not kept it--This closing word is designed to shut up those idolizers of the law under the guilt of high disobedience to it, aggravated by the august manner in which they had received it.
54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, &c.--If they could have answered him, how different would have been their temper of mind!
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God--You who can transfer to canvas such scenes as these, in which the rage of hell grins horribly from men, as they sit condemned by a frail prisoner of their own, and see heaven beaming from his countenance and opening full upon his view--I envy you, for I find no words to paint what, in the majesty of the divine text, is here so simply told. "But how could Stephen, in the council-chamber, see heaven at all? I suppose this question never occurred but to critics of narrow soul, one of whom [MEYER] conjectures that he saw it through the window! and another, of better mould, that the scene lay in one of the courts of the temple" [ALFORD]. As the sight was witnessed by Stephen alone, the opened heavens are to be viewed as revealed to his bright beaming spirit.
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God--Why "standing," and not sitting, the posture in which the glorified Saviour is elsewhere represented? Clearly, to express the eager interest with which He watched from the skies the scene in that council chamber, and the full tide of His Spirit which He was at that moment engaged in pouring into the heart of His heroical witness, till it beamed in radiance from his very countenance.
56 I see . . . the Son of man standing, &c.--This is the only time that our Lord is by human lips called THE SON OF MAN after His ascension (
Rev 1:13;
Rev 14:14 are not instances). And why here? Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, speaking now not of himself at all (
Acts 7:55), but entirely by the Spirit, is led to repeat the very words in which Jesus Himself, before this same council, had foretold His glorification (
Matt 26:64), assuring them that that exaltation of the SON OF MAN which they should hereafter witness to their dismay, was already begun and actual [ALFORD].
57 Then they cried out . . . and ran upon him with one accord--To men of their mould and in their temper, Stephen's last seraphic words could but bring matters to extremities, though that only revealed the diabolical spirit which they breathed.
58 cast him out of the city--according to
Lev 24:14;
Num 15:35;
1Kgs 21:13; and see
Heb 13:12.
and stoned--"proceeded to stone" him. The actual stoning is recorded in
Acts 7:59.
and the witnesses--whose hands were to be first upon the criminal (
Deut 17:7).
laid down their clothes--their loose outer garments, to have them taken charge of.
at a young man's feet whose name was Saul--How thrilling is this our first introduction to one to whom Christianity--whether as developed in the New Testament or as established in the world--owes more perhaps than to all the other apostles together! Here he is, having perhaps already a seat in the Sanhedrim, some thirty years of age, in the thick of this tumultuous murder of a distinguished witness for Christ, not only "consenting unto his death" (
Acts 8:1), but doing his own part of the dark deed.
59 calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, &c.--An unhappy supplement of our translators is the word "God" here; as if, while addressing the Son, he was really calling upon the Father. The sense is perfectly clear without any supplement at all--"calling upon [invoking] and saying, Lord Jesus"; Christ being the Person directly invoked and addressed by name (compare
Acts 9:14). Even GROTIUS, DE WETTE, MEYER, &c., admit this, adding several other examples of direct prayer to Christ; and PLINY, in his well-known letter to the Emperor Trajan (A.D. 110 or 111), says it was part of the regular Christian service to sing, in alternate strains, a hymn to Christ as God.
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit--In presenting to Jesus the identical prayer which He Himself had on the cross offered to His Father, Stephen renders to his glorified Lord absolute divine worship, in the most sublime form, and at the most solemn moment of his life. In this commitment of his spirit to Jesus, Paul afterwards followed his footsteps with a calm, exultant confidence that with Him it was safe for eternity (
2Tim 1:12).
60 cried with a loud voice--with something of the gathered energy of his dying Lord (see on
John 19:16-
John 19:30).
Lord--that is, JESUS, beyond doubt, whom he had just before addressed as Lord.
lay not this sin to their charge--Comparing this with nearly the same prayer of his dying Lord, it will be seen how very richly this martyr of Jesus had drunk into his Master's spirit, in its divinest form.
he fell asleep--never said of the death of Christ. (See on
1Thess 4:14). How bright the record of this first martyrdom for Christ, amidst all the darkness of its perpetrators; and how many have been cheered by it to like faithfulness even unto death!
