Acts 6:10

And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. AND THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO RESIST THE WISDOM AND THE SPIRIT BY WHICH HE SPAKE - what he spake, and the power with which he spake it, being alike resistless. Foiled in Argument, His Opponents Raise an Insurrection against Stephen, and Have Him Arrested, Brought before the Sanhedrim, and Charged with Hostility to the National Religion-His beautiful Serenity before the Council (6:11-15)....

8-15 When they could not answer Stephen's arguments as a disputant, they prosecuted him as a criminal, and brought false witnesses against him. And it is next to a miracle of providence, that no greater number of religious persons have been murdered in the world, by the way of perjury and pretence of law, when so many thousands hate them, who make no conscience of false oaths. Wisdom and holiness make a man's face to shine, yet will not secure men from being treated badly. What shall we say of man, a rational being, yet attempting to uphold a religious system by false witness and murder! And this has been done in numberless instances. But the blame rests not so much upon the understanding, as upon the heart of a fallen creature, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Yet the servant of the Lord, possessing a clear conscience, cheerful hope, and Divine consolations, m...

Verse Acts 6:10. _THEY THERE NOT ABLE TO RESIST THE WISDOM_, c.] He was _wise_, well exercised and _experienced_, in Divine things and, as appears by his defence, in the following chapter, well versed in the Jewish history. The spirit by which he spake was the Holy Spirit, and its power was irresistible. They were obliged either to _yield_ to its teachings, or were _confounded_ by its truth. Several MSS. add to this verse, _because he reproved them with_ _boldness, they could not resist the truth_. This reading is not genuine, though it exists (but in different forms) in some good MSS....

TO RESIST - That is, they were not able to “answer” his arguments. THE WISDOM - This properly refers to his knowledge of the Scriptures; his skill in what “the Jews” esteemed to be wisdom - acquaintance with their sacred writings, opinions, etc. AND THE SPIRIT - This has been commonly understood of the Holy Spirit, by which he was aided; but it rather means the “energy, power,” or “ardor” of Stephen. He “evinced” a spirit of zeal and sincerity which they could not withstand; which served, more than mere argument could have done, to convince them that he was right. The evidence of sincerity, honesty, and zeal in a public speaker will often go further to convince the great mass of mankind, than the most able argument if delivered in a cold and indifferent manner....

EXPOSITION ACTS 6:1 _Now in these _for _and in those, _A.V. (it is not ἐκείναις_, _answering to מהֵהָ מימַיָבַּ, but ταύταις); _multiplying _for _multiplied, _A.V._; Grecian Jews _for _Grecians, _A.V._ _THE GRECIAN JEWS; _the Hellenists, _for this is the appellation of them in the Greek; it means properly those who spoke Greek or otherwise followed Greek usages, applied to foreigners, here of course to Jews. Of a similar form and meaning is the word "to Judaize," translated "to live as do the Jews" (A.V., Galatians 2:14), and the forms "to Demosthenize," "to Platonize," "to Atticize," etc. The Hellenists were those Jews of the dispersion who lived in countries where Greek was spoken, and who th

AND THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO RESIST THE WISDOM,.... In Beza's most ancient copy, and in another manuscript it is added, "which was in him"; that divine wisdom, which the Spirit of wisdom gave him; they were not a match for him with respect to the knowledge of divine things; they could not answer the wise arguments he made use of, fetched out of the Scriptures of truth, in which he was well versed, and had a large knowledge of: AND THE SPIRIT BY WHICH HE SPAKE; that is, the Holy Spirit, as the above exemplars of Beza, and the Ethiopic version read; the meaning is, they could not resist the Holy Spirit, by which Stephen spake, so as to overcome him, or put Stephen to silence, or confute him; otherwise they did resist him, or oppose themselves to him, but in vain, and without success; for they always resisted the Holy Ghost in Christ and in his apostles, as their fathers before them resisted...

ACTS 6:10-11 A Western expansion, in slightly different forms, appears in D E vgvmss syrhmg copG67 and the Bohemian (Old Czech) version. The Bezan form, which according to Harris displays traces of Montanist interest in the Paraclete, 152 is as follows: oi[tinej ouvk i;scuon avntisth/nai th|/ sofi,a| th|/ ou;sh| evn auvtw|/ kai. tw|/ pneu,mati tw|/ a`gi,w| w|- evla,lei( dia. to. evle,gcesqai auvtou.j evpV auvtou/ meta. pa,shj parrhsi,aj) mh. duna,menoi ou=ÉnË avntofqalmei/n th|/ avlhqei,a| (“who could not withstand the wisdom _that was in him_ and the _holy_ Spirit with which he spoke, because they were confuted by him with all boldness. Being unable therefore to confront th...

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The Murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews (Acts 6:1)._ 2. Stephen; His Ministry and Arrest (Acts 6:8). Another failure is brought before us. The enemy acts again. From without and from within Satan pressed upon that which was of God. While the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit acted in Grace and power, the enemy came in to disturb. It is still so. Whenever there is a door opened there are also many adversaries (1 Corinthians 16:9). The flesh manifested itself in murmuring. The assembly took care of the poor; widows being specially helpless, were the objects of daily ministrations. The Jews themselves in connection with the synagogue had special funds for them. They must h

ATTACK ON STEPHEN. This Hellenist Christian draws upon himself the attention of the people. He was full of grace; the inspiration which gave him his power led to disturbance from a synagogue or synagogues of foreign Jews from various countries settled at Jerusalem. Hellenistic Jews could be as narrow as those at Jerusalem (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 10-13). To the statement that they could not resist him _D_ adds: because they were boldly confuted by him and could not face the truth. These disputes not yielding any matter for a charge, they got others to come forward and accuse him of attacking Moses and God, and thus stirred up the people, till now so favourable to the believers. The elders and scribes are also worked upon; Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin. The charges are, to some extent, borne out by the following speech (Acts 7:48), as the charge against Jesus ...

THE FIRST OFFICE-BEARERS (Acts 6:1-7)...