Acts 6:11

Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. THEN THEY SUBORNED, [ hupebalon (G5260)]. This is the proper sense of the word, with reference to witnesses or informers. MEN, WHICH SAID, WE HAVE HEARD HIM SPEAK BLASPHEMOUS WORDS AGAINST MOSES - referring, doubtless, to what he had said of the impending disappearance of the whole Mosaic system (see Acts 6:14). AND AGAINST GOD - referring probably to the supreme dignity and authority which he would claim for Christ as the Head of that new economy that was speedily to supersede the old (compare Acts 7:56;...

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 6:11. _THEN THEY SUBORNED MEN_] υπεβαλον. They made _underhand_ work; got associated to themselves profligate persons, who for money would swear any thing. _BLASPHEMOUS WORDS AGAINST MOSES, AND_ AGAINST _GOD._] This was the most deadly charge they could bring against him. We have already seen, Matthew 9:4, that _blasphemy_, when against GOD, signifies speaking _impiously_ of his _nature, attributes_, or _works_; and, when against _men_, it signifies speaking _injuriously_ of their _character, blasting_ their _reputation_, c. These false witnesses came to prove that he had blasphemed _Moses_ by representing him as an impostor, or the like and GOD, by either denying his being, his providence, the justice of

THEN THEY SUBORNED MEN - To suborn in law means to procure a person to take such a false oath as constitutes perjury (Webster). It has substantially this sense here. It means that they induced them to declare what was false, or to bring a false accusation against him. This was done, not by declaring a palpable and open falsehood, but by “perverting” his doctrines, and by stating their own “inferences” as what he had actually maintained - the common way in which people oppose doctrines from which they differ. The Syriac reads this place, “Then they sent certain men, and instructed them that they should say, etc.” This was repeating an artifice which they had before practiced so successfully in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. See Matthew 26:60. WE HAVE HEARD ... - When they alleged that they had heard this is not

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

THEN THEY SUBORNED MEN,.... Hired false witnesses, which seems to have been commonly done by the Jews; so they did in the case of Christ: WHICH SAID, WE HAVE HEARD HIM SPEAK BLASPHEMOUS WORDS AGAINST MOSES, AND AGAINST GOD; that is, against the law of Moses, and so against God, who gave the law to Moses, as appears from Acts 6:13 the blasphemous words seem to be, with respect to the ceremonial law, and the abrogation of it, which Stephen might insist upon, and they charged with blasphemy; see Acts 6:14....

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)...