Acts 7:45

Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; WHICH ALSO OUR FATHERS THAT CAME AFTER, [ diadexamenoi (G1237)] - rather 'Which also our fathers having received it (that is, the custody of the tabernacle) by succession' from their ancestors, BROUGHT IN WITH JESUS (THAT IS, JOSHUA) INTO THE POSSESSION OF THE GENTILES, [ en (G1722) tee (G3588) kataschesei (G2697)]. So the Vulgate, and after it Calvin, Grotius, Humphry, and Hackett [taking en ...

45._Which they brought in. _This serveth to increase the _frowardness _(461) of the nation, that whereas the tabernacle did continue with them, and they carried the same whithersoever they went, yet could they not be kept within the bounds of God’s covenant, but they would have strange and profane rites; to wit, declaring that God dwelt amidst them, from whom they were so far distant, and whom _they _did drive out of that inheritance which _he _had given them. To this purpose serveth that also, that God did beautify the tabernacle with divers miracles; for the worthiness thereof (462) was established by those victories which the Jews had gotten, as it appeareth by divers places of the holy history; therefore, it must needs be that they were very disobedient, which did not cease oftentimes to start aside from that worship which was so many ways approved....

42-50 Stephen upbraids the Jews with the idolatry of their fathers, to which God gave them up as a punishment for their early forsaking him. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the eternal one. The whole world is God's temple, in which he is every where present, and fills it with his glory; what occasion has he then for a temple to manifest himself in? And these things show his eternal power and Godhead. But as heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool, so none of our services can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple....

Verse 45. _BROUGHT IN WITH JESUS_] That is, with JOSHUA, whom the Greek version, quoted by St. Stephen, always writes ιησους, JESUS, but which should constantly be written _Joshua_ in such cases as the present, in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion. _POSSESSION OF THE GENTILES_] των εθνων, _of the heathens_, whom Joshua conquered, and gave their land to the children of Israel....

OUR FATHERS THAT CAME AFTER - None of the generation that came out of Egypt were permitted to enter into the and of Canaan except Caleb and Joshua, Numbers 14:22; Numbers 32:11. Hence, it is said that their fathers who “came after,” that is, after the generation when the tabernacle was built. The Greek, however, here means, properly, “which also our fathers, having “received,” brought,” etc. The sense is not materially different. Stephen means that it was not brought in by that generation, but by the next. WITH JESUS - This should have been rendered “with Joshua.” Jesus is the Greek mode of writing the name “Joshua.” But the Hebrew name should by all means have been retained here, as also in...

EXPOSITION ACTS 7:1 _And the high priest said _for then _said the high priest, _A.V. The high priest spoke as president of the Sanhedrim (see Acts 9:1. Acts 9:1 and Matthew 26:62). Theophilus the son of Annas or his brother Jonathan is probably meant. ACTS 7:2 _Brethren and fathers _for _men, brethren, and fathers, _A.V. _Haran _for _Charran, _A.V. BRETHREN AND FATHERS. The Greek is ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ (_i.e. _"men who are also my brethren") καὶ πατέρες. H

WHICH ALSO OUR FATHERS THAT CAME AFTER,.... Who came after those that died in the wilderness, and never saw nor entered into the land of Canaan; the children of that generation whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, who sprung from them, came up in their room, and succeeded them: BROUGHT IN WITH JESUS INTO THE POSSESSION OF THE GENTILES; that is, they having received the tabernacle from their fathers, brought it into the land of Canaan, which was possessed by the Gentiles, when they entered into it with Joshua their leader, and captain, at the head of them; who is here called Jesus, as he is in Hebrews 4:8 for Joshua and Jesus are the same name, and signify a saviour; for such an one Joshua was to the people of Israel; and was an eminent type of Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation, in his bringing many sons to glory: whom God drove out before the face

JESUS That is, Joshua....

ACTS 7:3-51 In addition to several direct quotations from the Septuagint, Stephen’s speech consists of a series of allusions to and summaries of Israelitish history. In these phrases drawn from the Old Testament about thirty variants between B and D occur in which one agrees with the Septuagint against the other. In most of the cases it is codex Bezae that has been conformed to the text of the Septuagint; according to Ropes’s judgment, 156 in only one instance (h;|dei in ver. Acts 7:18) is there reason to suspect that the B-text has been conformed to the Septuagint. ------------------------- 156 The Text of Acts,...

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Address of Stephen (Acts 7:1)._ 2. The Martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:54). This is the largest chapter in this book and concludes the first section. Stephen is the chosen instrument to deliver the final testimony to the nation. He was not permitted to finish it. We notice at once a marked difference between the previous preaching by the Apostle Peter and the address of Stephen. The testimony of Peter was marked on the day of Pentecost and at the other occasions by great brevity. Stephen's address is the longest discourse reported in the New Testament. The name of Jesus is prominent in all the addresses of Peter. The fact that He was rejected by the people, crucified and that He rose from the dead, and the call to repentance, were the leading features of Peter's preaching.