Acts 7:52

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been, [ gegeneesthe (G1096)] - rather, 'ye were' [ egenesthe (G1096)] being the better supported reading,

Now the betrayers and murderers. In these most withering words the still darker features of the national character are boldly held up-deadly hostility to the messengers of God, whose highest mission was to announce the coming of "THE RIGHTEOUS ONE," that well-known prophetic title of Messiah (Isaiah 53:11; Jeremiah 23:6; etc.), and this crime, consummated by the betrayal and murder of Messiah Himself by their own hands. One word more is added.