Acts 6:8

πλήρης πίστεως, but χάριτος, R.V. Vulgate, gratia = divine grace, Acts 18:27, not merely favour with the people the word might well include, as in the case of our Lord, the λόγοι χάριτος which fell from his lips (Luke 5:22). On the word as characteristic of St. Luke and St. Paul, see Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium, pp. 28, 96; in the other Gospels it only occurs three times; cf. John 1:14; John 1:16-17. See Plummer's note on the word in St. Luke, l. c. δυνάμεις : not merely power in the sense of courage, heroism, but power to work miracles, supernatural power, cf. Acts 8:13 and Luke 5:17. That the word also means spiritual power is evident from Acts 6:10. ἐποίει, “was doing,” imperfect, during Stephen's career of grace and power the attack was made; notice imperfect combined with aorist, ἀνέστησαν, see Rendall's note. In Acts 6:8 Spitta sees one of the popular legendary notices of his source B. St. Stephen is introduced as the great miracle-worker, who is brought before the Sanhedrim, because in Acts 5:17, a parallel incident in, the Apostles were also represented as miracle-doers and brought before the same assembly; it would therefore seem that the criticism which can only see in the latter part of the Acts, in the miracles ascribed to St. Paul, a repetition in each case of the miracles assigned in the former part to St. Peter, must now be further utilised to account for any points of likeness between the career of St. Stephen and the other leaders of the Church. But nowhere is it said that Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrim on account of his miracles, and even if so, it was quite likely that the ζῆλος of the Sanhedrim would be stirred by such manifestations as on the former occasion in chap. 5.