_Then said the high-priest_ Who was president of the council, and, as such, the mouth of the court; _Are these things so?_ Are they as these witnesses have deposed? for thou art permitted to speak for thyself, and make thy defence. _And he said_ Stephen had been accused of blasphemy against Moses, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans_ Strange as the command which was given him might seem, he, with all submission, readily obeyed it; _and dwelt in Charran_ Namely, for several years, having been led thither by the divine conduct, and not immediately receiving a signal to proceed any fu... [ Continue Reading ]
_And God spake, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land_ When God had brought Abraham into this country, he did not keep him and his posterity here till the time when they were to enter upon the possession of it, in consequence of this divine grant; but, on the contrary, God informed him in a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the patriarchs, moved with envy_ The rest of the twelve sons of Jacob, though their relation to such holy ancestors might have taught them a much better lesson; yet, influenced by envy at the superior regard which Jacob showed to his favourite son, most inhumanly _sold Joseph_ Their brother; _i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now there came a dearth_ According to the prediction of Joseph, when the seven preceding years of extraordinary plenty were past, which he had also predicted; _over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan_ A calamity which reduced the latter country to such distress, that, fruitful as it had generally be... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jacob went down into Egypt, and died_ After having been supported there about seventeen years, by the filial gratitude and tenderness of his son Joseph; _and our fathers_ The patriarch's children also ended their lives in the same country; _and were carried over into Sychem_ That is, as Jacob was i... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the time of the promise drew nigh_ That is, the time for the accomplishment of the promise; _which God had sworn to Abraham_ Concerning the multiplication of his seed; see note on Genesis 22:16; _the people grew_, &c. Became very numerous in Egypt, notwithstanding that they were under great op... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians_ Which was then celebrated in all the world, and for many ages after. Geography, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, natural history, physic, and hieroglyphics, are all mentioned by ancient writers as branches of Egyptian literature. Several ancient... [ Continue Reading ]
_When he was forty years old_ So long he continued in Pharaoh's court; _it came into his heart_ Probably by an impulse from God; _to visit his brethren_ He having been instructed, it appears, in the knowledge of his real descent, and in the principles of the Jewish religion; and it is likely his spi... [ Continue Reading ]
_The next day he showed himself unto them_ Of his own accord, unexpectedly; _as they strove_ As they were quarrelling with each other; _and would have set them at one_ That is, by interposing between them, he would have put an end to their quarrel, and have persuaded them to live in peace and friend... [ Continue Reading ]
_When forty years were expired_ That is, forty after his leaving Egypt; during which time Israel had continued under this bondage, and Moses, inured to hardships and poverty, and to contemplation and devotion, had been trained up and prepared, in the humble and retired life of a shepherd, for the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_This Moses, whom they refused_ Namely, forty years before: probably not they, but their fathers did it, and God imputes it to them. So God frequently imputes the sins of parents to those of their children who are of the same spirit. _The same did God send to be a ruler and deliverer_ Which is much... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is that Moses which said, A prophet_, &c. Here Stephen shows that there is no opposition between Moses and Christ. And it is mentioned as one of the greatest honours God put upon Moses; nay, as that which exceeded all the rest, that by him God gave notice to the Israelites of the great prophet... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whom our fathers would not obey_ Even after all the proofs of his miraculous powers given in Egypt, and at the Red sea; _but thrust him from them_ Acting a part more stupid and ungrateful than that before mentioned, Acts 7:27; rejecting him a second time, as in contempt of all these wonderful appea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then God turned_ Upon this, God, being most righteously provoked, turned away from them in anger, and, as in many other instances, punished one sin by letting them fall into another; and at length gave them up, in succeeding ages, to the most abandoned, public, and general idolatry, even _to worshi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness_ Greek, του μαρτυριου, _of the testimony._ The two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were most properly _the testimony_, as being a constant testimony of the relation between God and Israel: hence the ark, which contained them, is... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit_ Αλλα, _but_, or _yet;_ we are not to imagine that God permitted a temple to be built even then for his own sake: for it was acknowledged, at the same time, by Solomon himself, that _the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands_ Be they ever so rich, splendid, and majestic. _As sai... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye stiff-necked_, &c. Stephen, finding by a confused murmur in the place that they understood whither his discourse tended, and perceiving by the eagerness of their countenances that they would soon interrupt him, applied himself more closely to his persecutors in these remarkable words, which he b... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they heard these things_ These plain, and undeniable, and alarming truths; _they were cut to the heart_ Or sawn asunder, the original word being the same that is used chap. Acts 5:33. And not permitting him to proceed any further, in a transport of rage, _they gnashed on him with their teeth_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then they cried out with a loud voice_ Being provoked to such a degree that they could not contain themselves, and meaning to drown the voice of Stephen; _and stopped their ears_ As if they could not bear to hear such blasphemy as they wished to have it thought he had spoken. _And ran upon him_ Gre... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_ thus _they stoned Stephen_ Who, during this furious assault, continued with his eyes fixed on the heavenly glory, of which he had so bright a vision, _calling upon God_ The word _God_ is not in the original, which is literally, _invoking; and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit_ For Christ w... [ Continue Reading ]