CHAPTER VII. _Stephen, being permitted to answer for himself relative to the_ _charge of blasphemy brought against him by his accusers, gives_ _a circumstantial relation of the call of Abraham, when he dwelt_ _in Mesopotamia, in Charran_, c., 1-8. _The history of Jacob and Joseph_, 9-17. _The... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:2. _MEN, BRETHREN, AND FATHERS_] Rather, _brethren and_ _fathers_, for ανδρες should not be translated separately from αδελφοι. Literally it is men-brethren, a very usual form in Greek; for every person knows that ανδρες αθηναιοι and ανδρες περσαι should not be translated men-Athenians... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:4. _WHEN HIS FATHER WAS DEAD_] Genesis 11:26, Genesis 11:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:5. _GAVE HIM NONE INHERITANCE_] Both Abraham and Jacob had small parcels of land in Canaan; but they had them by _purchase_, not by God's gift; for, as Abraham was obliged to _buy a_ _burying-place_ in Canaan, Genesis 23:3-1, it is obvious he had no _inheritance_ there. _AND TO HIS SEE... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:6. _THAT HIS SEED SHOULD SOJOURN IN A STRANGE LAND_] See Genesis 15:13, Genesis 15:14. _FOUR HUNDRED YEARS._] MOSES says, Exodus 12:40, _that the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt-was 430_ _years_. See the note there. St. PAUL has the same number, Galatians 3:17; and so ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:7. _WILL I JUDGE_] κρινωεγω, _I will punish_, for in this sense the Greek word is frequently taken. "When," says Bp. _Pearce_, "a malefactor is brought before a judge, the judge does _three_ things: 1. he tries or judges him; 2. he then gives his judgment or sentence; and, 3. he puts... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:8. _HE GAVE HIM THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION_] That is, he instituted the _rite_ of circumcision, as a _sign_ of that _covenant_ which he had made with him and his posterity. See Genesis 17:10, c. _AND SO_ ABRAHAM _BEGAT ISAAC_] και ουτως, And _thus_, in this covenant, he begat Isaac... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:9. _AND THE PATRIARCHS_] The twelve sons of Jacob, thus called because each was _chief_ or _head_ of his respective _family_ or tribe. _MOVED WITH ENVY_] ζηλωσαντες. We translate ζηλος variously: _zeal_ or _fervent affection_, whether its object be good or bad, is its general meaning;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:10. _GAVE HIM FAVOUR AND WISDOM IN THE SIGHT OF PHARAOH_] God gave him much _wisdom_, in consequence of which he had _favour_ with the king of Egypt. See the whole of this remarkable history explained at large, Genesis 41:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:14. _THREESCORE AND FIFTEEN SOULS._] There are several difficulties here, which it is hoped the reader will find satisfactorily removed in the note on Genesis 46:20. It is well known that in Genesis 46:27, and in Deuteronomy 10:22, their number is said to be _threescore and ten_; but St... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:16. _AND WERE CARRIED OVER TO SYCHEM_] "It is said, Genesis 50:13, that Jacob was buried in the cave of the field of _Machpelah_ before Mamre. And in Joshua 24:32, and Exodus 13:19, it is said that the bones of Joseph were carried out of Egypt by the Israelites, and buried in Shechem,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:18. _WHICH KNEW NOT JOSEPH._] That is, did not approve of him, of his mode of governing the kingdom, nor of his people, nor of his God. Exodus 1:8, Exodus 1:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:19. _THE SAME DEALT SUBTILTY_] ουτος κατασοφισαμενος, A word borrowed from the Septuagint, who thus translate the Hebrew נהחכמה לו _nithchokmah lo_, _let us deal wisely with it_, i.e. with _cunning_ and _deceit_, as the _Greek_ word implies; and which is evidently intended by the _Hebr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:20. _MOSES - WAS EXCEEDING FAIR_] αστειος τω θεω, _Was fair to_ _God_, i.e. was divinely beautiful. Exodus 2:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:22. _IN ALL THE WISDOM OF THE EGYPTIANS_] Who were, at that time, the most intelligent and best instructed people in the universe. Philo says, Moses was taught _arithmetic, geometry,_ _poetry, music, medicine_, and the knowledge of _hieroglyphics_. In _Sohar Cadash_, fol. 46, it is said... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:23. _WHEN HE WAS FULL FORTY YEARS OLD_] This was a general tradition among the Jews: "Moses was forty years in Pharaoh's court, forty years in Midian, and forty years he served Israel." _TO VISIT HIS BRETHREN_] Probably on the ground of trying to deliver them from their oppressive bond... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:24. _SMOTE THE EGYPTIAN_] See this explained, Exodus 2:11, Exodus 2:12 (note).... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:25. _HE SUPPOSED HIS BRETHREN WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD_, c.] He probably imagined that, as he felt from the Divine influence he was appointed to be their deliverer, they would have his Divine appointment signified to them in a similar way and the act of justice which he now did in behalf o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:26. _UNTO THEM AS THEY STROVE_] Two Hebrews, Exodus 2:13, Exodus 2:13, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _IN A FLAME OF FIRE IN A BUSH._] See this and the following verses largely explained in the notes, see Clarke Exodus 3:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _HE BROUGHT THEM OUT, AFTER THAT HE HAD SHOWED WONDERS_, c.] Thus the very person whom they had rejected, and, in effect, delivered up into the hands of Pharaoh that he might be slain, was the person alone by whom they were redeemed from their Egyptian bondage. And does not St. Stephen pla... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _THIS IS THAT MOSES, WHICH SAID - A PROPHET_, c.] This very Moses, so highly esteemed and honoured by God, announced that very prophet whom ye have lately put to death. See the observations at Deuteronomy 18:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _WITH THE ANGEL WHICH SPAKE TO HIM_] Stephen shows that Moses received the law by the ministry of angels; and that he was only a mediator between the angel of God and them. _THE LIVELY ORACLES_] λογια ζωντα, The _living oracles_. The _doctrines_ of _life_, those _doctrines_-obedience to w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _IN THEIR HEARTS TURNED BACK AGAIN INTO EGYPT_] Became idolaters, and preferred their Egyptian bondage and their idolatry to the promised land and the pure worship of God. See the whole of these transactions explained at large in the notes on Exodus 32:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 42. _THEN GOD TURNED, AND GAVE THEM UP_, c.] He left them to themselves, and then they deified and worshipped the sun, moon, planets, and principal stars. _IN THE BOOK OF THE PROPHETS_] As this quotation is found in Amos, Amos 5:25, by the _book of the prophets_ is meant the _twelve minor pro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 43. _YE TOOK UP THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH, AND THE STAR OF_ _YOUR GOD REMPHAN, FIGURES WHICH YE MADE TO WORSHIP THEM._] This is a literal translation of the place, as it stands in the _Septuagint_; but in the Hebrew text it stands thus: _But ye have_ _borne the tabernacle of your Molech, and C... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 44. _OUR FATHERS HAD THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS IN THE_ _WILDERNESS_] That is, the tabernacle in which the two tables of stone written by the finger of God were laid up, as a testimony that he had delivered these laws to the people, and that they had promised to obey them. As one great design... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 46. _DESIRED TO FIND A TABERNACLE_] This was in David's heart, and it met with the Divine approbation: see 2 Samuel 7:2, c., and see the purpose, Psalms 132:2 but, as David had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, God would not permit him to build the temple; but he laid the plan and ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 48. _THE MOST HIGH DWELLETH NOT IN TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS_] Here St. Stephen evidently refers to Solomon's speech, 1 Kings 8:27. _But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and_ _the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this_ _house that I have builded_? Both... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 50. _HATH NOT MY HAND MADE ALL THESE THINGS?_] Stephen certainly had not finished his discourse, nor drawn his inferences from the facts already stated; but it is likely that, as they perceived he was about to draw conclusions unfavourable to the temple and its ritual, they immediately raised... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 51. _YE STIFF-NECKED_] σκληροτραχηλοι. A metaphor taken from _untoward oxen_, who cannot be broken into the yoke; and whose strong necks cannot be bended to the right or the left. _UNCIRCUMCISED IN HEART AND EARS_] This was a Jewish mode of speech, often used by the prophets. Circumcision wa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 52. _WHICH OF THE PROPHETS HAVE NOT YOUR FATHERS_ _PERSECUTED?_] Ye have not only resisted the Holy Ghost, but ye have _persecuted_ all those who have spoken to you in _his name_, and by his _influence_: thus ye prove your opposition to the Spirit _himself_, by your opposition to every thing t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 53. _BY THE DISPOSITION OF ANGELS_] εις διαταγας αγγελων. After all that has been said on this difficult passage, perhaps the simple meaning is, that there were _ranks_, διαταγαι, _of angels_ attending on the Divine Majesty when he gave the law: a circumstance which must have added greatly to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 54. _THEY WERE CUT TO THE HEART_] διεπριοντο, They _were sawn_ _through_. Acts 5:33, Acts 5:33. _THEY GNASHED ON HIM WITH THEIR TEETH._] They were determined to hear him no longer; were filled with rage against him, and evidently thirsted for his blood.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 55. _SAW THE GLORY OF GOD_] The _Shekinah_, the splendour or manifestation of the Divine Majesty. _AND JESUS STANDING ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD_] In his official character, as Mediator between God and man. Stephen had this revelation while in the Sanhedrin; for as yet he had not been _forced... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 57. _THEY - STOPPED THEIR EARS_] As a proof that he had uttered blasphemy, because he said, _He saw Jesus standing at the_ _right hand of God_. This was a fearful proof against them; for if Jesus was at the _right hand of God_, then they had murdered an _innocent_ person; and they must infer t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 58. _CAST HIM OUT OF THE CITY, AND STONED_ HIM] They did not however wait for any sentence to be pronounced upon him; it seems they were determined to stone him _first_, and then prove, after it had been done, that it was done _justly_. For the manner of _stoning_ among the Jews, Leviticus 24:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 59. _AND THEY STONED STEPHEN, CALLING UPON GOD_] The word _God_ is not found in any MS. or version, nor in any of the primitive fathers except _Chrysostom_. It is not genuine, and should not be inserted here: the whole sentence literally reads thus: _And_ _they stoned Stephen, invoking and say... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 7:60. _HE KNEELED DOWN_] That he might die as the _subject_ of his heavenly MASTER-_acting_ and _suffering_ in the deepest submission to his Divine will and permissive providence; and, at the same time, showing the genuine nature of the religion of his Lord, in pouring out his prayers wit... [ Continue Reading ]