Acts 7:1
Then (1) said the high priest, Are these things so? (1) Steven is allowed to plead his cause, but for this reason and purpose, that under a disguise and pretence of the Law he might be condemned.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then (1) said the high priest, Are these things so? (1) Steven is allowed to plead his cause, but for this reason and purpose, that under a disguise and pretence of the Law he might be condemned.... [ Continue Reading ]
(2) And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of (a) glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in (b) Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (2) Steven witnesses to the Jews that he acknowledges the true fathers, and the only true God, and more than this shows this that... [ Continue Reading ]
And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not [so much as] to (c) set his foot on: yet he (d) promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when [as yet] he had no child. (c) Not enough ground to even set his foot upon. (d) The promise of the possession was c... [ Continue Reading ]
And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat [them] evil (e) four hundred years. (e) Four hundred years are counted from the beginning of Abraham's progeny, which was at the birth of Isaac: and four hundred and... [ Continue Reading ]
(3) And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was (f) with him, (3) Steven diligently recounts the horrible misdeeds of some of the fathers, to teach the Jews that they ought not rashly to rest in the authority or examples of the fathers. (f) By these words are meant the... [ Continue Reading ]
And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him (g) favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. (g) Gave him favour in Pharaoh's sight because of his wisdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
And were (h) carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor [the father] of Sychem. (h) The patriarchs who were the sons of Jacob, though only Joseph is mentioned; (Joshua 24:32).... [ Continue Reading ]
The same (i) dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. (i) He devised a subtle plan against our stock, in that he commanded all the males to be cast out.... [ Continue Reading ]
In which time Moses was born, and was (k) exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: (k) This child was born through God's merciful goodness and favour, to be of a lovely and fair countenance.... [ Continue Reading ]
And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an (l) angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. (l) Now, he calls the Son of God an angel, for he is the angel of great counsel, and therefore immediately after he describes him as saying to Moses, "I am... [ Continue Reading ]
This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send [to be] a ruler and a deliverer by the (m) hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. (m) By the power.... [ Continue Reading ]
(4) This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. (4) He acknowledges Moses as the Lawgiver, but in such a way that he proves by his own witness that the Law had respect to a more pe... [ Continue Reading ]
And they made a (n) calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. (n) This was the superstition of the Egyptian's idolatry: for they worshipped Apis, a strange and marvellous looking calf, and made beautiful images of cows.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then God turned, and (o) gave them up to worship the (p) host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices [by the space of] forty years in the wilderness? (o) Being destitute and void of his Spirit, he gave them up... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, ye (q) took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. (q) You took it upon your shoulders and carried it.... [ Continue Reading ]
(5) Our fathers had the tabernacle of (r) witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. (5) Moses indeed erected a tabernacle, but that was to call them back to the one whom he had seen on the mountain. (r) Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Which also our fathers that came after (s) brought in with Jesus into the (t) possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out (u) before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; (s) Delivered from hand to hand. (t) This is said using the figure of speech metonymy, and refers to the countrie... [ Continue Reading ]
(6) But Solomon built him an house. (6) Solomon built a temple according to God's commandment, but not under any condition that the majesty of God should be enclosed within it.... [ Continue Reading ]
(7) Ye stiffnecked and (x) uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did], so [do] ye. (7) Steven, moved with the zeal of God, at length judges his own judges. (x) They are of uncircumcised hearts who still lie drowned in the sins of nature, and are stuc... [ Continue Reading ]
Who have received the law by the (y) disposition of angels, and have not kept [it]. (y) By the ministry of angels.... [ Continue Reading ]
(8) When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with [their] teeth. (8) The more Satan is pressed, the more he breaks out into an open rage.... [ Continue Reading ]
(9) But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus (z) standing on the right hand of God, (9) The nearer that martyrs approach to death, the nearer that they rise up, even into heaven, as they behold Christ. (z) Ready to affirm him in th... [ Continue Reading ]
(10) Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and (a) ran upon him with one accord, (10) The zeal of hypocrites and superstitious people eventually breaks out into a most open madness. (a) This was done in a rage and fury, for at that time the Jews could put no man to death b... [ Continue Reading ]
And cast [him] out of the city, and stoned [him]: and the (b) witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. (b) It was appointed by the Law that the witnesses should cast the first stones; (Deuteronomy 17:7).... [ Continue Reading ]
(11) And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, (c) lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he (d) fell asleep. (11) Faith and charity never forsake the true servants of God, even to the last breath. (c) The word which he uses here refers to a type of imputing or... [ Continue Reading ]