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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Acts 7 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/acts/7.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/acts/7-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Acts 7</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/6.htm" title="Acts 6">◄</a> Acts 7 <a href="../acts/8.htm" title="Acts 8">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-1.htm">Acts 7:1</a></div><div class="verse">Then said the high priest, Are these things so?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> <span class="accented">- And the high priest said</span> for then <span class="accented">said the high priest</span>, A.V. The high priest spoke as president of the Sanhedrim (see <a href="/acts/9-1.htm">Acts 9:1</a> and <a href="/matthew/26-62.htm">Matthew 26:62</a>). Theophilus the son of Annas or his brother Jonathan is probably meant. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-2.htm">Acts 7:2</a></div><div class="verse">And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> <span class="accented">- Brethren and fathers</span> for <span class="accented">men, brethren, and fathers</span>, A.V. <span class="accented">Haran</span> for <span class="accented">Charran</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Brethren and fathers</span>. The Greek is <span class="greek">ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ</span> (<span class="accented">i.e.</span> "men who are also my brethren") <span class="greek">καὶ πατέρες</span>. He adds "and fathers" out of respect to the elder and more dignified portion of the Sanhedrim. It seems probable that Stephen, as a Hellenist Jew, spoke in Greek, which is borne out by the quotations being from the LXX. (see Alford), though Meyer and others think he spoke in Hebrew. Greek was generally understood at this time by all educated persons (see Roberts, 'Discussions on Gospels,' <a href="/acts/2.htm">Acts 2</a>. - 7.). The speech itself is almost universally admitted to bear strong internal marks of genuineness and originality. But different estimates have been formed of its excellence, and different explanations given of its scope and object. Difficult but striking; long and prolix;" "at first sight absurd and out of place;" "wonderful but difficult;" "of inestimable value;" "a speech containing many things which don't seem much to the point;" "a powerful speech;" a speech combining "the address of the advocate and the boldness of the martyr;" - are some of the estimates that have been formed of it by modern commentators. As regards its scope and object, the two main clues to it are the accusation which Stephen rose to rebut, and the application with which he ended in vers. 51-53. If we keep these two things steadily in view, we shall not be very far wrong if we say that Stephen sought to clear himself by showing, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> by his historical summary, what a true and thorough Israelite he was in heart and feeling and fellowship with the fathers of his race, and therefore how unlikely to speak blasphemous words against either Moses or the temple; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> how Moses himself had foretold the coming of Christ as a prophet like himself, to enunciate some new doctrines; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> how at every stage of their history their fathers had resisted those who were sent to them by God, and that now his judges were playing the same part. Perhaps it may be further true, as Chrysostom explains it (Hom. 15, 16, 17.), that his intention in the early part of the speech was to show "that the promise was made before the place, before circumcision, before sacrifice, before the temple," in accordance with St. Paul's argument (<a href="/galatians/3-16.htm">Galatians 3:16-18</a>); and that therefore the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant could not be dependent upon the Law or the temple. <span class="cmt_word">The God of glory</span>. This unusual phrase identifies God, of whom Stephen speaks, with the God whose visible glory was seen by the patriarchs (<a href="/genesis/12-7.htm">Genesis 12:7</a>; <a href="/genesis/18-1.htm">Genesis 18:1</a>; <a href="/genesis/26-2.htm">Genesis 26:2</a>; <a href="/genesis/28-12.htm">Genesis 28:12, 13</a>; <a href="/genesis/35-9.htm">Genesis 35:9</a>; <a href="/exodus/24-16.htm">Exodus 24:16, 17</a>; <a href="/numbers/16-19.htm">Numbers 16:19</a>; <a href="/isaiah/6.htm">Isaiah 6</a>; <a href="/john/12-41.htm">John 12:41</a>). St. Paul uses a similar phrase, "The Lord of glory '(<a href="/1_corinthians/2-8.htm">1 Corinthians 2:8</a>). Our father. He thus identifies himself with his judges, whom he had just called "brethren." In <span class="cmt_word">Mesopotamia</span>, which would be in Hebrew "Aram of the two rivers." The exact place, as we learn from <a href="/genesis/11-31.htm">Genesis 11:31</a>, was "Ur of the Chaldees;" whence the Israelites were taught to say (<a href="/deuteronomy/26-5.htm">Deuteronomy 26:5</a>), "An Aramcan ready to perish was my father." That this appearance was in Ur, <span class="cmt_word">before he dwelt in Haran</span>, is manifest from <a href="/genesis/11-31.htm">Genesis 11:31</a>, because it is there said that they went forth from Ur "to go into the land of Canaan," which makes it quite certain that the appearance of God to Abraham had preceded their leaving Ur, and was the cause of it. And this is confirmed by <a href="/genesis/15-7.htm">Genesis 15:7</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/9-7.htm">Nehemiah 9:7</a>; and Josephus ('Ant.,' 1. 7:1). Moreover, the very language of the call shows plainly that it came to him when he was living in his native country, among his kindred, and in his father's house, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> at Ur, not in Haran, where they were only sojourners. There is nothing the least unusual, in Hebrew narrative, in the writer going back to any point in the preceding narrative with which the subsequent narrative is connected. <a href="/genesis/12.htm">Genesis 12</a>. I precedes in point of time <a href="/genesis/11-31.htm">Genesis 11:31</a>; similar examples are <a href="/genesis/37-5.htm">Genesis 37:5, 6</a>; <a href="/judges/20.htm">Judges 20</a>, <span class="accented">passim</span>; <a href="/1_samuel/16-21.htm">1 Samuel 16:21</a> compared with <a href="/1_samuel/17-28.htm">1 Samuel 17:28</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/22-20.htm">1 Samuel 22:20, 21</a>, compared with <a href="/1_samuel/23-6.htm">1 Samuel 23:6</a>; and many more. It is, however, of course possible that a fresh call may have been given after Terah's death, though it is by no means necessary to suppose it. Another imaginary difficulty arises from the statement in <a href="/genesis/12-4.htm">Genesis 12:4</a> that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran, that Terah lived seventy years and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and that Terah died at the age of two hundred and five; and from the statement in ver. 4 of this chapter that Abram did not leave Haran till Terah's death. From which it is concluded that Terah must have lived sixty years after Abram's departure (70 + 75 + 60 = 205). But the whole difficulty arises from the gratuitous supposition that Abram was Terah's firstborn because he is named first. If Terah were a hundred and thirty at the birth of Abram, he would be two hundred and five when Abram was seventy-five. Now, there is absolutely nothing to forbid the supposition that such was his age. It does not follow that because Abram is named first he was the eldest. He might be named first as being by far the most illustrious of the three, he might be named first because the subsequent genealogies - Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve Patriarchs - were deduced from him. There may, too, have been other sons of Terah, not named here because nothing was going to be said about them. Nahor is mentioned because Rebekah was his granddaughter (<a href="/genesis/24-15.htm">Genesis 24:15, 24</a>) and Rachel his great-granddaughter. And Haran is mentioned because he was the father of Lot. Others, whether sons or daughters, would not be mentioned. If Terah, therefore, began to have children when he was seventy, it is quite probable that Abram may not have been born till he was a hundred and thirty. That the son named first need not necessarily be the eldest is clear from the order in which Shem, Ham, and Japheth are named, whereas it appears from <a href="/genesis/9-24.htm">Genesis 9:24</a> that Ham was the youngest, and from <a href="/genesis/10-2.htm">Genesis 10:2, 21</a> (according to the A.V. and the LXX., Symmachus, the Targum of Onkelos, and the old Jewish commentators), that Japheth was the eldest. In <a href="/joshua/24-4.htm">Joshua 24:4</a> God says, "I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau," though Esau was the elder; and so <a href="/hebrews/11-20.htm">Hebrews 11:20</a>. So again in <a href="/exodus/5-20.htm">Exodus 5:20</a> we read, "Moses and Aaron" (see also <a href="/exodus/40-31.htm">Exodus 40:31</a>; <a href="/numbers/16-43.htm">Numbers 16:43</a>; <a href="/joshua/24-5.htm">Joshua 24:5</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/12-6.htm">1 Samuel 12:6</a>; etc.), though it appears from <a href="/1_chronicles/6-3.htm">1 Chronicles 6:3</a> that Aaron was the eldest. So again we read in <a href="/genesis/48-5.htm">Genesis 48:5</a>, "Thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh," and in ver. 20, "God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh," though in ver. I of the same chapter they are named according to the true order of birth - "Manasseh and Ephraim." It is, therefore, an unwarrantable inference that Abram was the eldest son because he is named first; and with the removal of this inference the difficulty vanishes; and Stephen was quite accurate when he said that God appeared to Abraham in Ur, before he dwelt in Haran, and that he did not move from Haran till the death of Terah. <span class="cmt_word">Haran</span>. <span class="accented">Charran</span> in A.V. marks the difference between <span class="accented">Haran</span> (<span class="hebrew">הָרָן</span>), Lot's father, and the name of the place (<span class="hebrew">הָרָן</span>). It is called "the city of Nahor" (<a href="/genesis/24-10.htm">Genesis 24:10</a> compared with Genesis 47:43). It still exists as an Arab village, with the name of Harran (see 'Dictionary of Bible'). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-3.htm">Acts 7:3</a></div><div class="verse">And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="accented">Thy land</span> for <span class="accented">thy country</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-4.htm">Acts 7:4</a></div><div class="verse">Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> <span class="accented">- Haran</span> for <span class="accented">Charran</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">God removed</span> for <span class="accented">he</span> removed, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">The land of the Chaldaeans</span>. In <a href="/genesis/11-28.htm">Genesis 11:28</a> Ur is called "Ur of the Chaldees." <span class="cmt_word">When his father was dead (see</span> note to <span class="cmt_word">ver. 2). God removed.</span> That God is the subject appears from the following verbs, "he gave," "he promised." The verb <span class="greek">μετώκισεν</span>, he removed, is the technical word for planting a colony. <span class="cmt_word">Wherein</span>, etc. (<span class="greek">εἰς η}ν</span>); into which ye came and dwelt. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-5.htm">Acts 7:5</a></div><div class="verse">And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not <i>so much as</i> to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when <i>as yet</i> he had no child.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - And for <span class="accented">yet</span>, A.V.; in for for a, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">He gave him none inheritance</span>, etc. (comp. <a href="/hebrews/11-8.htm">Hebrews 11:8, 9</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-6.htm">Acts 7:6</a></div><div class="verse">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 <i>them</i> evil four hundred years.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">In a strange land</span>; a land belonging to some one else (<a href="/hebrews/11-9.htm">Hebrews 11:9</a>, <span class="greek">γῆ ἀλλοτρία</span>, as here); a land in which he had none inheritance, not yet become the possession of his seed; for as the writer to the Hebrews says, he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob; not applicable, therefore, in the first instance to Egypt at all. And this sojourning as strangers and pilgrims lasted altogether four hundred and thirty years, vie. two hundred and fifteen years in Canaan, and two hundred and fifteen in Egypt; which agrees exactly with St. Paul's reckoning in round numbers of four hundred years from the giving of the promise to Abraham to the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai (<a href="/galatians/3-17.htm">Galatians 3:17</a>). The "four hundred years" must not be taken in connection with the bondage" and the ill treatment which characterized the last half of the period, but as spoken of the whole period during which they had not possession of the promised land. <span class="cmt_word">Bring them into bondage</span>. So the LXX.; but the Hebrew, as rendered in the A.V., has "and they shall serve them." But some (see Gesenius, 'Thes.') render the Hebrew as the LXX. Do. <span class="cmt_word">Four hundred years</span>. This is a round number, as in <a href="/genesis/15-13.htm">Genesis 15:13</a>. The exact time, as given in <a href="/exodus/12-40.htm">Exodus 12:40, 41</a>, was four hundred and thirty years. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-7.htm">Acts 7:7</a></div><div class="verse">And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="accented">Which</span> for <span class="accented">whom</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">And serve me in this place</span>. These words are not in <a href="/genesis/15.htm">Genesis 15</a>, from which the preceding words are quoted. Instead of <span class="greek">καὶ λατρεύσουσι</span> <span class="greek">μοί ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ</span>, the <span class="accented">LXX</span>, following the Hebrew, have <span class="greek">μετὰ ἀποσκεύης πολλῆς</span>, "with great substance." The words "serve me in this place," seem certainly to have been suggested by <a href="/exodus/3-12.htm">Exodus 3:12</a>, "Ye shall serve God upon this mountain;" but they give a perfectly correct account of what happened in this case. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-8.htm">Acts 7:8</a></div><div class="verse">And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so <i>Abraham</i> begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac <i>begat</i> Jacob; and Jacob <i>begat</i> the twelve patriarchs.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - Jacob <span class="accented">the twelve</span> for <span class="accented">Jacob begat the twelve</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">He gave him the covenant</span> of circumcision, subsequently to the gift of the land by promise. The argument suggested is apparently the same as St. Paul's in <a href="/romans/4-10.htm">Romans 4:10-17</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-9.htm">Acts 7:9</a></div><div class="verse">And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> <span class="accented">- Moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him</span>, for <span class="accented">moved with envy sold Joseph</span>, A.V., more correctly, and in accordance with <a href="/genesis/37-11.htm">Genesis 37:11</a>, LXX.; <span class="accented">and</span> for <span class="accented">but</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Moved with jealousy</span>, etc. Here breaks out that part of Stephen's argument which went to show how the Israelites had always ill-used their greatest benefactors, and resisted the leaders sent to them by God. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-10.htm">Acts 7:10</a></div><div class="verse">And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> <span class="accented">- Before</span> for <span class="accented">in the sight of</span>, A.V. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>And delivered him</span>, etc. And even so had he delivered his servant Jesus from the grave, and raised him to eternal life. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-11.htm">Acts 7:11</a></div><div class="verse">Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> <span class="accented">- Famine</span> for dearth, A.V.; <span class="accented">Egypt</span> for <span class="accented">the land of Egypt</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">Canaan</span> for <span class="accented">Chanaan</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-12.htm">Acts 7:12</a></div><div class="verse">But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - Sent <span class="accented">forth</span> for sent out, A.V.; <span class="accented">the first time</span> for <span class="accented">first</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-13.htm">Acts 7:13</a></div><div class="verse">And at the second <i>time</i> Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> <span class="accented">- Race became manifest</span> for <span class="accented">kindred was made known</span>, A.V. "Kindred" is a much better word here, because Joseph's "race" was already known to Pharaoh (<a href="/genesis/41-12.htm">Genesis 41:12</a>); "was made known" is a far better phrase than "became manifest." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-14.htm">Acts 7:14</a></div><div class="verse">Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to <i>him</i>, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> <span class="accented">- And Joseph sent</span> for <span class="accented">then sent Joseph</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">called to him Jacob his father</span> for c<span class="accented">alled his father Jacob to him</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Three score and fifteen souls</span>. In <a href="/genesis/46-26.htm">Genesis 46:26, 27</a>, the statement is very precise that "all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were three score and ten," including Joseph and his two sons. Moreover, the accuracy of the number is tested in two ways. First, the names of the sons and daughters of each patriarch are given, and they are found, on counting them, to amount to exactly seventy. And then the totals of the descendants of each of Jacob's four wives is given separately, and again the total is exactly seventy (33 + 16 + 14 + 7 = 70). It is true that the computation in ver. 26 does not agree with the above, for it makes the number of Jacob's descendants, exclusive of Joseph and his two sons, sixty-six instead of sixty-seven, which is the number according to the two above computations, and consequently the total number (when Joseph and his two sons are added) sixty-nine instead of seventy. But this is such a manifest contradiction that it seems almost a necessity to suppose a clerical error, <span class="hebrew">שֵׁשׁ</span> for <span class="hebrew">שֶׁבַע</span>, caused perhaps by the preceding <span class="hebrew">שִׁשִׁים</span>. It is also a singular anomaly that, in the enumeration of Leah's descendants, as well as in the general enumeration, Er and Onan are distinctly reckoned as well as <span class="accented">mentioned</span>. Jacob himself is nowhere reckoned in the Bible, though he is in the commentaries. But when we turn to the LXX., we find that in <a href="/genesis/46-20.htm">Genesis 46:20</a> there are added to Manasseh and Ephraim Machir the son and Gilead the grandson of Manasseh; and Suthelah and Taam the sons, and Edom (meaning Eran, <span class="accented">LXX.</span> Eden, <a href="/numbers/26-36.htm">Numbers 26:36</a>) the grandson, of Ephraim, making the descendants of Rachel eighteen (it should be nineteen if <span class="accented">Huppim</span>, <a href="/genesis/46-21.htm">Genesis 46:21</a>, is added) instead of fourteen; the number sixty-six of ver. 26 is preserved; the number of Joseph's descendants is given as nine (Huppim apparently being now reckoned), which, added to sixty-six, makes seventy-five; and accordingly in ver. 27 the LXX. read <span class="greek">ψυχαὶ ἑβδομηκονταπέντε</span> ("seventy-five souls"), instead of "three score and <span class="accented">ten."</span> But except in the addition of these five names of Joseph's grand and great-grand-children, the LXX. support the Hebrew text, even in the strange <span class="accented">sixty-six</span> of ver. 26. Stephen, as a Hellenist, naturally follows the LXX. But the question arises - How are we to understand the lists? <a href="/genesis/46-8.htm">Genesis 46:8</a> says, "These are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt;" and one naturally expects to find the names only of those who are described in vers. 5-7 as the migratory party from Canaan to Egypt. This expectation is somewhat disturbed by Er and Onan being included in the enumeration. This may, however, be accounted for by Pharez and Zerah being reckoned as their seed. But is it likely that Hezron and Hamul the sons of Pharez, and the other great-grandsons of Jacob, were born before the descent into Egypt? The answer to this is that, as Jacob was a hundred and thirty years old when he came down to Egypt (<a href="/genesis/47-28.htm">Genesis 47:28</a>), there is no improbability in his having great-grandchildren (allowing forty years for a generation); on the contrary, every likelihood that he should. But on the other hand, as Joseph could not have been above fifty when Jacob came down to Egypt (30 + 14 + X.), <a href="/genesis/41-46.htm">Genesis 41:46, 29, 30</a>, it does not seem likely or possible that Joseph should have had grown-up grandsons and a great-grandson, as the LXX. make him have. Indeed, to all appearance Manasseh and Ephraim were unmarried young men at the time that Jacob blessed them (<a href="/genesis/48-11.htm">Genesis 48:11, 16</a>; <a href="/genesis/50-23.htm">Genesis 50:23</a>). Therefore we may conclude certainly that the additional numbers of the LXX. are incorrect, if understood literally, of these who came down with Jacob from Canaan to Egypt. But there is nothing improbable in Benjamin having ten children. Judah, to whom grandchildren are attributed, was Jacob's fourth son, and might be forty or fifty years older than Joseph and Benjamin. Asher, to whom also grandsons are attributed, was the eighth son, and might be twenty years older than Joseph and Benjamin. Still, considering that Er and Onan are reckoned among those who came down to Egypt, it would not be surprising to find that some of those mentioned in the list were born after Jacob's arrival, but included on some principle which we do not understand. In other words, a literal interpretation of the statement of the Hebrew Bible involves no impossibilities, but a literal interpretation of the statement of the LXX. does. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-15.htm">Acts 7:15</a></div><div class="verse">So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> <span class="accented">- And</span> for so, A.V.; <span class="accented">he died, himself</span> for <span class="accented">died, he</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-16.htm">Acts 7:16</a></div><div class="verse">And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor <i>the father</i> of Sychem.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> <span class="accented">- And they were</span> for <span class="accented">and</span> were, A.V.; <span class="accented">unto Shechem</span> for <span class="accented">into Sychem</span>, A.V., <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the Hebrew for the Greek form of the name (<a href="/genesis/34-2.htm">Genesis 34:2</a>); tomb for <span class="accented">sepulcher</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">a price in silver</span> for <span class="accented">a sum of money</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">Hamor</span> for Erect, A.V. (Hebrew for Greek form); <span class="accented">in Shechem</span> for <span class="accented">the father of Sychem</span>, A.V. and T.R. As regards the statement in the text, two distinct transactions seem at first sight to be mixed up. One, that Abraham bought the field of Machpelah of Ephron the Hittite for a burial-place, where he and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah, were buried (<a href="/genesis/24-16.htm">Genesis 24:16, 17, 19</a>; <a href="/genesis/25-9.htm">Genesis 25:9, 10</a>; <a href="/genesis/35-27.htm">Genesis 35:27-29</a>; <a href="/genesis/49-29.htm">Genesis 49:29-31</a>); the other, that Jacob "bought a parcel of a field..., at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money," where the bones of Joseph were buried by Joshua (<a href="/genesis/33-19.htm">Genesis 33:19</a>; <a href="/genesis/50-25.htm">Genesis 50:25</a>; <a href="/joshua/24-32.htm">Joshua 24:32</a>), and where, according to a tradition still surviving in the days of St. Jerome, the other patriarchs were also buried ('Epistol.'86," She came to Sichem, now called Neapolis (or Nablous), and from thence visited the tombs of the twelve patriarchs"). See also Jerome, 'De Optimo Genere Interpretandi. All Jewish writers, however, are wholly silent" about this tradition, perhaps from jealousy of the Samaritans (Lightfoot, vol. 8. p. 423). And Josephus affirms that all but Joseph were buried at Hebron ('Ant. Jud.,'2. 8:2); and that their beautiful marble monuments were to be seen at Hebron in his day. In the cave of Machpelah, however, there is no tomb of any of the twelve patriarchs except Joseph; and his so-called tomb is of a different character and situation from the genuine ones (Stanley's 'Lectures on Jewish Church,' 1st series, pp. 498-500. See also 'Sermons in the East': 'The Mosque of Hebron'). But on looking closer at the text it appears pretty certain that only Shechem was in Stephen's mind. For first he speaks of Shechem at once, <span class="cmt_word">And were carried over unto Shechem</span>. And adds and <span class="cmt_word">were laid in</span> <span class="cmt_word">the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor in Shechem.</span> Except the one word "Abraham," the whole sentence points to Shechem. What he says of Shechem is exactly in accordance with <a href="/genesis/33-18.htm">Genesis 33:18, 19</a>. And what he says of their fathers being carried over and buried at Shechem is exactly true of Joseph's bones, as related in <a href="/joshua/24-32.htm">Joshua 24:32</a>. So that the one difficulty is the word "Abraham." It seems much more probable that this word should have been interpolated by some early transcriber, who saw no nominative case to <span class="greek">ὠνήσατο</span>, and who had in his mind a confused recollection of Abraham's purchase, than that Stephen, who shows such thorough knowledge of the Bible history, should have made a gross mistake in such a well-known and famous circumstance as the purchase of the field of Machpelah, or that Luke should have perpetuated it had he made it in the hurry of speech. It cannot be affirmed with certainty that Stephen confirms the story of the other patriarchs being buried at Shechem, though possibly he alludes to the tradition. The plural, "they were carried," etc., might be put generally, though only Joseph was meant (as <a href="/matthew/27-44.htm">Matthew 27:44</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-8.htm">Matthew 26:8</a> compared with <a href="/luke/23-39.htm">Luke 23:39</a>; <a href="/john/12-4.htm">John 12:4</a>), or "the bones of Joseph" might possibly be the subject, though not expressed. Lightfoot - followed by Bishop Wordsworth, who thinks that Abraham really did buy a field of Ephron in Sychem, when he was there (<a href="/genesis/12-6.htm">Genesis 12:6</a>)-would thus be right in supposing that the point of Stephen's remark was that the patriarchs were buried in Shechem. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-17.htm">Acts 7:17</a></div><div class="verse">But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="accented">As</span> for <span class="accented">when</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">vouchsafed unto</span> for <span class="accented">had sworn</span> to, A.V. and T.R. <span class="cmt_word">Vouchsafed</span>; <span class="greek">ὁμολογεῖν</span>, in the sense of" to promise," as in <a href="/matthew/14-7.htm">Matthew 14:7</a>, and not unfrequently in Greek writers, for <span class="greek">ὀμνύειν</span>, to swear. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-18.htm">Acts 7:18</a></div><div class="verse">Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> <span class="accented">- Over Egypt</span>, R.T.; <span class="accented">there arose another king</span> for <span class="accented">another king arose</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-19.htm">Acts 7:19</a></div><div class="verse">The same 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> <span class="accented">- Race</span> for <span class="accented">kindred</span>, A.V., as in ver. 13; <span class="accented">that they should cast out</span> for <span class="accented">so that they east out</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">babes</span> for <span class="accented">young children</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-20.htm">Acts 7:20</a></div><div class="verse">In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - At <span class="accented">which season</span> for <span class="accented">in which time</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">he was nourished three months in his father's house</span> for <span class="accented">nourished up in his father's house three months</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Exceeding</span> fair (<span class="greek">ἀστεῖος τῷ Θεῷ</span>). In <a href="/exodus/2-2.htm">Exodus 2:2</a> it is simply <span class="greek">ἀστεῖος</span>, "a goodly child," A.V., and so in <a href="/hebrews/11-23.htm">Hebrews 11:23</a>, rendered "a goodly child," "a proper child," A.V. Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 2. 9:5, 7) describes Pharaoh's daughter as captivated by the size and beauty of the child, and as speaking of him to Pharaoh as of Divine beauty. And Justin (quoted by Whitby) says that the beauty of his person was greatly in his favor. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-21.htm">Acts 7:21</a></div><div class="verse">And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-22.htm">Acts 7:22</a></div><div class="verse">And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> <span class="accented">- Instructed</span> for <span class="accented">learned</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">he was mighty</span> for <span class="accented">was mighty</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">in his words and works</span> for <span class="accented">in words and in deeds</span>, A.V. and T.R. The statement of Moses being <span class="cmt_word">instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians</span>, though not found in Exodus, was doubtless true. Josephus makes Thermeutis speak of him as "of a noble understanding;" and says that he was "brought up with much care and diligence." And Philo, in his life of Moses(quoted by Whitby), says he was smiled in music, geometry, arithmetic, and hieroglyphics, and the whole circle of arts and sciences. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-23.htm">Acts 7:23</a></div><div class="verse">And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> <span class="accented">- Well-nigh</span> for <span class="accented">full</span>, A.V. When he was precisely forty years old (Meyer) The exact meaning seems to be "when he was in the act of completing forty years." The account in <a href="/exodus/2-11.htm">Exodus 2:11</a> only says, "When Moses was grown" (<span class="greek">μέγας γενόμενος</span>, LXX.); the age of forty years, and the number of years, forty, that he sojourned in Midian, as given below, ver. 30, are traditional. "There are that say that Moses was forty years in Pharaoh's palace, forty years in Midian, and forty years in the wilderness" (Tauchum, in Exodus it.). "Moses was forty years in Pharaoh's court, and forty years in Midian, and forty years he served Israel" (Beresh. Rabb.), both quoted by Lightfoot ('Comment. and Exercitations upon the Acts'). The sum total of the three periods of forty years is given as the length of Moses' life, viz. a hundred and twenty years (<a href="/deuteronomy/34-7.htm">Deuteronomy 34:7</a>). Ver. <span class="accented">24. - Smiting</span> for <span class="accented">and smote</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-24.htm">Acts 7:24</a></div><div class="verse">And seeing one <i>of them</i> suffer wrong, he defended <i>him</i>, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-25.htm">Acts 7:25</a></div><div class="verse">For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 25.</span> <span class="accented">- And he supposed that his brethren understood</span> for <span class="accented">for he supposed that his brethren would have understood</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">was giving them deliverance</span> for <span class="accented">would deliver them</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-26.htm">Acts 7:26</a></div><div class="verse">And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - The <span class="accented">day following</span> for <span class="accented">the next day</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">he appeared</span> for <span class="accented">be showed himself</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-27.htm">Acts 7:27</a></div><div class="verse">But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-28.htm">Acts 7:28</a></div><div class="verse">Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span> <span class="accented">- Wouldest</span> for <span class="accented">wilt</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">killedst</span> for <span class="accented">diddest</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-29.htm">Acts 7:29</a></div><div class="verse">Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 29.</span> <span class="accented">- And Moses fled</span> for <span class="accented">then fled Moses</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">became a sojourner</span> for was a <span class="accented">stranger</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">Midian</span> for <span class="accented">Madian</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-30.htm">Acts 7:30</a></div><div class="verse">And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 30.</span> <span class="accented">- Fulfilled</span> for <span class="accented">expired</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">an angel appeared</span> for <span class="accented">there appeared</span>... <span class="accented">an angel</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">an angel</span> for <span class="accented">an angel of the Lord</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">Sinai</span> for <span class="accented">Sina</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-31.htm">Acts 7:31</a></div><div class="verse">When Moses saw <i>it</i>, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold <i>it</i>, the voice of the Lord came unto him,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 31.</span> <span class="accented">- And when for when</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">behold</span> for <span class="accented">behold it</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">there came a voice of the Lord</span> for <span class="accented">the voice of the Lord came unto him</span>, A.V. There came a voice. The A.V. is surely right. The Lord has only one voice; and <span class="greek">φωνὴ</span> <span class="greek">Κυρίου ισ</span> that voice. The grammatical effect of <span class="greek">Κυρίου υπον</span> <span class="greek">φωνὴ</span> is to make it definite, as in <span class="greek">ἄγγελος Κυρίου</span> (see <a href="/acts/5-19.htm">Acts 5:19</a>, note). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-32.htm">Acts 7:32</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Saying</i>, I <i>am</i> the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 32.</span> <span class="accented">- Saying</span>, A.V., is omitted; <span class="accented">of Isaac and of Jacob</span> for <span class="accented">the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">and</span> for <span class="accented">then</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-33.htm">Acts 7:33</a></div><div class="verse">Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 33.</span> <span class="accented">- And the Lord said unto him</span> for <span class="accented">then said the Lord to him</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">loose the shoes</span> for <span class="accented">put off by shoes</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Loose the shoes</span>, etc. In <a href="/exodus/3-5.htm">Exodus 3:5</a> it is <span class="greek">λύσαι</span>... <span class="greek">ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν σου</span>. Iamblichus, quoted by Meyer, refers the Pythagorean precept, "Sacrifice and worship with thy shoes off," to an Egyptian custom. The custom of Orientals to take off their sandals on entering mosques or other sacred places, as existing to the present day, is noticed by many travelers (see also <a href="/joshua/5-15.htm">Joshua 5:15</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-34.htm">Acts 7:34</a></div><div class="verse">I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 34.</span> - <span class="accented">I</span> <span class="accented">have surely seen</span> (literally, <span class="accented">seeing I have</span> seen - the well-known Hebrew idiom for emphatic affirmation) for <span class="accented">I have seen, I have seen</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">have heard</span> for <span class="accented">I have heard</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">and</span> I <span class="accented">am</span> for <span class="accented">and am</span>, A.V., the change is in accordance with the A.V. of <a href="/exodus/3-7.htm">Exodus 3:7, 8</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-35.htm">Acts 7:35</a></div><div class="verse">This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send <i>to be</i> a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 35.</span> <span class="accented">- Him hath God sent</span> for <span class="accented">the same did God send</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">both a ruler</span> for a <span class="accented">ruler</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">with the hand</span> for <span class="accented">by the hand</span>, A.V. and T.R. (<span class="greek">σὺν</span> for <span class="greek">ἐν</span>), but giving no clear sense in English. The meaning seems to be that Moses was to rule and save with the strength given him by the angel But it is much simpler to take <span class="greek">ἐν χειρὶ</span> as equivalent to the common Hebrew phrase <span class="hebrew">בְיָד</span>, meaning instrumentality, "by means of," "through," and to join it with "did send." The angel who spake to Moses in the bush in the Name of God was God's instrument in sending Moses. When an angel gives a message from God, the words are always given as spoken by God himself (see <span class="accented">e.g.</span> <a href="/joshua/2-1.htm">Joshua 2:1-3</a>). In this verse Stephen, having with great oratorical skill entranced their attention by his recital of God's marvelous revelation of himself to Moses, now takes them off their guard, and shews how their fathers treated Moses just as they had treated Jesus Christ; and how God in the case of Moses had chosen and magnified the very man whom they had scornfully rejected; just as now he had exalted Jesus Christ to be a Prince and a Savior, whom they had crucified. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-36.htm">Acts 7:36</a></div><div class="verse">He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 36.</span> <span class="accented">- This man</span> for <span class="accented">he</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">led them forth</span> for <span class="accented">brought them out</span>, A.V. ; <span class="accented">having wrought</span> for <span class="accented">after that he had showed</span>, A.V. ; <span class="accented">Egypt</span> for <span class="accented">the land of Egypt</span>, A.V. and T.R. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-37.htm">Acts 7:37</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 37.</span> <span class="accented">- God</span> for <span class="accented">the Lord your God</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">from among</span> for <span class="accented">of</span>, A.V. The R.T. omits the words <span class="accented">him shall ye hear</span>, which follow in Dent. 18:15, and seem to be referred to in <a href="/matthew/17-5.htm">Matthew 17:5</a> (<span class="greek">αὐτοῦ ἀκούσεσθε</span> <span class="greek">αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε</span>). The addition of the words adds much to the point of Stephen's application (see above, <a href="/acts/3-22.htm">Acts 3:22</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-38.htm">Acts 7:38</a></div><div class="verse">This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and <i>with</i> our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 38.</span> <span class="accented">- Sinai</span> for <span class="accented">Sins</span>, A.V. (Hebrew for Greek form); <span class="accented">living cracks</span> for <span class="accented">the lively</span> cracks, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">In the church.</span> St. Stephen probably used the word <span class="greek">ἐκκλησία</span> without any reference to its special meaning, "the Church." It is used in a secular sense in <a href="/acts/19-32.htm">Acts 19:32, 39</a>, and of the congregation of Israel in the LXX. of <a href="/1_chronicles/13-2.htm">1 Chronicles 13:2</a>; 1 Macc. 2:56; Ecclus. 44:15; and elsewhere. In Stephen's time it could hardly have become widely known as the designation of the flock of Christ. On the whole, the marginal rendering, "the congregation," seems best, but with the idea attached that it was the Lord's congregation. <span class="cmt_word">The angel which spake</span>. It may be doubted whether the phrase, "the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai," refers to the angel spoken of in ver. 30, or to the angel by whose mouth God spake the words of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, as recorded in <a href="/exodus/20-1.htm">Exodus 20:1-17</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/5-1.htm">Deuteronomy 5:1-22</a>. Chrysostom and most commentators seem to understand it of the angel who gave the Law; but Whitby, not without reason, thinks the reference is to the burning bush. <span class="cmt_word">Living oracles</span>. In like manner, St. Paul calls the Holy Scriptures "the oracles of God" (<a href="/romans/3-2.htm">Romans 3:2</a>), and in <a href="/hebrews/5-12.htm">Hebrews 5:12</a> we read again of "the first principles of the oracles of God," and St. Peter says, "Let him speak as the oracles of God" (<a href="/1_peter/4-11.htm">1 Peter 4:11</a>). For the force of the <span class="accented">living</span> or <span class="accented">lively</span> oracles, see <a href="/1_peter/1-23.htm">1 Peter 1:23, 25</a>. Stephen magnifies Moses by reminding his hearers how he had received the Law from God to give to the people. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-39.htm">Acts 7:39</a></div><div class="verse">To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust <i>him</i> from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 39.</span> <span class="accented">- Obedient</span> for <span class="accented">obey</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">turned back in their hearts unto Egypt</span> for <span class="accented">in their hearts turned back again into Egypt</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Our fathers would not be obedient</span>, though God had bestowed such signal marks of favor upon them. <span class="cmt_word">Turned back in their hearts</span>. A striking instance of their rejection of God's chiefest mercies. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-40.htm">Acts 7:40</a></div><div class="verse">Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for <i>as for</i> this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 40.</span> - <span class="accented">Which</span> <span class="accented">shall go</span> for <span class="accented">to go</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">led us forth</span> for <span class="accented">brought us</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-41.htm">Acts 7:41</a></div><div class="verse">And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 41.</span> <span class="accented">- Brought a sacrifice</span> for <span class="accented">offered sacrifice</span>, A.V. (see <a href="/exodus/32-6.htm">Exodus 32:6</a>, with which the A.V. agrees best); <span class="accented">hands</span> for <span class="accented">own hands</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-42.htm">Acts 7:42</a></div><div class="verse">Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the 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 <i>by the space of</i> forty years in the wilderness?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 42.</span> <span class="accented">- But</span> for <span class="accented">then</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">to serve</span> for <span class="accented">to worship</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?</span> for O <span class="accented">ye house of Israel, have ye offered</span>, etc., <span class="accented">by the space of forty years in the wilderness?</span> A.V. The passage which follows is nearly <span class="accented">verbatim et literatim</span> the LXX. of <a href="/amos/5-25.htm">Amos 5:25, 27</a>, except the well-known substitution of "Babylon" for "Damascus" in Amos. This, according to Lightfoot, with whom most commentators agree, was in accordance with a very common practice of readers in the schools and pulpits of the Jews, to adapt and accommodate a text to their own immediate purpose, keeping, however, to historical truth. Here Stephen points to the Babylonish Captivity as the punishment of the sins of their fathers, thus warning them of more terrible judgments to follow their rejection of Christ. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-43.htm">Acts 7:43</a></div><div class="verse">Yea, ye 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 43.</span> <span class="accented">- And</span> for yea, A.V.; the <span class="accented">god Rephan</span> for <span class="accented">your god Remphan</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">the figures</span> for <span class="accented">figures</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">The god Rephan</span>. Rephan, or Raiphan, or Remphan, as it is variously written, is the LXX. translation of the Hebrew <span class="accented">Chiun</span> in <a href="/amos/5-26.htm">Amos 5:26</a>. The best explanation of this is that Rephan is the Coptic name of the planet Saturn, well-known of course to the LXX., and that Chiun is the Hebrew and Arabic name of the same star, which they therefore translated by Rephan. With regard to the difficulty which has been felt by many <span class="accented">that</span> there is no mention of any such worship of Moloch and Chiun in the wilderness, and that sacrifices were continually offered to the Lord, it seems to arise from an entire misconception of the passage in Amos. What Amos means to say is that because of the treacherous, unfaithful heart of Israel, as shown in the worship of the golden calf and all their rebellions in the wilderness, all their sacrifices were worthless. Just as he had said in <a href="/amos/5-22.htm">Amos 5:22</a>, "Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts;" "I hate, I despise your feast days; Take away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols" (<a href="/amos/5-21.htm">Amos 5:21, 23</a>): just as Isaiah also says, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?... I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ... Bring no more vain oblations; ... it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting" (<a href="/isaiah/1-11.htm">Isaiah 1:11-13</a>, etc.); and again, "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood" (<a href="/isaiah/66-3.htm">Isaiah 66:3</a>): so all the sacrifices offered up during forty years in the wilderness were no sacrifices at all, and their hypocrisy was clearly seen when they reached the land of Canaan, and, according to Moses' prophetic declaration, "forsook God which made them... aria sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not" (<a href="/deuteronomy/32-15.htm">Deuteronomy 32:15-18</a>), such as Chiun and Moloch, Baalim and Ashtoreth. This later idolatry was the fruit and the judicial punishment of their first declension and apostasy in the wilderness, and led to the Captivity in Babylon. It was on seeing their unfaithfulness in the wilderness that" God turned and gave them up to serve the host of heaven." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-44.htm">Acts 7:44</a></div><div class="verse">Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 44.</span> - The <span class="accented">testimony</span> for witness, A.V.; <span class="accented">even as he appointed who spake</span> for as he <span class="accented">had appointed, speaking</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">figure</span> for <span class="accented">fashion</span>, A.V. Chrysostom calls attention to the mention of the wilderness, as showing that God's presence and service were not confined to Jerusalem. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-45.htm">Acts 7:45</a></div><div class="verse">Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 45.</span> <span class="accented">- In their turn</span> for <span class="accented">that come after</span>, (<span class="greek">διαδεξάμενοι</span>), A.V.; <span class="accented">Joshua</span> (the Hebrew form) for Jesus (the Greek form of the name), A.V.; <span class="accented">when they entered on the possession of the nations</span> for <span class="accented">into the possession of the Gentiles</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">which God thrust</span> for <span class="accented">whom God drave</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">In their turn;</span> more literally, <span class="accented">having received it in</span> succession. It only occurs here in the New Testament. Meyer quotes 4 Macc. 4:15, "On the death of Seleucus, his son Antiochus received the kingdom in succession ;" and classical writers. <span class="cmt_word">When they entered</span>, etc. There are three ways of construing the words <span class="greek">ἐν τῇ κατασχέσει τῶν</span> <span class="greek">ἐθνῶν</span> - <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> as the A.V., taking <span class="greek">ἐν</span> in the sense of <span class="greek">εἰς</span>, and making the phrase synonymous with the laud of Canaan, the land which the Gentiles then possessed; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> in (their) <span class="accented">taking possession</span> (of the land) <span class="accented">of the Gentiles, i.e.</span> when they took, taking <span class="greek">κατάσχεσις</span> in a transitive sense, which seems to be the sense of the R.V.: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> with Meyer, <span class="accented">during the holdings</span> or <span class="accented">possession by the Gentiles of the land</span>, that, <span class="accented">viz. into which their fathers brought the tabernacle.</span> The first seems the most simple and in accordance with the Greek of the New Testament, and with what follows of the expulsion of the nations before the Israelites. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-46.htm">Acts 7:46</a></div><div class="verse">Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 46.</span> - <span class="accented">In</span> <span class="accented">the sight of</span> for <span class="accented">before</span>, A.V. (<span class="greek">ἐνώπιον</span>); <span class="accented">asked</span> for <span class="accented">desired</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">habitation</span> for <span class="accented">tabernacle</span>, A.V. (<span class="greek">σκήνωμα</span>). <span class="cmt_word">Habitation</span>. In <a href="/deuteronomy/33-18.htm">Deuteronomy 33:18</a> <span class="greek">σκήνωμα</span> stands in the LXX. for <span class="hebrew">אִהֶל</span>, and in <a href="/2_peter/1-13.htm">2 Peter 1:13, 5</a>:14, for the human body as the tabernacle or temporary dwelling of the soul or spirit. And the idea of a temporary or movable dwelling seems to suit Stephen's argument better than that of a fixed one. The <span class="hebrew">מִשְׁכָנות</span> of <a href="/psalms/132-5.htm">Psalm 132:5</a> (to which perhaps, as well as <a href="/2_samuel/7-1.htm">2 Samuel 7:1-6</a>, Stephen refers) is equally applicable to a tent. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-47.htm">Acts 7:47</a></div><div class="verse">But Solomon built him an house.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 47.</span> - A house for <span class="accented">an house</span>, A.V. The <span class="greek">οϊκος</span> (the house) of ver. 47, which Solomon built, seems to be almost in contrast with the <span class="greek">σκήνωμα</span> (the tabernacle). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-48.htm">Acts 7:48</a></div><div class="verse">Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 48.</span> <span class="accented">- Houses</span> (in italics) for <span class="accented">temples</span>, A.V. and T.R. The word <span class="greek">ναοῖς</span> (here, but not in <a href="/acts/17-24.htm">Acts 17:24</a>) is omitted in the R.T. In <a href="/isaiah/16-12.htm">Isaiah 16:12</a>. LXX. (quoted by Meyer), <span class="greek">χειροποίητα</span> (plural) is used without a substantive for the "sanctuary" (<span class="hebrew">מִקְדּושׁ</span>) of Moab. For the sentiment that the infinite God, Creator of heaven and earth, cannot be contained in a house built by the hands of men, see also <a href="/2_chronicles/6-18.htm">2 Chronicles 6:18</a>, as well as the passages above quoted. Stephen justifies himself from the charge of having spoken blasphemous words against the temple by citing <a href="/isaiah/66-1.htm">Isaiah 66:1</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-49.htm">Acts 7:49</a></div><div class="verse">Heaven <i>is</i> my throne, and earth <i>is</i> my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what <i>is</i> the place of my rest?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 49.</span> - The <span class="accented">heaven</span> for <span class="accented">heaven</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">the earth the footstool of my feet</span> for <span class="accented">earth is my footstool</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">what manner of house</span> for <span class="accented">what house</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-50.htm">Acts 7:50</a></div><div class="verse">Hath not my hand made all these things?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 50.</span> <span class="accented">- Did not my hand make</span> for <span class="accented">hath not my hand made</span>, A.V. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-51.htm">Acts 7:51</a></div><div class="verse">Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers <i>did</i>, so <i>do</i> ye.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 51.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Stiff</span>-<span class="cmt_word">necked</span>; hard of neck, inflexible. The word <span class="greek">σκληροτράχηλος</span> only occurs here in the New Testament. But it answers in the LXX. to the Hebrew <span class="hebrew">קְשֵׁה־עֹרֶף</span> (hard of neck); see <a href="/exodus/33-3.htm">Exodus 33:3, 5</a>, and elsewhere. In applying this expression to his hearers, Stephen was using the identical language of Moses when he conveyed God's rebuke to them. Considering that they professed to be standing on Moses' side against Stephen, this must have made his words doubly cutting to them. <span class="cmt_word">Uncircumcised in heart</span>; <span class="greek">ἀπερίτμητος</span> only occurs here in the New Testament, but it is found in 2 Macc. 1:51 2Macc. 2:46; and in the LXX. of <a href="/exodus/12-48.htm">Exodus 12:48</a>; <a href="/judges/14-3.htm">Judges 14:3</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/17-26.htm">1 Samuel 17:26</a>, and elsewhere for the Hebrew <span class="hebrew">עֹרֵל</span>. The word, in its application to his Jewish audience, contains a whole volume of rebuke. They prided themselves on their circumcision, they trusted in it as a sure ground of favor in the sight of God; but all the while they were on a level with the heathen whom they despised, and were to be reckoned among the uncircumcised whom they loathed. For they were without the true circumcision, that of the heart. Here again Stephen was teaching in the exact spirit and even words of Moses and the prophets. See <a href="/leviticus/26-41.htm">Leviticus 26:41</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/10-16.htm">Deuteronomy 10:16</a> (where Stephen's two reproaches occur together); <a href="/jeremiah/9-26.htm">Jeremiah 9:26</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/44-7.htm">Ezekiel 44:7</a>; and many other passages. Compare the teaching of St. Paul (<a href="/romans/2-28.htm">Romans 2:28, 29</a>; <a href="/philippians/3-2.htm">Philippians 3:2, 3</a>; <a href="/colossians/2-11.htm">Colossians 2:11</a>; and elsewhere). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-52.htm">Acts 7:52</a></div><div class="verse">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:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 52.</span> <span class="accented">- Did not</span>... <span class="accented">persecute</span> for <span class="accented">have not</span>... <span class="accented">persecuted</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">killed</span> for <span class="accented">have slain</span>, A.V. ; <span class="accented">righteous</span> for <span class="accented">just</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">have now become</span> for <span class="accented">have</span> <span class="accented">been now</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">betrayers</span> for <span class="accented">the betrayers</span>, A.V. The close resemblance of Stephen's words to those of our Lord recorded in <a href="/luke/13-33.htm">Luke 13:33, 34</a>; <a href="/matthew/5-12.htm">Matthew 5:12</a>; <a href="/matthew/23-30.htm">Matthew 23:30, 31, 34-37</a>, lend some support to the tradition that he was one of the seventy, and had heard the Lord speak them. But the resemblance may have arisen from the Spirit by which he spake, "the Spirit of Christ which was in" him. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-53.htm">Acts 7:53</a></div><div class="verse">Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept <i>it</i>.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 53.</span> <span class="accented">- Ye who received</span> for <span class="accented">who have received</span>, A.V. ; <span class="accented">as it was ordained by angels</span> for <span class="accented">by the disposition of angels</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">kept it not</span> for <span class="accented">hove not kept it</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Ordained by angels</span>. This phrase, thus differently rendered (<span class="greek">εἰς διαταγὰς ἀγγέλων</span>), is one of extreme difficulty: <span class="greek">διαταγή</span> means properly appointment," or "ordinance," as in <a href="/romans/13-2.htm">Romans 13:2</a>; and <span class="greek">εἰς</span>, which has a great variety of uses in the Greek of the New Testament, means "at," or "upon," or "on the occasion of," as <a href="/matthew/12-41.htm">Matthew 12:41</a>, "At the preaching of Jonah." So here they received the Law "at" or "on the occasion of," the "ordering" or "appointing" of angels. When the angels, who were commissioned by God and spoke in his Name, gave the Law, the Israelites so received it. The A.V., "by the disposition of angels" very nearly ex- presses the true sense. Another sense of <span class="greek">εἰς</span> - "in view of" - comes to nearly the same thing. St. Paul speaks of the part taken by the angels in the giving of the Law, and in language strikingly resembling the text. He says of it, that it was "ordained through ['by,' A V] angels" God ordained or appointed the Law, but the angels were the instruments or ministers of its promulgation. And it is also distinctly referred to in <a href="/deuteronomy/33-2.htm">Deuteronomy 33:2</a>, where the LXX. read, "On his right hand the angels were with him." In the foregoing verses the application which Stephen had all through been contemplating is hurled with accumulated force at the consciences of his hearers, and cuts them to the heart, but does not bring them to repentance. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-54.htm">Acts 7:54</a></div><div class="verse">When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with <i>their</i> teeth.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 54.</span> <span class="accented">- Now when</span> for <span class="accented">when</span>, A.V. They were cut to the heart (see <a href="/acts/5-33.htm">Acts 5:33</a> and notes). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-55.htm">Acts 7:55</a></div><div class="verse">But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 55.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Looked up steadfastly</span> (<span class="greek">ἀτενίσας</span>); see <a href="/acts/6-15.htm">Acts 6:15</a>; <a href="/acts/3-4.htm">Acts 3:4</a>, and note. The glory of God; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the visible glory which surrounds and proclaims God's near presence (see <a href="/exodus/24-10.htm">Exodus 24:10, 16, 17</a>; <a href="/isaiah/6-1.htm">Isaiah 6:1-3</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/1-28.htm">Ezekiel 1:28</a>; <a href="/revelation/21-14.htm">Revelation 21:14, 23</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">Jesus standing.</span> Sitting at the right hand of God is the usual attitude ascribed to our Lord in token of his victorious rest, and waiting for the day of judgment. Here he is seen standing, as rising to welcome his faithful martyr, and to place on his head the crown of life <a href="/revelation/2-10.htm">Revelation 2:10</a>). Whether Stephen saw these glorious things in the flesh or out of the flesh he probably knew not himself. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-56.htm">Acts 7:56</a></div><div class="verse">And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 56.</span> <span class="cmt_word">- The Son of man.</span> Our Lord's usual designation of himself (see <a href="/matthew/8-10.htm">Matthew 8:10</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-64.htm">Matthew 26:64</a>; etc.; and also <a href="/daniel/7-13.htm">Daniel 7:13</a>), but nowhere but here spoken of Jesus by any other. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-57.htm">Acts 7:57</a></div><div class="verse">Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 57.</span> <span class="accented">- But</span> for <span class="accented">then</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">rushed</span> for <span class="accented">ran</span>, A.V. (<span class="greek">ὥρμησαν</span>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-58.htm">Acts 7:58</a></div><div class="verse">And cast <i>him</i> out of the city, and stoned <i>him</i>: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 58.</span> - <span class="accented">They cast</span> for <span class="accented">cast</span>, A.V. ; <span class="accented">garments</span> for <span class="accented">clothes</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">the feet of a young man</span> for <span class="accented">a young man's feet</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">named Saul</span> for <span class="accented">whose name was Saul</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">They cast</span>. We have here the identical phrase of <a href="/luke/4-29.htm">Luke 4:29</a>. The witness. According to <a href="/deuteronomy/17-7.htm">Deuteronomy 17:7</a>, "the hands of the witnesses were to be first upon" the idolater "to put him to death." They took off their clothes, their outer garments, so as to be free to hurl the stones at their victim with greater force. <span class="cmt_word">The feet of a young man</span>. The word <span class="greek">νεανίας</span> is found only here and in <a href="/acts/20-9.htm">Acts 20:9</a>; <a href="/acts/23-17.htm">Acts 23:17, 18, 22</a>; and frequently in the LXX. for the Hebrew <span class="hebrew">נַעִר</span>. A man might be called a <span class="greek">νεανίας</span> probably to the age of thirty. This appearance of Saul upon the stage of St. Luke's narrative is an element which will soon change the whole current of the narrative, and divert it from Jerusalem to the whole earth. Nothing can be more striking than this introduction of the young man Saul to our view as an accomplice (albeit "ignorantly in unbelief") in the martyrdom of Stephen. Who that stood there and saw him keeping the clothes of the witnesses would have imagined that he would become the foremost apostle of the faith which he sought to destroy from off the face of the earth? </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-59.htm">Acts 7:59</a></div><div class="verse">And they stoned Stephen, calling upon <i>God</i>, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 59.</span> - The <span class="accented">Lord</span> (in italics) for <span class="accented">God</span> (in italics), A.V. The A.V. is certainly not justified by the context, because the words which follow, "Lord Jesus," show to whom the invocation was made, even to him whom he saw standing at the right hand of God. At the same time, the request, <span class="cmt_word">Receive my spirit</span>, was a striking acknowledgment of the divinity of Christ. Only he who gave the spirit could receive it back again, and keep it safe unto the resurrection. Compare "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (<a href="/luke/23-46.htm">Luke 23:46</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/acts/7-60.htm">Acts 7:60</a></div><div class="verse">And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 60.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Cried with a loud voice</span>. Compare again <a href="/luke/23-46.htm">Luke 23:46</a>, and with Stephen's prayer, <span class="cmt_word">Lord, lay not this sin to their charge</span>, compare <a href="/luke/23-34.htm">Luke 23:34</a>. <span class="cmt_word">He fell</span> <span class="cmt_word">asleep.</span> Blessed rest after life's toilsome day! Blessed contrast with the tumult of passion and violence which brought him down to the grave! How near, too, in his dying was that likeness to his Lord advanced, which shall be perfected at his appearing (<a href="/1_john/3-1.htm">1 John 3:1</a>)! "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,... that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." St. Augustine ('Sermons in Festo Sti. Stephani;' Conybeare and Howson, vol. 1. p. 82) attributes Saul's conversion to the prayer of Stephen: "Si Stephanus non orasset, Ecclesia Paulum non haberet." <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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