Acts 6:13

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ¹  and the law. ² 

Deuteronomy 13:9-10

13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! ³  Your own hand must be the first to strike him, ⁴  and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death ⁵  because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

Deuteronomy 17:7

17:7 The witnesses ⁶  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ⁷  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

¹ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

² sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).

⁴ tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.

⁵ sn Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).

⁶ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

⁷ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”