Acts 7:42-60

7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ¹  to worship the host ²  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ³  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ⁴  house of Israel? 7:43 But you took along the tabernacle ⁵  of Moloch ⁶  and the star of the ⁷  god Rephan, ⁸  the images you made to worship, but I will deport ⁹  you beyond Babylon.’ ¹⁰  7:44 Our ancestors ¹¹  had the tabernacle ¹²  of testimony in the wilderness, ¹³  just as God ¹⁴  who spoke to Moses ordered him ¹⁵  to make it according to the design he had seen. 7:45 Our ¹⁶  ancestors ¹⁷  received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors, ¹⁸  until the time ¹⁹  of David. 7:46 He ²⁰  found favor ²¹  with ²²  God and asked that he could ²³  find a dwelling place ²⁴  for the house ²⁵  of Jacob. 7:47 But Solomon built a house ²⁶  for him. 7:48 Yet the Most High ²⁷  does not live in houses made by human hands, ²⁸  as the prophet says,

7:49 ‘Heaven is my throne,

and earth is the footstool for my feet.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is my resting place? ²⁹ 

7:50 Did my hand ³⁰  not make all these things?’ ³¹ 

7:51 “You stubborn ³²  people, with uncircumcised ³³  hearts and ears! ³⁴  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ³⁵  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ³⁶  not persecute? ³⁷  They ³⁸  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ³⁹  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ⁴⁰  7:53 You ⁴¹  received the law by decrees given by angels, ⁴²  but you did not obey ⁴³  it.” ⁴⁴ 

Stephen is Killed

7:54 When they heard these things, they became furious ⁴⁵  and ground their teeth ⁴⁶  at him. 7:55 But Stephen, ⁴⁷  full ⁴⁸  of the Holy Spirit, looked intently ⁴⁹  toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ⁵⁰  at the right hand of God. 7:56 “Look!” he said. ⁵¹  “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 7:57 But they covered their ears, ⁵²  shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. 7:58 When ⁵³  they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, ⁵⁴  and the witnesses laid their cloaks ⁵⁵  at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59 They ⁵⁶  continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 7:60 Then he fell ⁵⁷  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ⁵⁸  When ⁵⁹  he had said this, he died. ⁶⁰ 

¹ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

² tn Or “stars.”

³ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

⁴ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”

⁵ tn Or “tent.”

⁶ sn Moloch was a Canaanite deity who was believed to be the god of the sky and the sun.

⁷ tc ‡ Most mss, including several important ones (Ì⁷⁴ א A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï h p vg sy^h mae bo Cyr), have ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here, in conformity with the LXX of Amos 5:26. But other significant and diverse witnesses lack the pronoun: The lack of ὑμῶν in B D 36 453 gig sy^p sa Ir^lat Or is difficult to explain if it is not the original wording here. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

⁸ sn Rephan (῾Ραιφάν, RJaifan) was a pagan deity. The term was a name for Saturn. It was variously spelled in the mss (BDAG 903 s.v. has Rompha as an alternate spelling). The references cover a range of deities and a history of unfaithfulness.

⁹ tn Or “I will make you move.”

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Amos 5:25-27. This constituted a prediction of the exile.

¹¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹² tn Or “tent.”

¹³ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹⁶ tn Grk “And.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “In those days.”

²⁰ tn Grk “David, who” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

²¹ tn Or “grace.”

²² tn Grk “before,” “in the presence of.”

²³ tn The words “that he could” are not in the Greek text, but are implied as the (understood) subject of the infinitive εὑρεῖν (Jeurein). This understands David’s request as asking that he might find the dwelling place. The other possibility would be to supply “that God” as the subject of the infinitive: “and asked that God find a dwelling place.” Unfortunately this problem is complicated by the extremely difficult problem with the Greek text in the following phrase (“house of Jacob” vs. “God of Jacob”).

²⁴ tn On this term see BDAG 929 s.v. σκήνωμα a (Ps 132:5).

²⁵ tc Some mss read θεῷ (qew, “God”) here, a variant much easier to understand in the context. The reading “God” is supported by א² A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy co. The more difficult οἴκῳ (oikw, “house”) is supported by Ì⁷⁴ א* B D H 049 pc. Thus the second reading is preferred both externally because of better ms evidence and internally because it is hard to see how a copyist finding the reading “God” would change it to “house,” while it is easy to see how (given the LXX of Ps 132:5) a copyist might assimilate the reading and change “house” to “God.” However, some scholars think the reading “house” is so difficult as to be unacceptable. Others (like Lachmann and Hort) resorted to conjectural emendation at this point. Others (Ropes) sought an answer in an underlying Aramaic expression. Not everyone thinks the reading “house” is too difficult to be accepted as original (see Lake and Cadbury). A. F. J. Klijn, “Stephen’s Speech – Acts vii.2-53,” NTS 4 (1957): 25-31, compared the idea of a “house within the house of Israel” with the Manual of Discipline from Qumran, a possible parallel that seems to support the reading “house” as authentic. (For the more detailed discussion from which this note was derived, see TCGNT 308-9.)

²⁶ sn See 1 Kgs 8:1-21.

²⁷ sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).

²⁸ sn The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mark 14:58; Acts 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, 24. It suggests “man-made” or “impermanent.” The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1 Chr 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).

²⁹ sn What kind…resting place? The rhetorical questions suggest mere human beings cannot build a house to contain God.

³⁰ tn Or “Did I.” The phrase “my hand” is ultimately a metaphor for God himself.

³¹ tn The question in Greek introduced with οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply.

³² sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

³³ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

³⁴ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

³⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

³⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

³⁷ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

³⁸ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

³⁹ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

⁴⁰ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

⁴¹ tn Grk “whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, who received the law” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the pronoun “You” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

⁴² tn Traditionally, “as ordained by angels,” but εἰς (eis) with the accusative here should be understood as instrumental (a substitute for ἐν [en]); so BDAG 291 s.v. εἰς 9, BDF §206. Thus the phrase literally means “received the law by the decrees [orders] of angels” with the genitive understood as a subjective genitive, that is, the angels gave the decrees.

⁴³ tn The Greek word φυλάσσω (fulassw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.

⁴⁴ tn Or “did not obey it.”

⁴⁵ tn This verb, which also occurs in Acts 5:33, means “cut to the quick” or “deeply infuriated” (BDAG 235 s.v. διαπρίω).

⁴⁶ tn Or “they gnashed their teeth.” This idiom is a picture of violent rage (BDAG 184 s.v. βρύχω). See also Ps 35:16.

⁴⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴⁸ tn Grk “being full,” but the participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has not been translated since it would be redundant in English.

⁴⁹ tn Grk “looking intently toward heaven, saw.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁵⁰ sn The picture of Jesus standing (rather than seated) probably indicates his rising to receive his child. By announcing his vision, Stephen thoroughly offended his audience, who believed no one could share God’s place in heaven. The phrase is a variation on Ps 110:1.

⁵¹ tn Grk “And he said, ‘Look!’” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

⁵² sn They covered their ears to avoid hearing what they considered to be blasphemy.

⁵³ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

⁵⁴ sn They began to stone him. The irony of the scene is that the people do exactly what the speech complains about in v. 52.

⁵⁵ tn Or “outer garments.”

⁵⁶ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

⁵⁷ tn Grk “Then falling to his knees he cried out.” The participle θείς (qeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁵⁸ sn The remarks Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them recall statements Jesus made on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).

⁵⁹ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

⁶⁰ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.