Acts 7:57--8:1

7:57 But they covered their ears, ¹  shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. 7:58 When ²  they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, ³  and the witnesses laid their cloaks ⁴  at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59 They ⁵  continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 7:60 Then he fell ⁶  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ⁷  When ⁸  he had said this, he died. ⁹  8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ¹⁰  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ¹¹  persecution began ¹²  against the church in Jerusalem, ¹³  and all ¹⁴  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ¹⁵  of Judea and Samaria.

[7:57]  ¹ sn They covered their ears to avoid hearing what they considered to be blasphemy.

[7:58]  ² 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.

[7:58]  ³ 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.

[7:58]  ⁴ tn Or “outer garments.”

[7:59]  ⁵ 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.

[7:60]  ⁶ 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.

[7:60]  ⁷ 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).

[7:60]  ⁸ 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.

[7:60]  ⁹ 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.

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ¹² tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ¹⁴ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “countryside.”