Acts 7:48-50

7:48 Yet the Most High ¹  does not live in houses made by human hands, ²  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? ³ 

7:50 Did my hand ⁴  not make all these things?’ ⁵ 

[7:48]  ¹ sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).

[7:48]  ² 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).

[7:49]  ³ sn What kind…resting place? The rhetorical questions suggest mere human beings cannot build a house to contain God.

[7:50]  ⁴ tn Or “Did I.” The phrase “my hand” is ultimately a metaphor for God himself.

[7:50]  ⁵ tn The question in Greek introduced with οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply.