Acts 7:54--8:3

Stephen is Killed

7:54 When they heard these things, they became furious ¹  and ground their teeth ²  at him. 7:55 But Stephen, ³  full ⁴  of the Holy Spirit, looked intently ⁵  toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ⁶  at the right hand of God. 7:56 “Look!” he said. ⁷  “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 7:57 But they covered their ears, ⁸  shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. 7:58 When ⁹  they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, ¹⁰  and the witnesses laid their cloaks ¹¹  at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59 They ¹²  continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 7:60 Then he fell ¹³  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ¹⁴  When ¹⁵  he had said this, he died. ¹⁶  8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ¹⁷  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ¹⁸  persecution began ¹⁹  against the church in Jerusalem, ²⁰  and all ²¹  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ²²  of Judea and Samaria. 8:2 Some ²³  devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation ²⁴  over him. ²⁵  8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy ²⁶  the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off ²⁷  both men and women and put them in prison. ²⁸ 

[7:54]  ¹ tn This verb, which also occurs in Acts 5:33, means “cut to the quick” or “deeply infuriated” (BDAG 235 s.v. διαπρίω).

[7:54]  ² tn Or “they gnashed their teeth.” This idiom is a picture of violent rage (BDAG 184 s.v. βρύχω). See also Ps 35:16.

[7:55]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:55]  ⁴ tn Grk “being full,” but the participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has not been translated since it would be redundant in English.

[7:55]  ⁵ 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.

[7:55]  ⁶ 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.

[7:56]  ⁷ 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.

[7:57]  ⁸ sn They covered their ears to avoid hearing what they considered to be blasphemy.

[7:58]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “outer garments.”

[7:59]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “countryside.”

[8:2]  ²³ tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:2]  ²⁴ sn Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed (m. Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.

[8:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “mourned greatly for him.”

[8:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “began to harm [the church] severely.” If the nuance of this verb is “destroy,” then the imperfect verb ἐλυμαίνετο (elumaineto) is best translated as a conative imperfect as in the translation above. If instead the verb is taken to mean “injure severely” (as L&N 20.24), it should be translated in context as an ingressive imperfect (“began to harm the church severely”). Either option does not significantly alter the overall meaning, since it is clear from the stated actions of Saul in the second half of the verse that he intended to destroy or ravage the church.

[8:3]  ²⁷ tn The participle σύρων (surwn) has been translated as an finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:3]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3.”