6:8 Stephen was full of grace (cf. cf. 4:33; Luke 4:22) and power (cf. 2:22; 4:33) as well as the Holy Spirit (vv. 3, 5), wisdom (v. 3), and faith (v. 5). His ability to perform miracles seems unrelated to his having been appointed as one of the Seven (v. 5; cf. 21:8). Jesus and the Twelve were not the only ones who had the ability to perform miracles (cf. 2:22, 43; 5:12).
6:9-10 Many different synagogues existed in Jerusalem at this time (cf. 24:12). The Talmud said there were 390 of them before the Romans destroyed the city.301Like local churches today, they tended to attract people with similar backgrounds and preferences. Many families that had experienced liberation from some kind of slavery or servitude evidently populated the Synagogue of the Freedmen.302
"The Freedmenwere Roman prisoners (or the descendants of such prisoners) who had later been granted their freedom. We know that a considerable number of Jews were taken prisoner by the Roman general Pompey and later released in Rome, and it is possible that these are meant here."303
These people had their roots in North Africa (Cyrene and Alexandria) and Asia Minor (Cilicia and Asia). Thus these were Hellenistic Jews, the group from which Stephen himself probably came. Since Saul of Tarsus was from Cilicia, perhaps he attended this synagogue, though he was not a freed man. The leading men in this congregation took issue with Stephen whom they had heard defend the gospel. Perhaps he, too, attended this synagogue. However they were unable to defeat him in debate. Stephen seems to have been an unusually gifted defender of the faith, though he was not one of the Twelve. He was a forerunner of later apologists. God guided wise Stephen by His Spirit as he spoke (cf. Luke 21:15).
This is the first occurrence in Acts of someone presenting the gospel in a Jewish synagogue. Until now we have read that the disciples taught and preached in the temple and from house to house (5:42). We now learn that they were also announcing the good news in their Jewish religious meetings. Paul normally preached first in the synagogue in towns he evangelized on his missionary journeys.
"While not minimizing the importance of the apostles to the whole church, we may say that in some way Stephen, Philip, and perhaps others of the appointed seven may well have been to the Hellenistic believers what the apostles were to the native-born Christians."304
6:11 Failing to prove Stephen wrong by intellectual argumentation, his adversaries falsely accused him of defying Moses and God (cf. Matt. 26:61, 65). At this time the Jews defined blasphemy as any defiant sin.305
6:12 Stephen's accusers stirred up the Jewish people, the Jewish elders (family and tribal leaders), and the scribes (Pharisees) against Stephen. Soldiers then arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin as they had done to Jesus, Peter, John, and the other apostles (4:15; 5:27; cf. 22:30).
6:13-14 The false testimony against Stephen was that he was saying things about the temple and the Mosaic Law that the Jews regarded as untrue and unpatriotic (cf. Matt. 26:59-61). Stephen appeared to be challenging the authority of the Pharisees, the Mosaic Law, and a major teaching of the Sadducees, namely the importance of the temple. He was evidently saying the same things Jesus had said (cf. Matt. 5:21-48; 12:6; 24:1-2; Mark 4:58; John 2:19-21).
"Like the similar charge against Jesus (Matt. 26:61; Mark 14:58; cf. John 2:19-22), its falseness lay not so much in its wholesale fabrication but in its subtile and deadly misrepresentation of what was intended. Undoubtedly Stephen spoke regarding a recasting of Jewish life in terms of the supremacy of Jesus the Messiah. Undoubtedly he expressed in his manner and message something of the subsidiary significance of the Jerusalem temple and the Mosaic law, as did Jesus before him (e.g., Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6; 7:14-15; 10:5-9). But that is not the same as advocating the destruction of the temple or the changing of the law--though on these matters we must allow Stephen to speak for himself in Acts 7."306
"For Luke, the Temple stands as a time-honored, traditional place for teaching and prayer in Israel, which serves God's purpose but is not indispensable; the attitude with which worshippers use the temple makes all the difference."307
6:15 Luke may have intended to stress Stephen's fullness with the Holy Spirit that resulted in his confidence, composure, and courage by drawing attention to his face. Moses' face similarly shone when he descended from Mt. Sinai after seeing God (cf. 7:55-56; Exod. 34:29, 35). Stephen proceeded to function as an angel (a messenger from God), as well as looking like one, by bringing new revelation to his hearers, as Moses had. The Old Covenant had come through angelic mediation at Mt. Sinai (Heb. 2:2). Now revelation about the New Covenant was coming through one who acted like and even looked like an angel.
7:1 The "high priest"probably refers to Caiaphas, the official high priest then, but possibly Luke meant Annas (cf. 4:6).308Jesus had stood before both these men separately to face similar charges (John 18:13-14, 24; Matt. 26:57). This was the third time that Christian leaders had defended their preaching before the Sanhedrin that Luke recorded in Acts (cf. 4:15; 5:27).
