Acts

7:54-60

3. The gospel reaches Judea and Samaria, 6:8-9:31

iii] Stephen's martyrdom

In chapter seven, Luke gives us a detailed account of Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin. Stephen quickly gets his audience offside, but when he speaks of seeing the enthronement of the coming Son of Man, they grab him and stone him to death.

The gospel preaching of the apostles and other members of the Christian fellowship in Jerusalem had increasingly inflamed the authorities and there was now a concerted effort to put a stop to it. Charges had been brought against Stephen and false witnesses organized, so he was in a precarious position. Stephen sets out to answer the charges by exposing Israel's failure to understand God's intentions as revealed in scripture. By surveying Israel's history Stephen reveals how Israel has failed to understand the function of the law and the temple, and thus how Israel now stands condemned. It is his announcement of Israel's murder of the messiah that prompts the lynch-mob into action.

Stephen's argument that God does not dwell in buildings made by human hands was not well received, but when he finally announced that he could see God in his heavenly dwelling-place, and that he could see the Son of Man, Jesus, standing at the right hand of the Father, then, at that point, the crowd went ballistic. The issue concerns the dwelling-place of God (in the heavenlies and in creation, but not in the temple) and the unique character of God (devalued by the status accorded to Jesus as the Son of Man standing beside God). Although Stephen's words prompt a charge of blasphemy, there is no legal process whereby the change can be laid and answered - a lynch-mob takes over, possibly approved by the authorities ("Saul approved of their killing him", 8:1a).

It should be noted that there is a touch of racial bigotry in the action of the crowd. The Aramaic/Hebrew speaking Jews of Judea tended to dislike the Hellenistic Jews of the dispersion. In the development of the Christian church in Jerusalem, both racial groups were present and as opposition grew against the developing Jewish sect of "the way", it was the Hellenistic believers who took the brunt of the opposition, such that after Stephen's martyrdom it was they who fled Jerusalem and progressed the spread of Christianity.

akouonteV (akouw) pres. part. "when they heard" - The participle is adverbial, probably forming a temporal clause, as NIV.

dieprionto (diapriw) imperf. ind. pas. "they were furious" - cut [in the heart, quick (local dative)]. This, and the following verb, is imperfect, possibly durative, expressing the extent of the rage, or inceptive, emphasizing its commencement, "they became enraged", Barrett. "They were angry", CEV.

ebrucon (brucw) imperf. "gnash [the teeth]" - a way of expressing violent rage. Some suggest it involved a form of chattering teeth, or grinding teeth. In a fit of rage people tense their face and show their teeth, usually with numerous expletives. This is probably what was happening. "and furious", CEV.

de "but" - but, and. Here serving as an adversative, as NIV.

plhrhV pneumatoV aJgiou "full of the Holy Spirit" - This Lukan term often reflects Old Testament usage where a person is spiritually inspired by the divine to perform some action, often related to prophecy / revelation. Here Stephen's perception is inspired and so he catches a glimpse of heavenly realities in vindication of his proclaimed words.

atenisaV (atenizw) aor. part. "looked up" - focused staring, gazing. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "he saw", as NIV.

eiV "to [heaven]" - to, into. Possibly just meaning that Stephen looked heavenward, up into the sky, "fixed his gaze on the sky", rather than actually "gazed up into heaven", Barclay.

doxan qeou "the glory of God" - The divine presence, the shekinah glory, usually associated with the divine presence in the temple, but here in heaven.

eJstwta (iJsthmi) perf. act. part. "standing" - The participle is probably adjectival, describing the substantive, "Jesus", "who was standing." The position of Jesus before the Father may indicate that he is functioning as Stephen's advocate.

idou "Look" - behold, pay attention, look, take note of this.

dihvoigmenous (dianoigw) perf. pas. part. "open" - having been opened up. This participle, with the participle eJstwta "standing", functioning as its object complement, forms a participial object clause / dependent statement of perception, expressing what Stephen saw. Stephen witnessed the realization of Jesus' claim that he fulfills Daniel's prophecy concerning the eternal authority of the Son of Man, Dan.13:7. Jesus is the one who comes to the Ancient of Days in the clouds of heaven and takes up his throne beside him, Mk.14:62. So, Stephen has witnessed the enthronement of Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth. Stephen's testimony is blasphemy if not true, but if it is true, then let every knee bow before the universal lordship of Christ.

estwta (iJsthmi) perf. part. "standing" - having stood. The perfect, expressing completed action with abiding results, displays Christ's ongoing authority. The Son of Man standing, rather than sitting, is an unusual posture and, as noted above, may imply Christ's role of advocate on behalf of Stephen.

ek dexiwn "at the right hand [of God]" - The preposition ek taking a locative sense here, "at". Describing a position of authority.

sunesconv (sunecw) aor. "they covered [their ears]" - they stopped their ears, covered their ears. Literally, held their ears together so they couldn't hear.

kraxanteV (krazw) aor. part. "yelling" - crying out aloud, screaming, yelling. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "they covered"; "they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears", AV.

fwnh/ megalh/ "at the top of their voices" - with a loud voice. Instrumental dative.

oJmoqumadon adv. "all" - of one accord. Used by Luke in Acts to express unity of purpose.

wJrmhsanv (oJrmaw) aor. "they [all] rushed" - they rushed, ran. They immediately went for him; "attacked", CEV.

ekbalonteV (ekballw) aor. part. "dragged him" - having thrown out, cast out. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "they were stoning him"; "they dragged him out ... and stoned him."

eliqoboloun (liqobolew) imperf. ind. act. "began to stone him" - they stoned. The NIV takes the imperfect as inceptive, emphasizing the beginning of the action. Under the law stoning was the appropriate punishment for blasphemy against God or his dwelling place (the temple), although the action of the crowd on this occasion by no means complied with the law.

martures (uV ewV) "the witnesses" - Possibly being used here in a legal sense. If so, Saul is functioning as a quasi prosecutor with the Sanhedrin functioning in excess of its jurisdiction.

kaloumenou (kalew) pres. pas. part. "named" - being called. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "a young man."

neaniou (iaV ou) gen. "young man" - A person aged between 25-40 years of age.

eliqoboloun (liqobolew) imperf. "while they were stoning him" - they were stoning [Stephen]. The imperfect is durative expressing continued action. As Barrett notes this imperfect verb is repeated from v58 indicating that v58b is a parenthetical note. So, it picks up on the account of Stephen's martyrdom; "they dragged him out of the city and stoned him ...... So, the crowd continued to stone Stephen ......"

epikaloumenon (epikalew) pres. part. "prayed" - calling upon ("the Lord Jesus" - assumed object). The participle is possibly adverbial, temporal, "they kept stoning Stephen as he called out", Fitzmyer, but is more likely adjectival, attributive, descriptive of Stephen "who called out to the Lord Jesus."

legonta (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle, redundant, expressing action accompanying the verbal aspect of Stephen's calling upon the Lord; "called upon the Lord and said."

kurie Ihsou "Lord Jesus" - Prayer is now addressed to Jesus - a significant theological move; "the work in heaven is now shared between God ("the Ancient of Days") and the one at his right hand", Bock (of course, theologically we are bound to hold that both the Father and the Son have eternally shared in the reign of the godhead).

to pneuma (a atoV) "[my] spirit" - the spirit [of me]. "Lord Jesus, please welcome me", CEV.

qeiV (tiqhmi) aor. part. "then he fell on [his knees]" - having fallen on [the knees]. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, as NIV.

fwnh/ megalh/ dat. "-" - [he cried out] in/with a loud voice. Instrumental dative, although functioning here to describe the manner of his crying out, ie. adverbial, modal.

mh sthsh/V (iJsthmi) aor. subj. "do not hold" - may you not put, place. Subjunctive of prohibition. Note that Stephen shows the same concern toward his murders as Jesus did. An interesting question arises as to whether or not the Lord hears Stephen's prayer. Are Stephen's murderers forgiven? The answer, of course, is yes, if they repent!

ekoimhqh (koimaomai) aor. pas. "he fell asleep" - An interesting use of the word, given the brutality of Stephen's death. The word is used a number of times to describe the death of a believer. Rather than dead and gone, a believer is hid in Christ, asleep in him, ready to wake at His coming on the day of resurrection. This is a controversial area in Christian theology. The doctrine of "soul sleep", held by the Adventist church, is an extension of this idea, although the doctrine, as presented by the Adventists, is rejected by mainline Christian denominations. "He fell asleep in death", Williams.

Acts Introduction

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