Tyndale Open Study NotesActs 6

• the Grecian Jews: The Greek-speaking Christians were Jewish Christians from other parts of the Greek and Roman world. They likely followed some Greek customs. The Hebrew-speaking Christians were more traditional Jews from Palestine. They spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and avoided Greek customs.

• their widows were being overlooked: This injustice threatened the church's growth and development. Overlooking needs from one group caused frustration and required an intentional response to correct the behavior.

• The apostles showed wisdom by calling a meeting of all the Christians to resolve the dispute. They understood that the problem was very serious. They also knew their priority was teaching God's word. They decided to choose men who were wise and filled with the Holy Spirit to manage the food distribution.

  The community agreed with the plan the apostles proposed. They selected capable leaders from the Christians who spoke Greek (all of their names are Greek). These seven men focused on this special task, allowing the apostles to pray and teach.

• These seven men are sometimes called the first deacons because their role is similar to that of the office of deacon (see 1 Timothy 3:8–13). Although the Greek term translated “deacon” (Greek diakonos, “servant”) is not used here, a related Greek word is translated "to wait on tables" (6:2; Greek diakonein, “to serve”).

• The apostles were wise in how they dealt with the issue. This led to an increase in the number of Christians, including many of the Jewish priests.

• his is the first of three places in Acts where Luke notes that God’s message continued to spread (see also 12:24; 19:20). When serious difficulties arose, God’s message overcame internal conflict, idolatry, and pagan practices. As a result, the community continued to grow. The book of Acts tells the story of how the good news about Jesus spread without being stopped (see 28:31).

The Jewish leaders did to Stephen as they had done to Jesus (compare Matthew 26:3–4, 59–66):

• They found someone to lie about him,

• they accused him of blasphemy (saying offensive things about God),

• they started a riot,

• they arrested him, and

• they made false charges against him.

his face was like the face of an angel: This is similar to when the face of Moses "was radiant" after speaking with the Lord (6:14; see Exodus 34:32–35). Stephen, like Moses, was bringing God’s instruction to Israel (see also 2 Corinthians 3:7–18).