Tyndale Open Study NotesActs 7

• Stephen answered the accusations by speaking about his Lord (see Luke 21:12–17). Instead of defending himself, he became a witness in God's legal case against them. This revealed how contrary they were and their lack of loyalty. Stephen gave a history of Israel's past and reminded them of their repeated rejections of those who announced God's messages.

• Stephen's review of Israel's history has three main parts:

  1. The work of the patriarchs. This refers to Abraham and those descended from him who founded the nation of Israel (Acts 7:2–16).

  2. The ministry of Moses (7:17–43).

  3. The role of the tabernacle and the temple (7:44–50).

     Stephen ended his historical survey with a strong criticism of his people's lack of obedience. Like a prophet, he challenged them to stop resisting the Holy Spirit. He told them to turn to God with grief for their sins (repentance) and faith.

the covenant of circumcision: See Genesis 17:9–14. See also “Circumcision in the New Testament” Theme Note.

seventy-five: Compare this number with the seventy mentioned in the Hebrew text of Genesis 46:27. The number seventy-five probably comes from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Septuagint includes three people descended from Ephraim and two of Manasseh in 46:20. This adds five more people. The Hebrew text does not include those descended from Joseph’s sons. New Testament authors mostly quote from the Septuagint, which sometimes differs from the Hebrew Masoretic Text.

a price: This was 400 pieces of silver, according to Genesis 23:16.

a prophet like me: This verse quotes Deuteronomy 18:15. Moses prophesied that the Messiah would come. It happened as Moses said.

The ancient Jews rejected the law Moses gave to them for their salvation. Stephen was speaking to the people of his time who were physical and spiritual descendants from those Jews. His point was that they were still rejecting God's messengers. In this case, it was Jesus, the ultimate savior.

This passage quotes Amos 5:25–27 (Greek version) to show how the people of Israel rebelled against Moses (Acts 7:39–41).

Molech was a Canaanite god to whom human sacrifices were offered (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2–5; 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 32:35).

Rephan, a star god identified with the planet Saturn, was worshiped by the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings.

One charge against Stephen was that he spoke against the temple (see 6:14). The leading priests and scribes managed the temple's business and wanted to protect their interests (see Luke 19:45–48). This is why these leaders were concerned about the temple, even though God said that the Most High does not live in temples made by human hands.

Stephen accused the people of being stiff-necked with uncircumcised hearts and ears. This means they were strong-willed and ignored God's truth. This was exactly how God had accused them of behaving during the time of wilderness wandering. Here, Stephen links it to rejecting the gospel and resisting the Holy Spirit (see Exodus 32:9; 33:3; 34:9; Deuteronomy 9:6, 13; 31:27; see also Psalm 78:8; Zechariah 7:11–12).

• standing at the right hand of God: Usually, the Bible describes Jesus as seated in heaven at God’s right side (2:33–34; 5:31; Luke 20:42; 22:69; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3, 13; 10:12). One possible explanation has been proposed by some church fathers that Jesus was welcoming Stephen to heaven with honor as the first New Testament martyr. Stephen was loyal in confessing his Lord on earth. Now his Lord honored his promise to confess his loyal servant in heaven. Jesus was standing as a witness to defend him (Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8).

• Son of Man standing: Compare Daniel 7:13–14. The Jewish leaders understood that Stephen was speaking of Jesus as the divine Son of Man (Acts 7:57). This title speaks of Jesus’s power and authority (compare Revelation 1:12–15).

They covered their ears because they thought comparing Jesus to the divine Son of Man was a terrible offense against God (7:56).

Saul was his name in Hebrew, and Paul was his Greek name (see 13:9).

Stephen’s prayer, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them," is very similar to the prayer Jesus prayed when he was on the cross (Luke 23:34). Jesus taught his followers the importance of forgiveness and prayer (Matthew 6:14–15; Mark 11:25; see Luke 11:4; 17:3–4; Luke 11:5–10; 18:1–8; see also Acts 1:12–15; 4:23–31; 12:5; James 5:16–18). The Lord gave a positive answer to Stephen’s prayer as it relates to Saul (Acts 9:1–43).