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7
Stephen's discourse
1 Then the high priest said, “Can these things be so?”*The man knows it is all a farce, but he pretends astonishment. 2 So he said: “Men, brothers and fathers, listen:†Stephen knows he is in a kangaroo court, so he wastes no time with the ridiculous charge; he delivers a prophetic, and condemnatory, sermon. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he resided in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and resided in Haran.‡But he took his father and a nephew along, and Haran was not that land. ‘Our father Abraham’—the Jews began their history with Abraham, who started out with incomplete obedience. From there, after his father died,§There went fifteen years of his life. And he took his nephew Lot along, who would be a big headache (he fathered the Moabites and the Ammonites—not good news—under circumstances that would not have happened had he been left in Haran). God moved him to this land in which you now live;*Stephen ties his hearers into the story. 5 yet He did not give him an inheritance in it, not even a footstep. He promised to give it to him for a possession, that is, to his seed after him, though he had no child.†Abraham was 100 when he begot Isaac, who was 60 when he begot Jacob and Esau. Abraham died at 175, so lived to see his two grandsons. But before Isaac there was Ishmael… 6 Further, God spoke like this: that his offspring would be aliens in a foreign land—and that they would be enslaved and oppressed—four hundred years.‡Stephen cites Genesis 15:13, which should be understood as a chiasmus, a frequent structure in the Bible:
A. his offspring would be aliens in a foreign land
B. and they would be enslaved
B. and oppressed
A. four hundred years.
A careful comparison of the relevant texts shows that the 400 years includes from the weaning of Isaac to the Exodus (1891 to 1491 bc); since Jacob moved to Egypt in 1706, Abraham's descendants were aliens in Canaan for 185 years, then were aliens in Egypt, where they came to be enslaved, for 215 years (the Exodus was 144 years after Joseph's death, so the period of slave labor was presumably somewhat less, perhaps around 100 years). (I owe the understanding given above to Dr. Floyd N. Jones.) 7 ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God,§And He did, with a vengeance. By wiping out the Egyptian army God guaranteed that Egypt would not be a threat to the developing nation of Israel for hundreds of years. ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He gave him a covenant of circumcision;*Women whose husbands are circumcised do not get cervical cancer—the procedure is not a sadistic bit of gore; there is a medical reason for it. and so he begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day;†Modern medicine has verified that on the eighth day of a male's life his defenses against infection are at their peak—it is the best day in his whole life for minor surgery. Now then, 3900 years ago who but the Creator could know that? and Isaac did the same to Jacob, and Jacob to the twelve patriarchs.
Down to Egypt
9 “The patriarchs, being envious, sold Joseph into Egypt; yet God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his adversities, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 And a famine came upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, even a great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. 12 But upon hearing that there was wheat in Egypt, Jacob first sent our fathers. 13 On the second trip Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family was presented to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph sent and summoned his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.‡Comparing this verse with Genesis 46:26-27 we get three numbers: 66, 70 and 75. The 66, being ‘out of his loins’, of course excludes Jacob himself and the wives (Joseph is already there). The 70 includes Jacob, Joseph and his two sons. The 75 excludes Jacob and Joseph, but includes nine wives; some had evidently already died in Canaan. For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “How many?” 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers; 16 and they were transferred to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor of Shechem.§The only record we have of someone buying from Hamor is Jacob (Genesis 33:19); Abraham bought from Ephron (Genesis 23:17)—Shechem and Hebron are presumably different places. Assuming that Stephen's statement is correct (if he was full of the Spirit as he spoke, verse 55), then presumably Abraham actually bought both places, though Moses only records one, and Jacob was obliged to rebuy one or bought a larger area around it. A variety of historical records existed, made during OT times, that were not included in the Canon and of which we have no copies—but they were still available in Stephen's day. (For instance, Jude [verse 14] cites Enoch—we have no Hebrew copy of Enoch's prophecy today, but Jude must have had access to one.) In any case, notice that the Text says ‘they’ were taken to Shechem—this would refer to Jacob's sons, since he himself was buried at Hebron. Going back to Genesis 34:29, after killing all the men of Shechem, Jacob's sons kept the women, which is presumably where they got wives for so many men. They also got rich on the spoils of the town. So why not be buried there? For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “Who bought what from whom?”
Enter Moses
17 “Now as the time of the promise was approaching which God had sworn to Abraham, the people increased and were multiplied in Egypt, 18 until a different*The word here suggests a different kind; either a different dynasty or a different race. king arose who had not known Joseph. 19 This man took advantage of our race and oppressed our fathers, making them expose their babies so that they would not stay alive.†My rendering here is round about because the Text is round about. 20 At that time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; he was nurtured in his father's house for three months. 21 When he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him to herself and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; he was mighty in words and deeds. 23 Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.‡Comparing Hebrews 11:24-26, it appears that Moses had formally refused the status of being the son of Pharaoh's daughter, with the political and other advantages pertaining to that status. This attitude probably did not sit well with Pharaoh, which is why he was prepared to kill Moses, when the opportunity presented itself. 24 Well seeing one of them being wronged, he defended and avenged the one being oppressed, striking down the Egyptian. 25 Now he supposed that his brothers understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand,§This evaluation of Moses' thinking is not in the OT, at least not at this juncture. Did Moses really suppose that killing an Egyptian would make a difference, or that God would give deliverance in that way? When we see him in heaven we can ask him. But comparing this with verse 23 above we may conclude that it was God who put the idea of visiting his people in his heart. but they did not understand. 26 The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But the one who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying: ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Well Moses fled at that word, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons.*I find Stephen's selection of details to be curious. Moses' two sons were not prominent in the history of Israel, so why mention them? Well, Moses' failure to circumcise them almost cost him his life! See Exodus 4:24-26. Although Moses himself was certainly circumcised as a baby, he was brought up as an Egyptian, and the importance of the procedure had not been ingrained in him; his wife was not an Israelite and was against it. But how could Moses lead the covenant people while ignoring the sign of the covenant?
Moses commissioned
30 “And when another forty years had passed, Angel of the Lord†There is no definite article with “angel”. Comparing Exodus 3:2 and 4 it is clear that “the Angel of the Lord” was Jehovah Himself, presumably the Son. Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘of the Lord’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai,‡Moses was in Midian, so the real Mount Sinai is in Midian, which is part of Arabia, not the peninsula between the ‘rabbit ears’ of the Red Sea. For a discussion of this, please see the Appendix: “Where is Mt. Sinai?” in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 Well upon seeing it Moses was amazed at the sight, but as he approached for a closer look the voice of the Lord came to him: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’§See Exodus 3:6. The Lord Jesus made use of this passage to demonstrate the fact of resurrection (Matthew 22:32). Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit “the God” before Isaac and Jacob (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Moses started trembling and did not dare to look. 33 So the Lord said to him: ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have definitely seen the mistreatment of my people in Egypt, and have heard their groaning; and I have come down*‘Come down’ from where? From Heaven, presumably—I imagine that whenever God ‘comes down’ it is to intervene in human affairs. to deliver them. So now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God sent him as leader and deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
Israel's rebellion
37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord our†Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “the Lord”, and they are joined by another 3% in omitting ‘our’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). God will raise up to you a Prophet from among your brothers, like me.’‡I take it that here Stephen sets up the main thrust of his speech: God sent Moses, but his contemporaries rejected him; God sent the Prophet, but those present rejected Him. Both rejections resulted in judgment. Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘Him you shall hear’ (as in AV and NKJV). 38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, who was with the Angel who spoke with him on Mount Sinai and was with our fathers,§I take it that Stephen is emphasizing that Moses was with both the Angel and the people; he was a mediator, as would be ‘the Prophet’—“like me” (verse 37). who received living oracles*What makes an oracle ‘living’? It continues to function, to be applicable. to give to us; 39 to whom our fathers did not want to be obedient; rather they rejected him and turned back in their heart to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us; because this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.’†See Exodus 32:1. 41 Well they made a calf in those days and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and started rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to serve the army of the heaven,‡Presumably the reference is to Satan's army of fallen angels, see Ephesians 2:2. Those who choose idolatry are really turning themselves over to Satan [even if they don't believe in him]. If God gives you over, what are your chances? just as it is written in Book of the Prophets:
‘House of Israel, did you offer me slaughtered animals
and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness?
43 Actually you took along the tent of Moloch,
and the star of your god, Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
so I will relocate you beyond Babylon.’§See Amos 5:25-27. Amos appears to be saying that the Israelites took these gods with them out of Egypt, kept them all the time in the wilderness, and even took them into the Promised Land!
A dwelling for God
44 “The tent of the testimony, according to the pattern that Moses had seen, just as the One speaking to him had commanded to make it, was with our fathers in the wilderness; 45 which, having received it in turn, our fathers with Joshua brought into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, until the days of David; 46 who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God*The same handful of early manuscripts of inferior quality that NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. usually follow have ‘house’ instead of ‘God’, but are abandoned by their usually faithful followers. of Jacob, 47 but Solomon built Him a house. 48 However, the Most High does not dwell in handmade sanctuaries, just as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
while the earth is a footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build me,’ says the Lord,
‘or what place for my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’†See Isaiah 66:1-2. This could be an oblique defense against their allegation that he had blasphemed the temple—if God does not dwell there (and in fact Jesus had formally abandoned it) [and Josephus says that the Ark was no longer there] it has lost its importance.
Stephen attacks
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always oppose the Holy Spirit;‡In fact, the Sadducees even refused to acknowledge His existence! as your fathers did, so you do. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers;§Stephen states plainly that they murdered the Messiah. 53 you who received the Law as ‘ordinances of angels’ and have not kept it!”
Stephen is martyred
54 Well as they heard these things their hearts were being sawed in half,*That is what the Text says. It is a graphic figure of speech. If you are sliced with a sharp object you may scarcely feel it at the moment, but if someone starts sawing on you… No wonder they were mad! (They had long since figured out that Stephen was not being conciliatory.) and they started gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But he, being full of Holy Spirit and looking intently into the heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing†There are several texts that have Jesus seated at the Father's right, not standing. Apparently the Lord stood up to receive Stephen—he got a hero's welcome. on God's right, 56 and said, “Wow! I see the heavens opened and the Son of the Man standing at God's right!” 57 Yelling at the top of their voice‡They tried to drown out his voice, as well as covering their ears—they really did not want to hear any more! Not a few today do not want to hear the truth either. they covered their ears and rushed at him all at once, 58 and throwing him out of the city they stoned him!§They were beside themselves with rage, and forgot all about getting permission from the Roman authorities—typical mob action, but doubtless demonically inspired. (The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.) 59 Yes, they stoned Stephen as he called out and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then kneeling down he called out at the top of his voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And upon saying this he fell asleep.*Sleep is frequently used as a figure for death in the Bible, especially with reference to believers. Stephen's death reminds me of the Lord's—both let out a shout, and then died. In the Lord's case we are explicitly told that He dismissed His spirit. I wonder if Stephen was somehow able to dismiss his (if he was able to shout he still had strength, and death by stoning took a while). Both also asked forgiveness for their murderers. (Saul was in full agreement with his murder.)

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*7:1 The man knows it is all a farce, but he pretends astonishment.

†7:2 Stephen knows he is in a kangaroo court, so he wastes no time with the ridiculous charge; he delivers a prophetic, and condemnatory, sermon.

‡7:4 But he took his father and a nephew along, and Haran was not that land. ‘Our father Abraham’—the Jews began their history with Abraham, who started out with incomplete obedience.

§7:4 There went fifteen years of his life. And he took his nephew Lot along, who would be a big headache (he fathered the Moabites and the Ammonites—not good news—under circumstances that would not have happened had he been left in Haran).

*7:4 Stephen ties his hearers into the story.

†7:5 Abraham was 100 when he begot Isaac, who was 60 when he begot Jacob and Esau. Abraham died at 175, so lived to see his two grandsons. But before Isaac there was Ishmael…

‡7:6 Stephen cites Genesis 15:13, which should be understood as a chiasmus, a frequent structure in the Bible: A. his offspring would be aliens in a foreign land B. and they would be enslaved B. and oppressed A. four hundred years. A careful comparison of the relevant texts shows that the 400 years includes from the weaning of Isaac to the Exodus (1891 to 1491 bc); since Jacob moved to Egypt in 1706, Abraham's descendants were aliens in Canaan for 185 years, then were aliens in Egypt, where they came to be enslaved, for 215 years (the Exodus was 144 years after Joseph's death, so the period of slave labor was presumably somewhat less, perhaps around 100 years). (I owe the understanding given above to Dr. Floyd N. Jones.)

§7:7 And He did, with a vengeance. By wiping out the Egyptian army God guaranteed that Egypt would not be a threat to the developing nation of Israel for hundreds of years.

*7:8 Women whose husbands are circumcised do not get cervical cancer—the procedure is not a sadistic bit of gore; there is a medical reason for it.

†7:8 Modern medicine has verified that on the eighth day of a male's life his defenses against infection are at their peak—it is the best day in his whole life for minor surgery. Now then, 3900 years ago who but the Creator could know that?

‡7:14 Comparing this verse with Genesis 46:26-27 we get three numbers: 66, 70 and 75. The 66, being ‘out of his loins’, of course excludes Jacob himself and the wives (Joseph is already there). The 70 includes Jacob, Joseph and his two sons. The 75 excludes Jacob and Joseph, but includes nine wives; some had evidently already died in Canaan. For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “How many?”

§7:16 The only record we have of someone buying from Hamor is Jacob (Genesis 33:19); Abraham bought from Ephron (Genesis 23:17)—Shechem and Hebron are presumably different places. Assuming that Stephen's statement is correct (if he was full of the Spirit as he spoke, verse 55), then presumably Abraham actually bought both places, though Moses only records one, and Jacob was obliged to rebuy one or bought a larger area around it. A variety of historical records existed, made during OT times, that were not included in the Canon and of which we have no copies—but they were still available in Stephen's day. (For instance, Jude [verse 14] cites Enoch—we have no Hebrew copy of Enoch's prophecy today, but Jude must have had access to one.) In any case, notice that the Text says ‘they’ were taken to Shechem—this would refer to Jacob's sons, since he himself was buried at Hebron. Going back to Genesis 34:29, after killing all the men of Shechem, Jacob's sons kept the women, which is presumably where they got wives for so many men. They also got rich on the spoils of the town. So why not be buried there? For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “Who bought what from whom?”

*7:18 The word here suggests a different kind; either a different dynasty or a different race.

†7:19 My rendering here is round about because the Text is round about.

‡7:23 Comparing Hebrews 11:24-26, it appears that Moses had formally refused the status of being the son of Pharaoh's daughter, with the political and other advantages pertaining to that status. This attitude probably did not sit well with Pharaoh, which is why he was prepared to kill Moses, when the opportunity presented itself.

§7:25 This evaluation of Moses' thinking is not in the OT, at least not at this juncture. Did Moses really suppose that killing an Egyptian would make a difference, or that God would give deliverance in that way? When we see him in heaven we can ask him. But comparing this with verse 23 above we may conclude that it was God who put the idea of visiting his people in his heart.

*7:29 I find Stephen's selection of details to be curious. Moses' two sons were not prominent in the history of Israel, so why mention them? Well, Moses' failure to circumcise them almost cost him his life! See Exodus 4:24-26. Although Moses himself was certainly circumcised as a baby, he was brought up as an Egyptian, and the importance of the procedure had not been ingrained in him; his wife was not an Israelite and was against it. But how could Moses lead the covenant people while ignoring the sign of the covenant?

†7:30 There is no definite article with “angel”. Comparing Exodus 3:2 and 4 it is clear that “the Angel of the Lord” was Jehovah Himself, presumably the Son. Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘of the Lord’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

‡7:30 Moses was in Midian, so the real Mount Sinai is in Midian, which is part of Arabia, not the peninsula between the ‘rabbit ears’ of the Red Sea. For a discussion of this, please see the Appendix: “Where is Mt. Sinai?”

§7:32 See Exodus 3:6. The Lord Jesus made use of this passage to demonstrate the fact of resurrection (Matthew 22:32). Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit “the God” before Isaac and Jacob (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

*7:34 ‘Come down’ from where? From Heaven, presumably—I imagine that whenever God ‘comes down’ it is to intervene in human affairs.

†7:37 Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “the Lord”, and they are joined by another 3% in omitting ‘our’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

‡7:37 I take it that here Stephen sets up the main thrust of his speech: God sent Moses, but his contemporaries rejected him; God sent the Prophet, but those present rejected Him. Both rejections resulted in judgment. Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘Him you shall hear’ (as in AV and NKJV).

§7:38 I take it that Stephen is emphasizing that Moses was with both the Angel and the people; he was a mediator, as would be ‘the Prophet’—“like me” (verse 37).

*7:38 What makes an oracle ‘living’? It continues to function, to be applicable.

†7:40 See Exodus 32:1.

‡7:42 Presumably the reference is to Satan's army of fallen angels, see Ephesians 2:2. Those who choose idolatry are really turning themselves over to Satan [even if they don't believe in him]. If God gives you over, what are your chances?

§7:43 See Amos 5:25-27. Amos appears to be saying that the Israelites took these gods with them out of Egypt, kept them all the time in the wilderness, and even took them into the Promised Land!

*7:46 The same handful of early manuscripts of inferior quality that NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. usually follow have ‘house’ instead of ‘God’, but are abandoned by their usually faithful followers.

†7:50 See Isaiah 66:1-2. This could be an oblique defense against their allegation that he had blasphemed the temple—if God does not dwell there (and in fact Jesus had formally abandoned it) [and Josephus says that the Ark was no longer there] it has lost its importance.

‡7:51 In fact, the Sadducees even refused to acknowledge His existence!

§7:52 Stephen states plainly that they murdered the Messiah.

*7:54 That is what the Text says. It is a graphic figure of speech. If you are sliced with a sharp object you may scarcely feel it at the moment, but if someone starts sawing on you… No wonder they were mad! (They had long since figured out that Stephen was not being conciliatory.)

†7:55 There are several texts that have Jesus seated at the Father's right, not standing. Apparently the Lord stood up to receive Stephen—he got a hero's welcome.

‡7:57 They tried to drown out his voice, as well as covering their ears—they really did not want to hear any more! Not a few today do not want to hear the truth either.

§7:58 They were beside themselves with rage, and forgot all about getting permission from the Roman authorities—typical mob action, but doubtless demonically inspired.

*7:60 Sleep is frequently used as a figure for death in the Bible, especially with reference to believers. Stephen's death reminds me of the Lord's—both let out a shout, and then died. In the Lord's case we are explicitly told that He dismissed His spirit. I wonder if Stephen was somehow able to dismiss his (if he was able to shout he still had strength, and death by stoning took a while). Both also asked forgiveness for their murderers.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD