返回Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Acts 7:1–7. Then the high priest said: "Is this so?" But he said: "Brethren and fathers, listen! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him: 'Get out of your country and from your relatives and from your father's house, and go to a land that I will show you' (Gen. 12:1). Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran; and from there, after the death of his father, God removed him to this land in which you now dwell. And He gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on, but He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spoke in this way: that his descendants would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would be brought into bondage and oppressed four hundred years. 'But the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.'"
They themselves did not even consider that they were permitting themselves blasphemous actions, yet they accuse him of blasphemy for his words. Moses was always on their mind – they were not so much concerned with the works of God as with the ordinances of Moses. But Stephen at the very beginning of his speech refutes their opinion and proves that neither the temple nor the rites are of significance, and that they will not prevail against the preaching of the Gospel, that God makes what is difficult and impossible easy and possible. Note: their accusations consist precisely in the fact that, while constantly enjoying God's love for mankind, they repaid their Benefactor with the opposite and seek the impossible. Stephen also shows that the promise was given before this land, before circumcision, before sacrifice, before the temple; that they received this land, as well as circumcision and the law, not by merit, but the land was a reward for obedience; that when circumcision was given, the promise had not yet been fulfilled; and that all these things were foreshadowings. He beautifully names God at the beginning of his speech "the God of glory," because He made glorious those who were reviled. He also says that there was not yet a temple, yet Abraham was deemed worthy to see God; that his ancestors were Persians and he lived in a foreign land. Note how Stephen draws their mind away from the sensible, beginning with the locality, since the discussion was also about the place. If God is the God of "glory," then He has no need to receive glory from you through your temple, because He Himself is the source of all glory and all good.
"Go out of your land and from your kindred." How then does Scripture say that Abraham's father wished to go out (see Gen. 11:31), while here it says that Abraham was told "go out of your land"? From this we conclude that the appearance of God to Abraham influenced his father, and he wished to go out from the land of the Chaldeans. But by this very thing Stephen shows that the Jews are not children of Abraham, because he, having left both his fatherland and his relatives, showed obedience, while they are disobedient.
"And gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on." Observe how by his discourse about the promised land he leads them to the truth. Why did the Lord not give an inheritance to Abraham? Because this land was a type of another land. "But promised that He would give it." Do you notice that not without reason he repeats again: he does not say "gave," but "promised to give." If Abraham was a stranger and a sojourner and after some time was to depart, then how could he have this land as a "possession!" Thus, the inheritance of Abraham is preserved through his seed, which is Christ, since with Him the saints also shall reign, according to the word of Scripture: "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father" (Matt. 16:27; 25:31), reigning over all nations.
"And to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." Again he points out that God is able to make the impossible possible, because it is said that He would make the master of Palestine one who was in Persia and was at such a great distance. But at the same time there is an indication both of the great love of God for mankind and of the great faith of Abraham, because the expression "when as yet he had no child" shows the obedience and faith of Abraham, although what was happening to him at that time inclined him to the opposite opinion, since after he arrived, he had nothing, "not so much as to set his foot on," and even afterward he had nothing.
"And God said to him that his descendants would be sojourners in a foreign land." See how many years before the promise was given and its type existed, and there was never a type of sacrifice, never a type of circumcision. But by this he also shows how God allowed the Israelites to endure misfortunes, even though there was nothing for which they were guilty.
"And they shall be in bondage and oppression for four hundred years." What is written in the book of Exodus does not contradict this passage. There it says: "After four hundred and thirty years... all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt" (12:41), while here it speaks approximately: for "four hundred years." But one must remember that it does not say: "they went out when four hundred years were fulfilled"; it says: after "four hundred" years, which does not exclude the remaining thirty years. Twenty-five years — from the seventy-fifth year to the hundredth of Abraham's, sixty years of Isaac's, ninety-one years of Jacob's, one hundred and ten years of Joseph's, one hundred and forty-four years in Egypt — altogether four hundred and thirty years. In the expression: "And after that they shall come out and serve Me," one can see an indication of these thirty years as well.
"But I," said God, "will judge that nation which they shall serve..." Those who afflicted them did not do so with impunity, because the Jews endured bitter and harsh slavery, since the Egyptians regarded them not as slaves, but as enemies and adversaries.
Acts 7:8–16. And He gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so he begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him wisdom and favor before Pharaoh king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a famine and great affliction over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. And when they came the second time, Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried over into Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor of Shechem.
The promises are given to the descendants, while the calamities are given to the ancestors. And the fathers were commanded by the law to circumcise the foreskin because Abraham came out of the land of the Chaldeans; for the Chaldeans, as well as the Medes and Persians, were permitted by the customs of their fathers to marry their mothers and sisters. Thus, Abraham is circumcised as a sign that he renounces carnal intermixing and rejects unlawful marriages between relatives. But others maintain that circumcision was commanded to Abraham and his descendants so that it would be manifest that Christ was to come from them according to the flesh, since we know that circumcision, which was a foreshadowing in the Old Testament, contained within itself the image of saving baptism, and by the cutting away of flesh signified the renunciation of the life according to the flesh, making the circumcised sons of God.
"After this he begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day." First Isaac is circumcised on the eighth day; from this the Jews also are circumcised on the eighth day. But Ishmael is circumcised at thirteen years of age (see Gen. 17:25), and therefore his descendants, the Ishmaelites, are circumcised, as Josephus says, also in the thirteenth year.
"They sold Joseph into Egypt." Not knowing of any fault in their brother, they treated him so badly, and moreover at the time when he had come to them with food for them, and by their action they furthered the prophecy without realizing it, involuntarily becoming the agents of his prosperity, though only after many trials for him. They themselves brought upon themselves great fear and unbearable shame, although Joseph bore no malice and devised nothing terrible against them, but on the contrary both fed them when they were tormented by hunger and made them known to Pharaoh.
"And he himself died, and our fathers; and they were carried over into Shechem." Abraham with his family and the patriarchs were buried in Shechem, which perhaps was called "Sichem." Abraham bought this place himself in order to bury Sarah.
"And were laid in the sepulchre." Having said this, Stephen shows that Abraham even until his burial was not master of the land.
Acts 7:17–28. But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose, who did not know Joseph. This man, dealing treacherously with our race, oppressed our fathers, forcing them to cast out their children, so that they might not survive. At that time Moses was born, and was beautiful before God. For three months he was nourished in his father's house. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and raised him as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended him and avenged the oppressed man, striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brethren would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand. The next day, when some of them were fighting, he appeared and urged them to make peace, saying: "You are brethren; why do you wrong one another?" But the one who was wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying: "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?"
The expression "as the time of the promise drew near" indicates not that they multiplied over the course of four hundred years, but that the end had to draw near, since four hundred and more years had already passed in Egypt.
"The people grew and multiplied in Egypt." If regarding Joseph it is worthy of admiration that he was sold by his brothers and, having been sold, delivered them from famine, then even more admirable is the fact that the king raised the one who was destined to undermine his power (that is, Moses); the one who was supposed to be put to death by the person who condemned him to death — that one was being educated and raised for the overthrow of his educator.
"Forcing… to cast out their young children, to the end they might not live." This expression hints that the king did not want the killing of the infants to be carried out openly. And observe: the promise of God was strengthened by the very same circumstances through which the devil strove to undermine it, because the people of Israel were being afflicted, yet they grew and multiplied. For this reason Moses too is taken up and nourished and educated in the house of the king, and again flees; but during his flight he is deemed worthy of the vision, and the leadership of the people is entrusted to him. Thus God brings it about that even one sold into slavery becomes a king in the very place where he was a slave.
"Moses… was beautiful before God." The parents gave birth and saw that the child was beautiful, because grace was flourishing in him. Having seen that he was beautiful, they spared him, but, frightened by the decree, they hid him. Fear prevailed; and out of fear they resolved to cast the child away, but out of a feeling of parental compassion they employed cunning in this matter — they contrived to circumvent the decree: having made an ark, in imitation of the ark that existed in Noah's time, and having called upon the God of Noah, they cast the child with the ark into the river, so as both to appear obedient to the decree and to save the child. And so they cast him in, and God inspires the daughter of Pharaoh, who knew nothing of this, to go out to the river. She went out, knowing nothing, and found what she was not seeking — she received the infant from the ark. And Moses was saved by symbols of the universal salvation of the Church, because the chest was made of wood, and the wood was saved from the water, and salvation came to one who was without hope, and the one who took Moses was not a Jewess, but from among the Gentiles and an Egyptian.
"And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." Neither Moses, nor Ananias and Daniel with those who were with them, would have received a foreign education if necessity and the violence of despots had not compelled them to it, because it was of no use to them for anything—unless, perhaps, someone might say that receiving an education was good in order to uproot the errors of the Egyptians.
"Having struck down the Egyptian," Moses avenged the one being oppressed by him. He did not kill the Egyptian out of frenzy or anger, but out of zeal for God. And that which is done out of zeal for God, even if it be killing, is not murder. Here is what Moses heard from the Lord concerning Phinehas, who killed two with one hand: "Phinehas… took a spear in his hand. And he went after the Israelite into the tent, and thrust both of them through… and the plague was stayed from the children of Israel" (Num. 25:7–8). And what Moses did was an unsolved riddle, because it was a sign that through Moses God was going to destroy the Egyptians and save the Israelites. Moses supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him. Moreover, God's protection was evident from the very deeds themselves — what further understanding was needed? Yet even so, they did not understand.
"On the next day, when some of them were fighting, he appeared and urged them toward peace." See how kindly the one who had shown such anger toward the Egyptian speaks: "You are brothers; why do you wrong one another?" But pay attention to the response: "Who made you a ruler and judge over us?" The very same words that were later said to Christ. To repay good with insult — that is in the spirit of the Jews.
Acts 7:29–34. At these words Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where two sons were born to him. And when forty years had been fulfilled, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of a burning thornbush. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to look, the voice of the Lord came to him: "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." And Moses, seized with trembling, dared not look. And the Lord said to him: "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them; and now come, I will send you to Egypt."
But his flight did not disrupt God's plans either, because it is said: "when forty years were fulfilled, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai" — He appeared when Moses was in flight, when he did not even hope to return, since he already had two sons. But notice: Stephen now calls the Son of God both an Angel and a man. And the Angel appears to Moses not in a temple, but in the wilderness, and not simply in the wilderness, but in a bush — in the flame of a burning thornbush. And behold, Moses is also deemed worthy of a voice: "I," says the voice, "am the God of your fathers."
"Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground." The place is holy because of the appearance of Christ and is worthy of greater wonder than that which was in the Holy of Holies, because there was never such an appearance there. Furthermore, the great providence of God is also evident, because it says: "I have seen the oppression of My people… and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them."
Acts 7:35–41. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying: "Who made you a ruler and a judge?"—this man God sent as a ruler and deliverer through the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren, like me; listen to Him" (Deut. 18:15). "This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, and who received living words to pass on to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected him and turned their hearts back to Egypt, saying to Aaron: 'Make us gods that will go before us; for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
That Moses, who was in danger for his life, whom the Israelites counted as nothing and rejected, God raised up and "sent through the Angel who appeared to him in the burning bush." The one whom Stephen calls an Angel, Moses saw and called God. "This is that Moses who said to the sons of Israel: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren, like me,'" that is, like me, counted as nothing for that for which he should much sooner have been deemed worthy of honor. Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses, and Moses fled; and Herod wanted to kill the Lord, and the Lord escaped into Egypt. Both Pharaoh and Herod plotted against an infant; both issued a decree; and neither decree found obedience.
"This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai." The words before us show that people become better or worse not because of their location, for those spoken of here, though already outside of Egypt in terms of place, were in Egypt in their disposition and did not abandon thoughts of Egyptian customs, as the Gospel also says: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Lk. 12:34). Many, while still on earth, gather treasure in heaven; there also is their heart. But the angels who transgressed God's will, though being in heaven, developed an inclination toward the things of earth; as a result of which their casting down to earth followed.
"Who received living words."
He calls "living" words of a special kind, the meaning of which is clarified by ordinary words, or prophecies.
"Make us gods." Not God, but gods.
"And they made a calf in those days." The same is found in David: "and they made a calf at Horeb" (Ps. 106:19). And Horeb is not mentioned without purpose, but in order to show the extreme madness of the Israelites: here God appeared to Moses, and here they made idols and offered sacrifices to them.
Acts 7:42–50. But God turned away and gave them over to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: "O house of Israel, did you offer Me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness? You took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon" (Amos 5:25–27). "The tabernacle of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness, as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen. Which also our fathers, having received it in turn, brought with Joshua into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers. So it was until the days of David. He found favor before God and asked that he might find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 'Heaven is My throne, and earth is the footstool of My feet. What house will you build Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?'" (Isa. 66:1–2).
The expression "gave over… to serve" is used in place of "permitted," just as in the Apostle Paul's words "God gave them over to a debased mind" (Rom. 1:28) it is used in place of "permitted them to give themselves over." So he says: since the Jews had such a passion — to serve the creature instead of the Creator, God often reproached them through the prophets for such a disposition, and then, when they proved obstinate, permitted them to do what they wanted. And the word "turned away" is used in place of the expression "having turned away from another will," because the will of God is one thing, and what is permitted by condescension is another. For His will is the same as the law: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve" (Lk. 4:8). But those who persisted in impiety He permitted to remain in impiety as well, because He does not wish to be served out of necessity, so as not to constrain the one who possesses free will.
"To the host of heaven" some think is equivalent to "the Angels." "The word spoken through Angels" (Heb. 2:2). But Stephen is speaking not of Angels, but of the stars, which the Jews rendered worship to, namely: the Calf, which substituted for the morning star — the day-star, and the moon, as the queen of heaven. This expression is used almost everywhere where the discussion concerns the luminaries and stars.
"O house of Israel, did you offer Me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness?" Notice that he first mentions that they offered sacrifices to Him, and then to idols. This is because before this, the word "sacrifice" is nowhere found, but only "commandments" and "living words." Moreover, he brings this testimony not without reason, but to show that there was no need for sacrifices. He says "did you offer Me slain beasts and sacrifices" instead of saying: "You cannot say that you offer sacrifices to idols because you offered them to God; on the contrary, you first offered sacrifices to them, and this in the wilderness, where I especially watched over you. Therefore, if I said that this temple would be destroyed and the rites and sacrifices would be changed, I said nothing new. For Moses, of whom you seem to have a high opinion, for forty years neither offered sacrifices nor built a temple, and neither did David do this, even though you already possessed this land, divided by lot. The prophets also speak of them as unnecessary. But how can you appeal to Moses in your defense, when your fathers rejected him, and so did you?"
"You took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan." The divine Moses went up to the mountain to receive the law, and they, Israelites by blood, stood before Aaron, saying: "Make us a god" (Ex. 32:1). So they made a calf in the wilderness, and this calf was an obvious idol; and gradually they fashioned many other idols as well. They were especially devoted to the worship of stars. Besides the calf, they also "took up" the "tabernacle of Moloch." Having made a tabernacle, they set up an idol in it and called it Moloch. This is a Moabite idol. It had a transparent stone on the upper part of its forehead in the form of the morning star — the day-star. And the word "Moloch" in translation means "their king." For so Aquila and Theodotion explain it. And the image of the day-star was crafted by artisans. So they "took up the tabernacle of Moloch," that is, the tabernacle of your king. And what kind of king was he? "The star of your god Remphan," whose name in translation means "darkening" or "blinding." Thus they worshipped the morning star, which rises before the appearing of the sun's radiance. However, what befell these worshippers was blinding, or remphan, not because the star produced this blinding, but because this veneration became the cause of such darkening.
"I will carry you away beyond Babylon." The prophet said: "I will carry you away beyond Damascus" (Amos 5:27). But Stephen said "beyond Babylon," following the exposition of the Hebrews, or because Babylon is the border of the land of the Damascenes. The Seventy translators said: "Beyond Damascus."
"The tabernacle of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness." They had it in order to have God as a witness. He calls it the tabernacle of testimonies, that is, of miracles and commandments.
"As He who spoke to Moses commanded." The establishment of the tabernacle took place on the mountain, and in the wilderness it was portable, not fixed in one place. Even if it was an Angel who spoke with Moses on the mountain, he nevertheless spoke with him on behalf of God. And there is much of this kind in Divine Scripture. Thus, in the book of Exodus it is said that the Angel of the Lord said to Moses: "Moses, Moses!.. Do not come near here" (Exod. 3:4–5). And a little further on, this Angel says: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exod. 3:6).
Acts 7:51–53. You stiff-necked! People with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers — you who received the law through the ministry of Angels and did not keep it.
Why does he who until now had been speaking to the people gently here use harsh words? Because he saw that they were paying no attention to what was being said. "You always resist the Holy Spirit" – not only now. By this he shows:
What he said was from the Holy Spirit, and especially so when the hour of his death was approaching, because he, of course, knew this, being filled with the Holy Spirit. He displayed great and fearless boldness, and what he said to them was not his own, but the words of the prophets. "You always," he says, "resist." When God did not want sacrifices, you offered sacrifices, and then, when He wants a sacrifice, you do not offer it. Again, when the temple existed, you served idols, and when He wants you to renounce the temple, you do the opposite. Moreover, he did not say "you resist God," but "the Spirit."
For there is no distinction between the Spirit and God.
"You resist… as your fathers did, so do you." He shows that this evil falls upon them all the more because it has come down to them from of old. Christ did the same, because they greatly boasted of their ancestors.
"Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" If your fathers killed these foreheralds, then there is nothing surprising that I, who preach the One foretold by them, will be killed by you, who take too much pride in your ancestors.
"They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One." He says "the Righteous One," showing that He was unjustly killed by them, because if He is righteous, then those who killed Him are very much in the wrong. He calls Him righteous because even they could not deny this. They nowhere condemned Him as unrighteous, for how would they condemn on this count one who did not even have a shelter? But he sets before them two of their crimes: murder and betrayal. For he says: "You have now become betrayers and murderers… you who received the law through the ministry of Angels and did not keep it," that is, arranged by Angels and delivered by the One who appeared in the bush. He shows that they did not obey and do not obey either God, or Angels, or prophets, or the Spirit.
Acts 7:54–56. Hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazing up into heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
If the Jews wanted to kill Stephen, then why did they not kill him immediately? Because they wanted to present a plausible pretext for their audacity, since the insult he had caused them was not a plausible pretext for killing him; moreover, what they considered an insult to themselves was not his own insult, but rather a rebuke made to the Jews by a prophet. At the same time, they also did not want people to think that they killed him for something that pertained to them personally, as was also the case in the condemnation of Christ to death, but rather that they were supposedly killing him for impiety. Because they were not satisfied with defiling themselves by murder, but they hoped and took care to stain the honor of the one being killed as well. For they feared that he would come to enjoy even greater veneration if they killed him for a personal insult to them.
"Jesus, standing at the right hand of God." By standing he signifies firmness and immovability. And even they already admitted this: they already at that time considered Him to be standing.
Acts 7:57–60. But they, crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears and rushed upon him with one accord. And having cast him out of the city, they began to stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen, who prayed and said: Lord Jesus! Receive my spirit. And kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice: Lord! Do not charge them with this sin. And having said this, he fell asleep.
When Christ said: "You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand" (Matt. 26:64), the Jews called this blasphemy and attacked Him. So too now: having heard the words of Stephen, they rushed at him. But then they tore their garments, while here they "stopped their ears."
"And having led him out of the city, they began to stone him." Finding themselves utterly unable to put an end to Stephen's speech, they "began to stone him." Even if he had been speaking falsely, he should have been released as a madman. But if he was speaking the truth, they should rather have marveled. "And having led him out of the city," they kill him, just as they also did with Jesus.
"And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man." By witnesses, Luke means those whom the Jews put forward for the purpose of giving false testimony against Stephen. By this the evangelist hints at two circumstances: that even those who were considered witnesses were rather ready to commit murder, since they removed their garments in order to throw stones more freely and without hindrance — and that the one who would later become the preacher to the whole world was himself at that time lending assistance in the murder, and that thus a certain divine, wondrous, and superhuman change took place in him.
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" is a saying that teaches and shows them that he will not perish.
"They were stoning Stephen." Since justification is accomplished by faith in Christ, and in Him human nature received innocence in abundance and granted us a new right, by virtue of which our souls no longer go to Hades, but, as before, are sent into the hands of the Living God, knowing this, holy Stephen said: "Lord Jesus! receive my spirit." And blessed Peter writes: "Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to Him, as to a faithful Creator" (1 Pet. 4:19).
"Having knelt down, he cried out with a loud voice: Lord! do not charge them with this sin." He does not simply pray, he says, but with fervor, since God permitted his soul to remain in his body until that moment. Notice the voice and the excess of patience in suffering. By this he shows that what he had said to them before, he said not out of anger, but in order to put them in difficulty, to convict and reproach them.
Acts 7:1–7. Then the high priest said: "Is this so?" But he said: "Brethren and fathers, listen! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him: 'Get out of your country and from your relatives and from your father's house, and go to a land that I will show you' (Gen. 12:1). Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran; and from there, after the death of his father, God removed him to this land in which you now dwell. And He gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on, but He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spoke in this way: that his descendants would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would be brought into bondage and oppressed four hundred years. 'But the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.'"
They themselves did not even consider that they were permitting themselves blasphemous actions, yet they accuse him of blasphemy for his words. Moses was always on their mind – they were not so much concerned with the works of God as with the ordinances of Moses. But Stephen at the very beginning of his speech refutes their opinion and proves that neither the temple nor the rites are of significance, and that they will not prevail against the preaching of the Gospel, that God makes what is difficult and impossible easy and possible. Note: their accusations consist precisely in the fact that, while constantly enjoying God's love for mankind, they repaid their Benefactor with the opposite and seek the impossible. Stephen also shows that the promise was given before this land, before circumcision, before sacrifice, before the temple; that they received this land, as well as circumcision and the law, not by merit, but the land was a reward for obedience; that when circumcision was given, the promise had not yet been fulfilled; and that all these things were foreshadowings. He beautifully names God at the beginning of his speech "the God of glory," because He made glorious those who were reviled. He also says that there was not yet a temple, yet Abraham was deemed worthy to see God; that his ancestors were Persians and he lived in a foreign land. Note how Stephen draws their mind away from the sensible, beginning with the locality, since the discussion was also about the place. If God is the God of "glory," then He has no need to receive glory from you through your temple, because He Himself is the source of all glory and all good.
"Go out of your land and from your kindred." How then does Scripture say that Abraham's father wished to go out (see Gen. 11:31), while here it says that Abraham was told "go out of your land"? From this we conclude that the appearance of God to Abraham influenced his father, and he wished to go out from the land of the Chaldeans. But by this very thing Stephen shows that the Jews are not children of Abraham, because he, having left both his fatherland and his relatives, showed obedience, while they are disobedient.
"And gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on." Observe how by his discourse about the promised land he leads them to the truth. Why did the Lord not give an inheritance to Abraham? Because this land was a type of another land. "But promised that He would give it." Do you notice that not without reason he repeats again: he does not say "gave," but "promised to give." If Abraham was a stranger and a sojourner and after some time was to depart, then how could he have this land as a "possession!" Thus, the inheritance of Abraham is preserved through his seed, which is Christ, since with Him the saints also shall reign, according to the word of Scripture: "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father" (Matt. 16:27; 25:31), reigning over all nations.
"And to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." Again he points out that God is able to make the impossible possible, because it is said that He would make the master of Palestine one who was in Persia and was at such a great distance. But at the same time there is an indication both of the great love of God for mankind and of the great faith of Abraham, because the expression "when as yet he had no child" shows the obedience and faith of Abraham, although what was happening to him at that time inclined him to the opposite opinion, since after he arrived, he had nothing, "not so much as to set his foot on," and even afterward he had nothing.
"And God said to him that his descendants would be sojourners in a foreign land." See how many years before the promise was given and its type existed, and there was never a type of sacrifice, never a type of circumcision. But by this he also shows how God allowed the Israelites to endure misfortunes, even though there was nothing for which they were guilty.
"And they shall be in bondage and oppression for four hundred years." What is written in the book of Exodus does not contradict this passage. There it says: "After four hundred and thirty years... all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt" (12:41), while here it speaks approximately: for "four hundred years." But one must remember that it does not say: "they went out when four hundred years were fulfilled"; it says: after "four hundred" years, which does not exclude the remaining thirty years. Twenty-five years — from the seventy-fifth year to the hundredth of Abraham's, sixty years of Isaac's, ninety-one years of Jacob's, one hundred and ten years of Joseph's, one hundred and forty-four years in Egypt — altogether four hundred and thirty years. In the expression: "And after that they shall come out and serve Me," one can see an indication of these thirty years as well.
"But I," said God, "will judge that nation which they shall serve..." Those who afflicted them did not do so with impunity, because the Jews endured bitter and harsh slavery, since the Egyptians regarded them not as slaves, but as enemies and adversaries.
Acts 7:8–16. And He gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so he begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him wisdom and favor before Pharaoh king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a famine and great affliction over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. And when they came the second time, Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried over into Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor of Shechem.
The promises are given to the descendants, while the calamities are given to the ancestors. And the fathers were commanded by the law to circumcise the foreskin because Abraham came out of the land of the Chaldeans; for the Chaldeans, as well as the Medes and Persians, were permitted by the customs of their fathers to marry their mothers and sisters. Thus, Abraham is circumcised as a sign that he renounces carnal intermixing and rejects unlawful marriages between relatives. But others maintain that circumcision was commanded to Abraham and his descendants so that it would be manifest that Christ was to come from them according to the flesh, since we know that circumcision, which was a foreshadowing in the Old Testament, contained within itself the image of saving baptism, and by the cutting away of flesh signified the renunciation of the life according to the flesh, making the circumcised sons of God.
"After this he begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day." First Isaac is circumcised on the eighth day; from this the Jews also are circumcised on the eighth day. But Ishmael is circumcised at thirteen years of age (see Gen. 17:25), and therefore his descendants, the Ishmaelites, are circumcised, as Josephus says, also in the thirteenth year.
"They sold Joseph into Egypt." Not knowing of any fault in their brother, they treated him so badly, and moreover at the time when he had come to them with food for them, and by their action they furthered the prophecy without realizing it, involuntarily becoming the agents of his prosperity, though only after many trials for him. They themselves brought upon themselves great fear and unbearable shame, although Joseph bore no malice and devised nothing terrible against them, but on the contrary both fed them when they were tormented by hunger and made them known to Pharaoh.
"And he himself died, and our fathers; and they were carried over into Shechem." Abraham with his family and the patriarchs were buried in Shechem, which perhaps was called "Sichem." Abraham bought this place himself in order to bury Sarah.
"And were laid in the sepulchre." Having said this, Stephen shows that Abraham even until his burial was not master of the land.
Acts 7:17–28. But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose, who did not know Joseph. This man, dealing treacherously with our race, oppressed our fathers, forcing them to cast out their children, so that they might not survive. At that time Moses was born, and was beautiful before God. For three months he was nourished in his father's house. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and raised him as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended him and avenged the oppressed man, striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brethren would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand. The next day, when some of them were fighting, he appeared and urged them to make peace, saying: "You are brethren; why do you wrong one another?" But the one who was wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying: "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?"
The expression "as the time of the promise drew near" indicates not that they multiplied over the course of four hundred years, but that the end had to draw near, since four hundred and more years had already passed in Egypt.
"The people grew and multiplied in Egypt." If regarding Joseph it is worthy of admiration that he was sold by his brothers and, having been sold, delivered them from famine, then even more admirable is the fact that the king raised the one who was destined to undermine his power (that is, Moses); the one who was supposed to be put to death by the person who condemned him to death — that one was being educated and raised for the overthrow of his educator.
"Forcing… to cast out their young children, to the end they might not live." This expression hints that the king did not want the killing of the infants to be carried out openly. And observe: the promise of God was strengthened by the very same circumstances through which the devil strove to undermine it, because the people of Israel were being afflicted, yet they grew and multiplied. For this reason Moses too is taken up and nourished and educated in the house of the king, and again flees; but during his flight he is deemed worthy of the vision, and the leadership of the people is entrusted to him. Thus God brings it about that even one sold into slavery becomes a king in the very place where he was a slave.
"Moses… was beautiful before God." The parents gave birth and saw that the child was beautiful, because grace was flourishing in him. Having seen that he was beautiful, they spared him, but, frightened by the decree, they hid him. Fear prevailed; and out of fear they resolved to cast the child away, but out of a feeling of parental compassion they employed cunning in this matter — they contrived to circumvent the decree: having made an ark, in imitation of the ark that existed in Noah's time, and having called upon the God of Noah, they cast the child with the ark into the river, so as both to appear obedient to the decree and to save the child. And so they cast him in, and God inspires the daughter of Pharaoh, who knew nothing of this, to go out to the river. She went out, knowing nothing, and found what she was not seeking — she received the infant from the ark. And Moses was saved by symbols of the universal salvation of the Church, because the chest was made of wood, and the wood was saved from the water, and salvation came to one who was without hope, and the one who took Moses was not a Jewess, but from among the Gentiles and an Egyptian.
"And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." Neither Moses, nor Ananias and Daniel with those who were with them, would have received a foreign education if necessity and the violence of despots had not compelled them to it, because it was of no use to them for anything—unless, perhaps, someone might say that receiving an education was good in order to uproot the errors of the Egyptians.
"Having struck down the Egyptian," Moses avenged the one being oppressed by him. He did not kill the Egyptian out of frenzy or anger, but out of zeal for God. And that which is done out of zeal for God, even if it be killing, is not murder. Here is what Moses heard from the Lord concerning Phinehas, who killed two with one hand: "Phinehas… took a spear in his hand. And he went after the Israelite into the tent, and thrust both of them through… and the plague was stayed from the children of Israel" (Num. 25:7–8). And what Moses did was an unsolved riddle, because it was a sign that through Moses God was going to destroy the Egyptians and save the Israelites. Moses supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him. Moreover, God's protection was evident from the very deeds themselves — what further understanding was needed? Yet even so, they did not understand.
"On the next day, when some of them were fighting, he appeared and urged them toward peace." See how kindly the one who had shown such anger toward the Egyptian speaks: "You are brothers; why do you wrong one another?" But pay attention to the response: "Who made you a ruler and judge over us?" The very same words that were later said to Christ. To repay good with insult — that is in the spirit of the Jews.
Acts 7:29–34. At these words Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where two sons were born to him. And when forty years had been fulfilled, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of a burning thornbush. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to look, the voice of the Lord came to him: "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." And Moses, seized with trembling, dared not look. And the Lord said to him: "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them; and now come, I will send you to Egypt."
But his flight did not disrupt God's plans either, because it is said: "when forty years were fulfilled, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai" — He appeared when Moses was in flight, when he did not even hope to return, since he already had two sons. But notice: Stephen now calls the Son of God both an Angel and a man. And the Angel appears to Moses not in a temple, but in the wilderness, and not simply in the wilderness, but in a bush — in the flame of a burning thornbush. And behold, Moses is also deemed worthy of a voice: "I," says the voice, "am the God of your fathers."
"Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground." The place is holy because of the appearance of Christ and is worthy of greater wonder than that which was in the Holy of Holies, because there was never such an appearance there. Furthermore, the great providence of God is also evident, because it says: "I have seen the oppression of My people… and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them."
Acts 7:35–41. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying: "Who made you a ruler and a judge?"—this man God sent as a ruler and deliverer through the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren, like me; listen to Him" (Deut. 18:15). "This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, and who received living words to pass on to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected him and turned their hearts back to Egypt, saying to Aaron: 'Make us gods that will go before us; for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
That Moses, who was in danger for his life, whom the Israelites counted as nothing and rejected, God raised up and "sent through the Angel who appeared to him in the burning bush." The one whom Stephen calls an Angel, Moses saw and called God. "This is that Moses who said to the sons of Israel: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren, like me,'" that is, like me, counted as nothing for that for which he should much sooner have been deemed worthy of honor. Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses, and Moses fled; and Herod wanted to kill the Lord, and the Lord escaped into Egypt. Both Pharaoh and Herod plotted against an infant; both issued a decree; and neither decree found obedience.
"This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai." The words before us show that people become better or worse not because of their location, for those spoken of here, though already outside of Egypt in terms of place, were in Egypt in their disposition and did not abandon thoughts of Egyptian customs, as the Gospel also says: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Lk. 12:34). Many, while still on earth, gather treasure in heaven; there also is their heart. But the angels who transgressed God's will, though being in heaven, developed an inclination toward the things of earth; as a result of which their casting down to earth followed.
"Who received living words."
He calls "living" words of a special kind, the meaning of which is clarified by ordinary words, or prophecies.
"Make us gods." Not God, but gods.
"And they made a calf in those days." The same is found in David: "and they made a calf at Horeb" (Ps. 106:19). And Horeb is not mentioned without purpose, but in order to show the extreme madness of the Israelites: here God appeared to Moses, and here they made idols and offered sacrifices to them.
Acts 7:42–50. But God turned away and gave them over to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: "O house of Israel, did you offer Me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness? You took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon" (Amos 5:25–27). "The tabernacle of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness, as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen. Which also our fathers, having received it in turn, brought with Joshua into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers. So it was until the days of David. He found favor before God and asked that he might find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 'Heaven is My throne, and earth is the footstool of My feet. What house will you build Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?'" (Isa. 66:1–2).
The expression "gave over… to serve" is used in place of "permitted," just as in the Apostle Paul's words "God gave them over to a debased mind" (Rom. 1:28) it is used in place of "permitted them to give themselves over." So he says: since the Jews had such a passion — to serve the creature instead of the Creator, God often reproached them through the prophets for such a disposition, and then, when they proved obstinate, permitted them to do what they wanted. And the word "turned away" is used in place of the expression "having turned away from another will," because the will of God is one thing, and what is permitted by condescension is another. For His will is the same as the law: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve" (Lk. 4:8). But those who persisted in impiety He permitted to remain in impiety as well, because He does not wish to be served out of necessity, so as not to constrain the one who possesses free will.
"To the host of heaven" some think is equivalent to "the Angels." "The word spoken through Angels" (Heb. 2:2). But Stephen is speaking not of Angels, but of the stars, which the Jews rendered worship to, namely: the Calf, which substituted for the morning star — the day-star, and the moon, as the queen of heaven. This expression is used almost everywhere where the discussion concerns the luminaries and stars.
"O house of Israel, did you offer Me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness?" Notice that he first mentions that they offered sacrifices to Him, and then to idols. This is because before this, the word "sacrifice" is nowhere found, but only "commandments" and "living words." Moreover, he brings this testimony not without reason, but to show that there was no need for sacrifices. He says "did you offer Me slain beasts and sacrifices" instead of saying: "You cannot say that you offer sacrifices to idols because you offered them to God; on the contrary, you first offered sacrifices to them, and this in the wilderness, where I especially watched over you. Therefore, if I said that this temple would be destroyed and the rites and sacrifices would be changed, I said nothing new. For Moses, of whom you seem to have a high opinion, for forty years neither offered sacrifices nor built a temple, and neither did David do this, even though you already possessed this land, divided by lot. The prophets also speak of them as unnecessary. But how can you appeal to Moses in your defense, when your fathers rejected him, and so did you?"
"You took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan." The divine Moses went up to the mountain to receive the law, and they, Israelites by blood, stood before Aaron, saying: "Make us a god" (Ex. 32:1). So they made a calf in the wilderness, and this calf was an obvious idol; and gradually they fashioned many other idols as well. They were especially devoted to the worship of stars. Besides the calf, they also "took up" the "tabernacle of Moloch." Having made a tabernacle, they set up an idol in it and called it Moloch. This is a Moabite idol. It had a transparent stone on the upper part of its forehead in the form of the morning star — the day-star. And the word "Moloch" in translation means "their king." For so Aquila and Theodotion explain it. And the image of the day-star was crafted by artisans. So they "took up the tabernacle of Moloch," that is, the tabernacle of your king. And what kind of king was he? "The star of your god Remphan," whose name in translation means "darkening" or "blinding." Thus they worshipped the morning star, which rises before the appearing of the sun's radiance. However, what befell these worshippers was blinding, or remphan, not because the star produced this blinding, but because this veneration became the cause of such darkening.
"I will carry you away beyond Babylon." The prophet said: "I will carry you away beyond Damascus" (Amos 5:27). But Stephen said "beyond Babylon," following the exposition of the Hebrews, or because Babylon is the border of the land of the Damascenes. The Seventy translators said: "Beyond Damascus."
"The tabernacle of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness." They had it in order to have God as a witness. He calls it the tabernacle of testimonies, that is, of miracles and commandments.
"As He who spoke to Moses commanded." The establishment of the tabernacle took place on the mountain, and in the wilderness it was portable, not fixed in one place. Even if it was an Angel who spoke with Moses on the mountain, he nevertheless spoke with him on behalf of God. And there is much of this kind in Divine Scripture. Thus, in the book of Exodus it is said that the Angel of the Lord said to Moses: "Moses, Moses!.. Do not come near here" (Exod. 3:4–5). And a little further on, this Angel says: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exod. 3:6).
Acts 7:51–53. You stiff-necked! People with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers — you who received the law through the ministry of Angels and did not keep it.
Why does he who until now had been speaking to the people gently here use harsh words? Because he saw that they were paying no attention to what was being said. "You always resist the Holy Spirit" – not only now. By this he shows:
What he said was from the Holy Spirit, and especially so when the hour of his death was approaching, because he, of course, knew this, being filled with the Holy Spirit. He displayed great and fearless boldness, and what he said to them was not his own, but the words of the prophets. "You always," he says, "resist." When God did not want sacrifices, you offered sacrifices, and then, when He wants a sacrifice, you do not offer it. Again, when the temple existed, you served idols, and when He wants you to renounce the temple, you do the opposite. Moreover, he did not say "you resist God," but "the Spirit."
For there is no distinction between the Spirit and God.
"You resist… as your fathers did, so do you." He shows that this evil falls upon them all the more because it has come down to them from of old. Christ did the same, because they greatly boasted of their ancestors.
"Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" If your fathers killed these foreheralds, then there is nothing surprising that I, who preach the One foretold by them, will be killed by you, who take too much pride in your ancestors.
"They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One." He says "the Righteous One," showing that He was unjustly killed by them, because if He is righteous, then those who killed Him are very much in the wrong. He calls Him righteous because even they could not deny this. They nowhere condemned Him as unrighteous, for how would they condemn on this count one who did not even have a shelter? But he sets before them two of their crimes: murder and betrayal. For he says: "You have now become betrayers and murderers… you who received the law through the ministry of Angels and did not keep it," that is, arranged by Angels and delivered by the One who appeared in the bush. He shows that they did not obey and do not obey either God, or Angels, or prophets, or the Spirit.
Acts 7:54–56. Hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazing up into heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
If the Jews wanted to kill Stephen, then why did they not kill him immediately? Because they wanted to present a plausible pretext for their audacity, since the insult he had caused them was not a plausible pretext for killing him; moreover, what they considered an insult to themselves was not his own insult, but rather a rebuke made to the Jews by a prophet. At the same time, they also did not want people to think that they killed him for something that pertained to them personally, as was also the case in the condemnation of Christ to death, but rather that they were supposedly killing him for impiety. Because they were not satisfied with defiling themselves by murder, but they hoped and took care to stain the honor of the one being killed as well. For they feared that he would come to enjoy even greater veneration if they killed him for a personal insult to them.
"Jesus, standing at the right hand of God." By standing he signifies firmness and immovability. And even they already admitted this: they already at that time considered Him to be standing.
Acts 7:57–60. But they, crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears and rushed upon him with one accord. And having cast him out of the city, they began to stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen, who prayed and said: Lord Jesus! Receive my spirit. And kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice: Lord! Do not charge them with this sin. And having said this, he fell asleep.
When Christ said: "You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand" (Matt. 26:64), the Jews called this blasphemy and attacked Him. So too now: having heard the words of Stephen, they rushed at him. But then they tore their garments, while here they "stopped their ears."
"And having led him out of the city, they began to stone him." Finding themselves utterly unable to put an end to Stephen's speech, they "began to stone him." Even if he had been speaking falsely, he should have been released as a madman. But if he was speaking the truth, they should rather have marveled. "And having led him out of the city," they kill him, just as they also did with Jesus.
"And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man." By witnesses, Luke means those whom the Jews put forward for the purpose of giving false testimony against Stephen. By this the evangelist hints at two circumstances: that even those who were considered witnesses were rather ready to commit murder, since they removed their garments in order to throw stones more freely and without hindrance — and that the one who would later become the preacher to the whole world was himself at that time lending assistance in the murder, and that thus a certain divine, wondrous, and superhuman change took place in him.
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" is a saying that teaches and shows them that he will not perish.
"They were stoning Stephen." Since justification is accomplished by faith in Christ, and in Him human nature received innocence in abundance and granted us a new right, by virtue of which our souls no longer go to Hades, but, as before, are sent into the hands of the Living God, knowing this, holy Stephen said: "Lord Jesus! receive my spirit." And blessed Peter writes: "Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to Him, as to a faithful Creator" (1 Pet. 4:19).
"Having knelt down, he cried out with a loud voice: Lord! do not charge them with this sin." He does not simply pray, he says, but with fervor, since God permitted his soul to remain in his body until that moment. Notice the voice and the excess of patience in suffering. By this he shows that what he had said to them before, he said not out of anger, but in order to put them in difficulty, to convict and reproach them.