Acts · Chapter 7

Verse 1. Are these things so?] Hast thou predicted the destruction of the temple? And hast thou said that Jesus of Nazareth shall change our customs, abolish our religious rites and temple service? Hast thou spoken these blasphemous things against Moses, and against God? Here was some colour of justice; for Stephen was permitted to defend himself. And, in order to do this he thought it best to enter into a detail of their history from the commencement of their nation; and thus show how kindly God had dealt with them, and how ungraciously they and their fathers had requited Him. And all this naturally led him to the conclusion, that God could no longer bear with a people the cup of whose iniquity had been long overflowing; and therefore they might expect to find wrath, without mixture of mercy.

But how could St. Luke get all this circumstantial account? 1. He might have been present, and heard the whole; or, more probably, he had the account from St. Paul, whose companion he was, and who was certainly present when St. Stephen was judged and stoned, for he was consenting to his death, and kept the clothes of them who stoned him. See Acts 7:58; 8:1; 22:20.

Verses 1-3. Then said the high-priest — Who was president of the council, and, as such, the mouth of the court; Are these things so? — Are they as these witnesses have deposed? for thou art permitted to speak for thyself, and make thy defence. And he said — Stephen had been accused of blasphemy against Moses, and even against God; and of speaking against the temple and the law, threatening that Jesus would destroy the one and change the other. In answer to this accusation, rehearsing, as it were, the articles of his historical creed, he speaks of God with high reverence, and a grateful sense of a long series of acts of goodness to the Israelites; and of Moses with great respect, on account of his important and honourable employments under God; of the temple with regard, as being built to the honour of God; yet not with such superstition as the Jews; putting them in mind, that no temple could comprehend God. And he was going on, no doubt, when he was interrupted by their clamour, to speak to the last point, the destruction of the temple, and the change of the law by Christ. The sum of his discourse is this: I acknowledge the glory of God revealed to the fathers, verse 2; the calling of Moses, verse 34, &c.; the dignity of the law, verses 8, 38, 44; the holiness of this place, verses 7, 45,

47. And, indeed, the law is more ancient than the temple; the promise more ancient than the law. For God showed himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their children, freely, verses 2, &c., 9, &c., 17, &c., 32, 34, 45; and they showed faith and obedience to God, verses 4, 20, &c., 23; particularly by their regard for the law, verse 8, and the promised land, verse 16. Meantime God never confined his presence to this one place, or to the observers of the law. For he hath been acceptably worshipped, before the law was given, or the temple built, and out of this land, verses 2, 9, 33, 44. And that our fathers and their posterity were not tied down to this land, their various sojournings, verses 4, &c., 14, 29, 44, and exile, verse 43, show. But you and your fathers have always been evil, verse 9; have withstood Moses, verses 25, &c., 39, &c.; have despised the land, verse 39; forsaken God, verse 40, &c.; superstitiously honoured the temple, verse 48; resisted God and his Spirit, verse 50; killed the prophets, and the Messiah himself, verse 51; and kept not the law, for which ye contend, verse 53. therefore God is not bound to you, much less to you alone. And, truly, this solemn testimony of Stephen is most worthy of his character, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and power: in which, though he does not advance so many regular propositions, contradictory to those of his adversaries, yet he closely and nervously answers them all. Nor can we doubt but he would, from these premises, have drawn inferences touching the destruction of the temple, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, the punishment of that rebellious people, and, above all, touching Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, had not his discourse been interrupted by the clamours of the multitude, stopping their ears and rushing upon him. Men, brethren, and fathers — All who are here present, whether ye are my equals in years, or of more advanced age. The word which, in this and many other places, is rendered men, is a mere expletive. The God of glory — The glorious God; appeared to Abraham before he dwelt in Charran — Therefore Abraham knew God long before he was in this land. And he said, Get thee out of thy country — Depart from this thy native country, which is become idolatrous; and from thy kindred — Who are now alienated from my worship; and come into the land — A remote land; which I shall show thee — And to which, by my extraordinary interposition, I will guide thee; though at present thou dost not know even its situation, much less the way leading to it. See note on Genesis 12:2.

1. And (rather, but) Saul—A transitional sentence. The same Saul, the indorser of the completed martyrdom, is leader of the coming persecution. At that time—Literally, and doubtless truly, on that day. The martyrdom was the first act of the persecution. Church… at Jerusalem—First mention of a city Christian Church; designating the organic body of all the congregation; a spiritual republic. The word Church (ekklhsia) is used in the New Testament to denote, (1) The whole body of believers, (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 10:32; Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 1:22; 3:10; 5:23, 24, 27, 29, 32; Philippians 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:15, etc.;) (2) A part of this whole, a particular congregation, as that at Jerusalem, or at Antioch, or at Rome, (1 Corinthians 11:18; 14:19, 33.) (Shaff., Apost. History.) All—The entire Jerusalem Church, with an exception soon to be noted. Scattered abroad—That this dispersion was truly total (with the apostolic exception soon to be considered) is abundantly evident in spite of the unauthorized doubt of most commentators. Luke tells us that all the Church was scattered— scattered abroad into different countries; scattered by a most thorough persecution, ransacking every house, and sparing no class or character. (Verse 3.) So far as Saul’s keen eye could detect, not a Christian was left in Jerusalem. And it was because he was well satisfied that his work was thoroughly done in Jerusalem that he extended it to Damascus. And this terrible inquisition, as Mr. Lewin calculates, lasted a full six months. Except—And surely where Luke states explicitly the exception, for himself all other exceptions are excluded. Except the apostles—Why the apostolic twelve remained after the disappearance of the Church from Jerusalem, and how they remained safely, are two very interesting questions, treated scarce satisfactorily to our own mind by the body of commentators. First, the apostles remained, beyond all question, from some known imperative duty, such as an extension of the injunction in 1:4, would impose. Now a very early tradition reaches us, through different independent channels, affirming that that injunction upon the apostles to remain in Jerusalem was extended to twelve years. Thus Eusebius tells us that Apollonius, a writer of the second century, records that “It was handed down by tradition that our Saviour commanded his disciples not to depart from Jerusalem for twelve years.” In an apocryphal work, the “Preaching of Peter,” it is said, “The Lord said to his apostles, If any one therefore of Israel repent, and through my name be willing to believe in God, his sins shall be forgiven him. After twelve years go ye out into the world, lest any say, We have not heard.” This tradition so accords with the fact by Luke here stated, with our Lord’s command. (Acts 1:4,) with the great rule obeyed even by Paul, “the Jew first, then also the Gentile,” that it may safely be accepted as an aid in solving the question of the apostles braving the danger of this terrible moment. And all this goes far to answer the second question. If the great Head of the Church required the presence of the twelve at Jerusalem, He provided for their safety. Not a hair of their head should perish if he needed their survival. Some powerful or skilful concealers, whose conscience was Christian, but whose courage (like that of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea) dared not assume the Christian profession, might, with an inconsistent bravery, venture to cover and protect them from the searching eye of Saul himself, and leave the lion’s whelp bereaved of his prey. Many a lurking place those turbulent times had provided, such as the cells subterranean of the spacious tombs, enabling the apostles to anticipate the Church of the Catacombs. None the less were they the enthroned viceroys of the Great King, (Matthew 19:28,) and none the less would they hold communion with and supervision over the scattered missionaries who were spreading the Gospel abroad. When Philip’s success in Samaria reaches their ears it is as an organic body that they delegate two of their college to supervise the new field. Yet their home is still Jerusalem; and in confining their mission mainly to Jews, they hold themselves as fulfilling the true nature of the Lord’s command. We very decidedly reject the theory of Baumgarten, that the twelve themselves were, as Jews, thrown into the background by the call of Paul, as being a sort of failure. Here in Jerusalem, and after their own missionary dispersion, they were life-long heads of the universal Church, with but one additional colleague, (Paul,) and with no successor.

V. 2. And he said-St. Stephen had been accused of blasphemy against Moses, and even against God; and of speaking against the temple and the law, threatening that Jesus would destroy the one, and change the other. In answer to this accusation, rehearsing as it were the articles of his historical creed, he speaks of God with high reverence, and a grateful sense of a long series of acts of goodness to the Israelites, and of Moses with great respect, on account of his important and honourable employments under God: of the temple with regard, as being built to the honour of God; yet not with such superstition as the Jews; putting them in mind, that no temple could comprehend God. And he was going on, no doubt, when he was interrupted by their clamour, to speak to the last point, the destruction of the temple, and the change of the law by Christ.

Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken-The sum of his discourse is this: I acknowledge the glory of God revealed to the fathers, Acts 7:2; the calling of Moses, Acts 7:34, &c; the dignity of the law, Acts 7:8, 38, 44; the holiness of this place, Acts 7:7, 45, 47. And indeed the law is more ancient than the temple; the promise more ancient than the law. For God showed himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their children freely, Acts 7:2, 9, 17, 32, 34, 35 and they showed faith and obedience to God, Acts 7:4, 20, 23, particularly by their regard for the law, Acts 7:8, and the promised land, Acts 7:16. Meantime, God never confined his presence to this one place or to the observers of the law. For he hath been acceptably worshipped before the law was given, or the temple built, and out of this land, Acts 7:2, 9, 33, 44. And that our fathers and their posterity were not tied down to this land, their various sojournings, Acts 7:4, 14, 29, 44, and exile, Acts 7:43, show. But you and your fathers have always been evil, Acts 7:9; have withstood Moses, Acts 7:25, 39; have despised the land, Acts 7:39, forsaken God, Acts 7:40 &c., superstitiously honoured the temple, Acts 7:48, resisted God and his Spirit, Acts 7:50, killed the prophets and the Messiah himself, Acts 7:51, and kept not the law for which ye contend, Acts 7:53. Therefore God is not bound to you; much less to you alone. And truly this solemn testimony of Stephen is most worthy of his character, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith and power: in which, though he does not advance so many regular propositions, contradictory to those of his adversaries, yet he closely and nervously answers them all. Nor can we doubt but he would, from these premises, have drawn inferences touching the destruction of the temple, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, the punishment of that rebellious people; and above all, touching Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, had not his discourse been interrupted by the clamours of the multitude, stopping their ears, and rushing upon him. Men, brethren, and fathers-All who are here present, whether ye are my equals in years, or of more advanced age. The word which in this and in many other places is rendered men is a mere expletive.

The God of glory-The glorious God, appeared to Abraham—before he dwelt in Haran-Therefore Abraham knew God, long before he was in this land. Genesis 12:1.

Verse 2. Men, brethren, and fathers] Rather, brethren and fathers, for andrev should not be translated separately from adelfoi. Literally it is men-brethren, a very usual form in Greek; for every person knows that andrev aqhnaioi and andrev persai should not be translated men-Athenians and men-Persians, but simply Athenians and Persians. See Acts 17:22. So, in Luke 2:15, anqrwpoi poimenev should be translated shepherds, not men-shepherds. And anqrwpov basileuv Matthew 18:23, should not be translated man-king, but king, simply. By translating as we do, men, brethren, and fathers, and putting a comma after men, we make Stephen address three classes, when in fact there were but two: the elders and scribes, whom he addressed as fathers; and the common people, whom he calls brethren. See Bp. Pearce, and see Acts 8:27.

The God of glory appeared, &c.] As Stephen was now vindicating himself from the false charges brought against him, he shows that he had uttered no blasphemy, either against God, Moses, or the temple; but states that his accusers, and the Jews in general, were guilty of the faults with which they charged him: that they had from the beginning rejected and despised Moses, and had always violated his laws. He proceeds to state that there is no blasphemy in saying that the temple shall be destroyed: they had been without a temple till the days of David; nor does God ever confine himself to temples built by hands, seeing he fills both heaven and earth; that Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses spoke, and whom they had persecuted, condemned, and at last put to death; that they were wicked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears, and always resisted the Holy Ghost as their fathers did. This is the substance of St. Stephen’s defense as far as he was permitted to make it: a defense which they could not confute; containing charges which they most glaringly illustrated and confirmed, by adding the murder of this faithful disciple to that of his all-glorious Master. Was in Mesopotamia] In that part of it where Ur of the Chaldees was situated, near to Babel, and among the rivers, (Tigris and Euphrates,) which gave the name of Mesopotamia to the country. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 11:31”.

Before he dwelt in Charran] This is called Haran in our translation of Genesis 11:31; this place also belonged to Mesopotamia, as well as Ur, but is placed west of it on the maps. It seems most probable that Abraham had two calls, one in Ur, and the other in Haran. He left Ur at the first call, and came to Haran; he left Haran at the second call, and came into the promised land. See these things more particularly stated in the notes, see Clarke on “Genesis 12:1”.

Verses 1-3. Then said the high-priest — Who was president of the council, and, as such, the mouth of the court; Are these things so? — Are they as these witnesses have deposed? for thou art permitted to speak for thyself, and make thy defence. And he said — Stephen had been accused of blasphemy against Moses, and even against God; and of speaking against the temple and the law, threatening that Jesus would destroy the one and change the other. In answer to this accusation, rehearsing, as it were, the articles of his historical creed, he speaks of God with high reverence, and a grateful sense of a long series of acts of goodness to the Israelites; and of Moses with great respect, on account of his important and honourable employments under God; of the temple with regard, as being built to the honour of God; yet not with such superstition as the Jews; putting them in mind, that no temple could comprehend God. And he was going on, no doubt, when he was interrupted by their clamour, to speak to the last point, the destruction of the temple, and the change of the law by Christ. The sum of his discourse is this: I acknowledge the glory of God revealed to the fathers, verse 2; the calling of Moses, verse 34, &c.; the dignity of the law, verses 8, 38, 44; the holiness of this place, verses 7, 45,

47. And, indeed, the law is more ancient than the temple; the promise more ancient than the law. For God showed himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their children, freely, verses 2, &c., 9, &c., 17, &c., 32, 34, 45; and they showed faith and obedience to God, verses 4, 20, &c., 23; particularly by their regard for the law, verse 8, and the promised land, verse 16. Meantime God never confined his presence to this one place, or to the observers of the law. For he hath been acceptably worshipped, before the law was given, or the temple built, and out of this land, verses 2, 9, 33, 44. And that our fathers and their posterity were not tied down to this land, their various sojournings, verses 4, &c., 14, 29, 44, and exile, verse 43, show. But you and your fathers have always been evil, verse 9; have withstood Moses, verses 25, &c., 39, &c.; have despised the land, verse 39; forsaken God, verse 40, &c.; superstitiously honoured the temple, verse 48; resisted God and his Spirit, verse 50; killed the prophets, and the Messiah himself, verse 51; and kept not the law, for which ye contend, verse 53. therefore God is not bound to you, much less to you alone. And, truly, this solemn testimony of Stephen is most worthy of his character, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and power: in which, though he does not advance so many regular propositions, contradictory to those of his adversaries, yet he closely and nervously answers them all. Nor can we doubt but he would, from these premises, have drawn inferences touching the destruction of the temple, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, the punishment of that rebellious people, and, above all, touching Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, had not his discourse been interrupted by the clamours of the multitude, stopping their ears and rushing upon him. Men, brethren, and fathers — All who are here present, whether ye are my equals in years, or of more advanced age. The word which, in this and many other places, is rendered men, is a mere expletive. The God of glory — The glorious God; appeared to Abraham before he dwelt in Charran — Therefore Abraham knew God long before he was in this land. And he said, Get thee out of thy country — Depart from this thy native country, which is become idolatrous; and from thy kindred — Who are now alienated from my worship; and come into the land — A remote land; which I shall show thee — And to which, by my extraordinary interposition, I will guide thee; though at present thou dost not know even its situation, much less the way leading to it. See note on Genesis 12:2.

Verse 2. The God of glory appeared to Abraham. Genesis 12. First in Haran, and next before he left the fine country of Mesopotamia, the land where his ancestors were born. Judges 3:8. Stephen’s commencement with the call of Abraham was proper to prove that Christ had descended in the line of that patriarch, and of David, to whom the promises were made.

2. Devout men—The term would in itself include Christians, or pious Jews. Both may have commingled in the funeral of the martyr, and that may have been the reason why Luke uses a term that includes both. This contradicts not the fact that the persecution already existed. The plot was being organized, and its subsequent execution was probably aggravated by the dangerously open display of the funeral.

V. 3. Which I will show thee-Abraham knew not where he went.

Verses 1-3. Then said the high-priest — Who was president of the council, and, as such, the mouth of the court; Are these things so? — Are they as these witnesses have deposed? for thou art permitted to speak for thyself, and make thy defence. And he said — Stephen had been accused of blasphemy against Moses, and even against God; and of speaking against the temple and the law, threatening that Jesus would destroy the one and change the other. In answer to this accusation, rehearsing, as it were, the articles of his historical creed, he speaks of God with high reverence, and a grateful sense of a long series of acts of goodness to the Israelites; and of Moses with great respect, on account of his important and honourable employments under God; of the temple with regard, as being built to the honour of God; yet not with such superstition as the Jews; putting them in mind, that no temple could comprehend God. And he was going on, no doubt, when he was interrupted by their clamour, to speak to the last point, the destruction of the temple, and the change of the law by Christ. The sum of his discourse is this: I acknowledge the glory of God revealed to the fathers, verse 2; the calling of Moses, verse 34, &c.; the dignity of the law, verses 8, 38, 44; the holiness of this place, verses 7, 45,

47. And, indeed, the law is more ancient than the temple; the promise more ancient than the law. For God showed himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their children, freely, verses 2, &c., 9, &c., 17, &c., 32, 34, 45; and they showed faith and obedience to God, verses 4, 20, &c., 23; particularly by their regard for the law, verse 8, and the promised land, verse 16. Meantime God never confined his presence to this one place, or to the observers of the law. For he hath been acceptably worshipped, before the law was given, or the temple built, and out of this land, verses 2, 9, 33, 44. And that our fathers and their posterity were not tied down to this land, their various sojournings, verses 4, &c., 14, 29, 44, and exile, verse 43, show. But you and your fathers have always been evil, verse 9; have withstood Moses, verses 25, &c., 39, &c.; have despised the land, verse 39; forsaken God, verse 40, &c.; superstitiously honoured the temple, verse 48; resisted God and his Spirit, verse 50; killed the prophets, and the Messiah himself, verse 51; and kept not the law, for which ye contend, verse 53. therefore God is not bound to you, much less to you alone. And, truly, this solemn testimony of Stephen is most worthy of his character, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and power: in which, though he does not advance so many regular propositions, contradictory to those of his adversaries, yet he closely and nervously answers them all. Nor can we doubt but he would, from these premises, have drawn inferences touching the destruction of the temple, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, the punishment of that rebellious people, and, above all, touching Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, had not his discourse been interrupted by the clamours of the multitude, stopping their ears and rushing upon him. Men, brethren, and fathers — All who are here present, whether ye are my equals in years, or of more advanced age. The word which, in this and many other places, is rendered men, is a mere expletive. The God of glory — The glorious God; appeared to Abraham before he dwelt in Charran — Therefore Abraham knew God long before he was in this land. And he said, Get thee out of thy country — Depart from this thy native country, which is become idolatrous; and from thy kindred — Who are now alienated from my worship; and come into the land — A remote land; which I shall show thee — And to which, by my extraordinary interposition, I will guide thee; though at present thou dost not know even its situation, much less the way leading to it. See note on Genesis 12:2.

3. Saul… made havoc—The fierce cruelty of this Sauline persecution appears in every clause. Havoc, in the Greek, is a term that designates ravage done by a beast of prey; every house indicates that no single Christian was permitted to escape; haling (old English for hauling) describes the brutal violence done to persons in apprehending; women implies the disregard not only of the tender sex, but of any respected character; prison implies probably the inquisitorial prison belonging to the temple for religious heretics. Paul in many passages refers with deep contrition to these cruelties, (Acts 26:9, 10, 11; 22:3, 4.) But while the detail of cruelty is so severe, and the dispersion so total, there is one most interesting feature of forbearance in the statement. Besides the martyrdom of Stephen, Luke intimates no other murder. A later martyrologist would have pictured a score of bloody executions. But in fact the Jewish authorities had no power for capital punishment. A single murder like that of Stephen might be overlooked by the Roman government; but persistence in a series of executions on their own authority would have brought the Roman procurator from Cesarea to exact an account, or even have roused Vitellius, the Roman prefect of all Syria, at Antioch, to appear with his army at Jerusalem.

V. 4. After his father was dead-While Terah lived, Abraham lived partly with him, partly in Canaan: but after he died, altogether in Canaan.

Verse 4. When his father was dead] See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 11:26”.

Verses 4, 5. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans — Strange as the command which was given him might seem, he, with all submission, readily obeyed it; and dwelt in Charran — Namely, for several years, having been led thither by the divine conduct, and not immediately receiving a signal to proceed any further. And from thence — After his father died, by another call; he (God) removed him into this land — The land of Canaan. And yet, upon his coming into it, he gave him none inheritance — But he was a stranger and sojourner in it; no, not so much as to set his foot on — Or a piece of land which he might cover with the sole of his foot: for the field mentioned, verse 16, he did not receive by a divine donation, but bought it; yet he promised — At sundry times; that he would give it to him for a possession — Which promise Abraham firmly believed that God would fulfil; and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child — And, humanly speaking, it was not likely he ever should have one: but his faith triumphed over all these seeming difficulties, and he confidently trusted in the power, and love, and faithfulness of God to make his word good.

4. Scattered abroad… every where—Luke repeats the scattering, as if to assure us of the totality of the dispersion. The Pentecostal Church forever disappeared, and of it the subsequently gathered Jerusalem Church was but an indifferent successor.

Twice did it appear to the hostile Jews that the life of Christianity was closed: first, when Christ was slain and his disciples apparently overwhelmed; second, when Stephen was martyred and the Church dispersed. Both these sad events were preceded by a brilliant but transient popularity of Christianity with the masses. Before the crucifixion the raising of Lazarus seemed to give almost a triumph to Jesus over the authorities. And before this martyrdom, the bold apostles, at two successive arraignments, seemed to come off by popular favour almost victorious over the Sanhedrin. But in the case of Stephen the terrible charge of hostility to the temple seemed to be so substantiated, and the bloody vengeance inflicted upon him so appalling, that the victory of hostile Judaism seemed to be complete; and the downfall of the Pentecostal Church appeared like the extinction of Christianity. (See note on Acts 4:1.)

Preaching the word—But the death of the Pentecostal Church was but its resurrection into a Missionary Church. Unconsciously missionary it probably originally was; for it was through the returning Pentecostal visitors at their various homes, by whom even the first germs of Christianity at Rome may have been planted. But this Jerusalem body was really absorbed in the home intensification of its own piety. That beautiful structure must break into countless fragments, and each fragment scattered abroad must become the nucleus of a new Church. Young Christianity must not conclude to be merely one self-luminous spot, but must radiate the world through. She must learn that the world is not now to be ended, but to be converted. The pentecostal emblems of universality must now begin to be realized.

Every where… preaching—Those dispersed Christians are, every man, an itinerant preacher! They wait for no “holy orders” forsooth; ask no bishop’s permit to hold prayer-meetings, and do not refuse to exhort or preach because they have received no license. Work is better than formal machinery. Saving souls is better even than churchly order; for no churchly order is established and is good for any thing, only for saving souls and doing good to men. A large share of the wide spread growth of Methodism historically arises not only from the fact that her itinerancy is this scattering abroad organized into system, but also from the fact that her laymen so often have such a spiritual life in themselves that when flung out of the reach of the regular ministry they forthwith, like these dispersed ones, set about the work of preaching the word themselves. Such vitality in such circumstances every earnest Christian should show forth whether he possess the parchment or not. The church order that does not rejoice in this freedom sacrifices the spirit to the form. It idolizes the machinery at the expense of all the machinery is good for. The electrical apparatus was made for the fluid, not the fluid for the apparatus.

PART SECOND.

THE CHURCH IN TRANSITION FROM JEWS TO GENTILES, Acts 8:5-12:25. Through this Second Part of his history Luke traces in perfectly regular progress the successive steps by which Christianity emerges from her Jewish trammels into a free and universal Church. The Samaritans are first evangelized, and the eunuch is the first apostle to Africa. The Gentile apostle is next converted and put in preparation for his work. Peter, emerging from Jerusalem, is taught by the case of Cornelius the lesson of the direct convertibility of Gentiles to Christianity. The refugee Christians, driven from Jerusalem by the Stephanic dispersion, gather a Gentile Church in ANTIOCH, the capital and sallying point of Gentile Christianity. A second check is given to the Jerusalem Church by the Herodian persecution. Thenceforth old Jerusalem, abandoned by the twelve, wanes to her final destruction, and we are prepared to behold in chapter thirteen the Third Part of Luke’s history, opening with Gentile missions issuing forth from Gentile Antioch.

V. 5. No, not to set his foot on-For the field mentioned, Acts 7:16, he did not receive by a Divine donation, but bought it; even thereby showing that he was a stranger in the land.

Verse 5. Gave him none inheritance] Both Abraham and Jacob had small parcels of land in Canaan; but they had them by purchase, not by God’s gift; for, as Abraham was obliged to buy a burying-place in Canaan, Genesis 23:3-18, it is obvious he had no inheritance there. And to his seed after him] See Genesis 12:7; 13:15, and the notes there.

Verses 4, 5. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans — Strange as the command which was given him might seem, he, with all submission, readily obeyed it; and dwelt in Charran — Namely, for several years, having been led thither by the divine conduct, and not immediately receiving a signal to proceed any further. And from thence — After his father died, by another call; he (God) removed him into this land — The land of Canaan. And yet, upon his coming into it, he gave him none inheritance — But he was a stranger and sojourner in it; no, not so much as to set his foot on — Or a piece of land which he might cover with the sole of his foot: for the field mentioned, verse 16, he did not receive by a divine donation, but bought it; yet he promised — At sundry times; that he would give it to him for a possession — Which promise Abraham firmly believed that God would fulfil; and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child — And, humanly speaking, it was not likely he ever should have one: but his faith triumphed over all these seeming difficulties, and he confidently trusted in the power, and love, and faithfulness of God to make his word good.

Ver. 5. He gave him no inheritance in the land of Canaan: and Abraham was content to be a stranger on earth, and to seek a better country. He differed from other patriarchs in not building any city, because he looked for a city which had the rock of ages for its foundation. In this he is a perfect pattern for us to follow.

I. PHILIP, ONE OF THE SEVEN, EVANGELIZES SAMARIA, 5-40.

5. Philip—Stephen closes the Pentecostal Church; Philip opens the missionary or modern Church. To Stephen belongs the headship of the glorious army of martyrs, to Philip the leadership of the glorious army of foreign missionaries. Both were forerunners of Paul; the former in proclaiming the cessation of ritualism, the latter in heralding the Gospel beyond the boundaries of Judaism. Paul was Stephen and Philip united and enlarged.

It may appear a strange accident that not to apostles, but to mere so-called deacons such honours should be given. The fact, however, tells deacons, and even laymen, that working and dying for Christ are not privileges confined to dignitaries alone. But special reasons existed for this apparent accident. The great Head of the Church designed that the apostolic twelve should not yet be diminished by martyrdom; so they were holden back by a divine official conservatism, and to a deacon was it given to do the martyr’s work of first proclaiming the downfall of the ritual. A striking contrast is apparent in the characters of Stephen and Philip. The whole history of the former grows out of his own intense, stern, tragic personality; whereas the latter appears cheery, spiritualistic, and alert, and the effects he accomplishes are produced almost unexpectedly to himself, and rather through him than by him. The only express words of his recorded (verse 30) contain a pleasantry.

Went down—Down not from higher grounds, but from the more eminent capital. The city of Samaria—Without the article in Greek, and so held by most later scholars to mean a city; that is, some unknown city of the province of Samaria. But neither our view of Luke’s acquaintance with the present facts, (note on verse 9,) nor the familiar fulness of the narrative, permit us to suppose that the true locality was to him unknown. We find in polin thv Samareiav a genitive of apposition like poleiv Sodomwn kai Gomorrav, Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 2 Peter 2:7. So Urbs Romae, Flumen Rheni, city of Rome, river of the Rhine. The definite article is omitted because the city is made definite by the genitive. (See Winer, Gram. New Test., pp. 125, 531.) Some authorities supply the article, such as Lachmann and Tischendorf.

Samaria—The city of Samaria was the capital of the great province of Samaria, and of the kingdom of Israel while independent and separate from Judea. Its position is nearly the centre of Palestine. It was founded by King Omri, upon a hill bought of its owner, Shemer, after whom it is named, and signifies watch-height. It was a place of singular beauty and of powerful defences, excelling Jerusalem in both respects. During the kingdom of Israel it was eminently idolatrous, was the seat of a temple of Baal, and was denounced by the voice of the prophets. It was the scene of many of the acts of Elijah and Elisha. It was depopulated in the time of the captivity, but rebuilt and adorned with magnificent streets and edifices by Herod, who received it as a present from Augustus, whose name it bore in the Greek form, Sebaste. Such were its condition and name when visited by our Philip.

Preached Christ—The Christ who, less than nine years ago, had preached himself to Shechem, in Samaria. There may have been hearers of Philip who remembered the person of Jesus himself. And Philip himself had, doubtless, heard from the apostles the parable of the good Samaritan. In connection herewith, read our notes on Matthew 10:5, and John 5.

V. 6. Genesis 15:13.

Verse 6. That his seed should sojourn in a strange land] See Genesis 15:13, 14.

Four hundred years.] MOSES says, Exodus 12:40, that the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt-was 430 years. See the note there. St. PAUL has the same number, Galatians 3:17; and so has Josephus, Ant. lib. ii. cap. 1, sect. 9; in Bell. lib. v. cap. 9, sect. 4. St. Stephen uses the round number of 400, leaving out the odd tens, a thing very common, not only in the sacred writers, but in all others, those alone excepted who write professedly on chronological matters.

Verses 6-8. And God spake, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land — When God had brought Abraham into this country, he did not keep him and his posterity here till the time when they were to enter upon the possession of it, in consequence of this divine grant; but, on the contrary, God informed him in a vision that his seed should be strangers in a foreign land, and that they among whom they sojourned should bring them into bondage — Should make them slaves; and entreat them evil — Use them with great cruelty; and that these events, with the circumstances preparatory to them, should extend themselves to the full period of four hundred years. See note on Genesis 15:13. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage — By which they shall be enslaved; will I judge, said God — I will assuredly punish with righteous and tremendous severity; and after that shall they come forth — Namely, out of that land; and serve me in this place — In this land, erecting a temple for the performance of my worship here. He gave him the covenant of circumcision — See notes on Genesis 17:10-14. And so Abraham begat Isaac — After the covenant was given, of which circumcision was the seal.

Ver. 6. Four hundred years, from the birth of Isaac, as stated in Ruth 4. and 1 Kings 6:1. These years are reckoned from the first call of Abraham to his entrance into Canaan, amounting to five years. To the birth of Isaac, twenty five years. To the birth of Jacob, sixty years; who went into Egypt at the age of a hundred and thirty. The residence of his descendants in Egypt during two hundred and ten years being added, make the exact number of four hundred and thirty years, as stated in Genesis 15:13. The thirty years had elapsed before the Lord appeared to Abraham at sacrifice in the promised land.

6. With one accord gave heed—As we have mentioned in the fifth chapter of John, the Samaritans believed in a Messiah or Converter, and the miracles and touching discourse of Jesus found open ears and hearts. The present unanimity of heed, or attention, implies that Philip was for the hour the topic of the town.

V. 7. They shall serve me-Not the Egyptians.

Verse 7. Will I judge] krinw egw, I will punish, for in this sense the Greek word is frequently taken. “When,” says Bp. Pearce, “a malefactor is brought before a judge, the judge does three things: 1. he tries or judges him; 2. he then gives his judgment or sentence; and, 3. he puts the law in execution, and punishes him. Hence krinw, at different times, signifies each of these things; and the sense of the word is to be determined by the context. Here it signifies to punish, as krima is used for punishment, in Romans 13:2; 1 Corinthians 11:29, compared with 1 Corinthians 11:30, 31.” The Egyptians, to whom the Israelites were in bondage, were punished by the ten plagues, described Exodus 7:19-12:30

Verses 6-8. And God spake, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land — When God had brought Abraham into this country, he did not keep him and his posterity here till the time when they were to enter upon the possession of it, in consequence of this divine grant; but, on the contrary, God informed him in a vision that his seed should be strangers in a foreign land, and that they among whom they sojourned should bring them into bondage — Should make them slaves; and entreat them evil — Use them with great cruelty; and that these events, with the circumstances preparatory to them, should extend themselves to the full period of four hundred years. See note on Genesis 15:13. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage — By which they shall be enslaved; will I judge, said God — I will assuredly punish with righteous and tremendous severity; and after that shall they come forth — Namely, out of that land; and serve me in this place — In this land, erecting a temple for the performance of my worship here. He gave him the covenant of circumcision — See notes on Genesis 17:10-14. And so Abraham begat Isaac — After the covenant was given, of which circumcision was the seal.

7. Unclean spirits—Demoniacs were not limited to Judea, nor to the time of the Saviour. It is to be noted that they are expressly distinguished from the diseased, namely, the palsied and the lame.

V. 8. And so he begat Isaac-After the covenant was given, of which circumcision was the seal. Genesis 17:10.

Verse 8. He gave him the covenant of circumcision] That is, he instituted the rite of circumcision, as a sign of that covenant which he had made with him and his posterity. See Genesis 17:10, &c. And so Abraham begat Isaac] kai outwv, And thus, in this covenant, he begat Isaac; and as a proof that he was born under this covenant, was a true son of Abraham and inheritor of the promises, he circumcised him the eighth day; and this rite being observed in the family of Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons were born under the covenant; and thus their descendants, the twelve tribes, being born under the same covenant, and practising the same rite, were, by the ordinance of Gods legal inheritors of the promised land, and all the secular and spiritual advantages connected with it.

Verses 6-8. And God spake, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land — When God had brought Abraham into this country, he did not keep him and his posterity here till the time when they were to enter upon the possession of it, in consequence of this divine grant; but, on the contrary, God informed him in a vision that his seed should be strangers in a foreign land, and that they among whom they sojourned should bring them into bondage — Should make them slaves; and entreat them evil — Use them with great cruelty; and that these events, with the circumstances preparatory to them, should extend themselves to the full period of four hundred years. See note on Genesis 15:13. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage — By which they shall be enslaved; will I judge, said God — I will assuredly punish with righteous and tremendous severity; and after that shall they come forth — Namely, out of that land; and serve me in this place — In this land, erecting a temple for the performance of my worship here. He gave him the covenant of circumcision — See notes on Genesis 17:10-14. And so Abraham begat Isaac — After the covenant was given, of which circumcision was the seal.

Ver. 8. He gave him the covenant of circumcision, as in Genesis 17:12.

8. Joy—Not merely wonder and perplexity at mere prodigies, but joy, as at a divine and blessed salvation.

V. 9. But God was with him-Though he was not in this land. Genesis 37:28.

Verse 9. And the patriarchs] The twelve sons of Jacob, thus called because each was chief or head of his respective family or tribe. Moved with envy] zhlwsantev. We translate zhlov variously: zeal or fervent affection, whether its object be good or bad, is its general meaning; and zhlow signifies to be indignant, envious, &c. See Clarke’s note on “Acts 5:17”. The brethren of Joseph, hearing of his dreams, and understanding them to portend his future advancement, filled with envy, (with which no ordinary portion of malice was associated,) sold Joseph into the land of Egypt, hoping by this means to prevent his future grandeur; but God, from whom the portents came, was with him, and made their envy the direct means of accomplishing the great design.

Verses 9, 10. And the patriarchs, moved with envy — The rest of the twelve sons of Jacob, though their relation to such holy ancestors might have taught them a much better lesson; yet, influenced by envy at the superior regard which Jacob showed to his favourite son, most inhumanly sold Joseph — Their brother; into Egypt — Where he became a slave, and suffered a great variety of calamities; but God was with him — In the midst of them, supporting him, though he was not in this land, and rendering that country a scene of very glorious providences toward him: for by these things God was working, in a mysterious and surprising manner, for the accomplishment of the prediction before mentioned. From what Stephen relates of the story of Joseph, it was obvious for the members of the council to infer that the greatest favourites of Heaven might suffer by the envy of those who were called the Israel of God; and might be exalted by him after having been rejected by them: a thought worthy of their consideration with respect to Jesus; but prudence would not allow Stephen, in the beginning of his defence, to say expressly what they could not have borne to hear; for that they could not, appears by the manner in which they resented his application of these premises, when, he was drawing toward a conclusion. And delivered him out of all his afflictions — To which he was exposed in consequence of his integrity and piety; and gave him favour and wisdom — That is, favour on account of his distinguished wisdom; in the sight of Pharaoh, who made him governor over Egypt — Committing all things in the palace, as well as elsewhere, to his direction and management. Thus did God, in the course of his providence, wonderfully exalt this despised Joseph, whom his brethren (then the whole house of Israel) had most outrageously insulted and abused, and even sold for a slave. And thus, Stephen insinuated, hath God exalted Jesus, whom ye treated as a slave, insulted, and abused, scourged, and hanged on a tree.

9. Simon—Celebrated among the early Christian writers as Simon Magus, or Magician. (See note on Matthew 2:1.) The term Magos is not applied to Simon by Luke, but the word for used sorcery (mageuwn, magizing) is the same word in a verb form. Elymas in 13:8, is a magov, magus, rendered sorcerer.

The best and earliest Church fathers, Justin Martyr and Hippolytus, gave credit to Simon for having a sort of theological (or theosophic) doctrine, and held him as the father of heretics. According to Hippolytus, he taught that the original source of all things, the primitive Nature, unfolded itself in a twofold form, the stronger as masculine, and the feebler as feminine. Of this masculine divine energy he was himself the incarnation; and a Tyrian courtezan named Helen, associated with him, the feminine. The passive or feminine principle was, by becoming material, held in bondage; and it was the purpose of the incarnation of the higher power in Simon’s person to redeem it or her. This redemption was to be accomplished by magical incantations and ritual performances. Not rising into the conception of the omnipotent personal God, Simon, of course, had no idea of sin as a transgression of God’s law, and so no idea of sanctification or redemption from sin by a true holiness. Knowing no God but nature, and no sin but physical evil, redemption could be only by magical processes, and consisted in an emancipation from the burden of matter in which all evil resides. The doctrine that all evil resides in or consists of matter, borrowed from the Oriental system, and widely spread through the world at this time, practically led to opposite moral results. First, it led to asceticism; for the believer held it to be his duty to become spiritual by mortifying and subduing the material body. Second, it led to the sensual; for the believer, contrariwise, could infer that the body was base and worthless, and could be abandoned to all licentiousness without defiling the spirit. (See note Acts 6:5, and Romans 14:1-6) This doctrine of the innate evil of matter may be shown, we think, to have been the vital germ of gnostic heresies, the mystery of iniquity even now working, (2 Thessalonians 2:7,) which in the various forms troubled the Apostolic Church, was fully systematized in the second century, and became permanent in the monasticism of the Romish Church. So there was a deep truth in Simon’s epithet, “the father of heretics.”

Justin Martyr, in the second century, (who was himself a Samaritan, see note on John v,) says that Simon was a native of Gitton, in Samaria. Justin adds that he went to the city of Rome in the time of Claudius, where he gained such reputation as to be worshipped as a god. He professes to have himself seen a statue on an island in the Tiber with the inscription, To Simon, the Holy Deity: Simoni Sancto Deo. It is a very curious fact that in 1574 a stone was found standing on an island in the Tiber bearing the slightly different inscription, Semoni Sanco Deo; that is, To the Deity, Semo Sancus; the name of the Sabine Hercules. This indicates that Justin Martyr really saw what he intended to describe, but mistakenly described what he saw. The learned writer on the article Simon Magus, in “Smith’s Biblical Dictionary,” however, thinks that Justin could have made no such mistake, inasmuch as the full inscription explicitly identifies Semo with Hercules, and excludes its reference to the Magus.

Beforetime—Previous to the arrival of Philip. Bewitched—Amazed and seduced the people into belief. After Alexander the Great conquered Persia and India, a high road of communication was opened between Asia and Europe. And this intercourse was completed by the Roman conquests in the East. Thence the stupendous superstitions of the imaginative East, especially from the Brahmins and Buddhists of Asia, passed in varied streams into the West. They broke up the narrow circle of Roman mythology. A dreamy pantheism invaded the religion of Roman Jupiter. A strolling swarm of supernatural pretenders appeared, teaching mystical doctrines, and claiming powers to conjure with the dead, to read the stars, to predict fortunes, to insure life, or health, or safety, or to hold intercourse with invisible powers. A large part of their craft was pure trickery; but another share consisted in an intense cultivation of those parts of our nature most allied to the preternatural and demoniac. (See note on Matthew 5:1, and Acts 2:13.) Their systems lay largely in the mysterious regions of ventriloquism, somnambulism, legerdemain, mesmerism, animal electricity, and diabolism. Samaria—Clearly of the city of that name, for the whole transaction is thus far in the city of verse 5.

Verse 10. Gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh] God gave him much wisdom, in consequence of which he had favour with the king of Egypt. See the whole of this remarkable history explained at large, Genesis 41:1-45:28.

Verses 9, 10. And the patriarchs, moved with envy — The rest of the twelve sons of Jacob, though their relation to such holy ancestors might have taught them a much better lesson; yet, influenced by envy at the superior regard which Jacob showed to his favourite son, most inhumanly sold Joseph — Their brother; into Egypt — Where he became a slave, and suffered a great variety of calamities; but God was with him — In the midst of them, supporting him, though he was not in this land, and rendering that country a scene of very glorious providences toward him: for by these things God was working, in a mysterious and surprising manner, for the accomplishment of the prediction before mentioned. From what Stephen relates of the story of Joseph, it was obvious for the members of the council to infer that the greatest favourites of Heaven might suffer by the envy of those who were called the Israel of God; and might be exalted by him after having been rejected by them: a thought worthy of their consideration with respect to Jesus; but prudence would not allow Stephen, in the beginning of his defence, to say expressly what they could not have borne to hear; for that they could not, appears by the manner in which they resented his application of these premises, when, he was drawing toward a conclusion. And delivered him out of all his afflictions — To which he was exposed in consequence of his integrity and piety; and gave him favour and wisdom — That is, favour on account of his distinguished wisdom; in the sight of Pharaoh, who made him governor over Egypt — Committing all things in the palace, as well as elsewhere, to his direction and management. Thus did God, in the course of his providence, wonderfully exalt this despised Joseph, whom his brethren (then the whole house of Israel) had most outrageously insulted and abused, and even sold for a slave. And thus, Stephen insinuated, hath God exalted Jesus, whom ye treated as a slave, insulted, and abused, scourged, and hanged on a tree.

10. From the least to the greatest—Both old and young, pauper and magistrate, freely credited the super-naturalism of Simon. It was not the low and ignorant alone, but ladies of high rank, philosophers, generals, and emperors, that listened to magicians, fortune-tellers, and necromancers. Pompey, Crassus, and Cesar consulted Oriental astrologers; Brutus beheld an apparition summoning him to the fatal Philippi; and Cesar was warned by the soothsayers to “beware the ides of March.” Tiberius, at Capreae, “had a flock of Chaldeans around him.” Tacitus styles them “a class of men faithless to the powerful, fallacious to those hoping from them; which will ever be legally prohibited in the State, yet always retained.” In an age when old religions are dying out, the empty hearts of men are hungry for something beyond dead nature. Vacate men’s spirits of a true religion, and they will hanker after the vilest superstitions. There are at the present day so-called philosophers, who tell us that the age of faith is passing away, and the higher age of reason, the glorious millennium of Atheism, is coming on, when men will be far too wise to believe in God. But such an age would be rife with demon-worship and base paganism. We see in the sorceries of Simon something identical with the sorcery of the Old Testament, (and with the execrable pseudo-spiritualism of the present day,) something rather basely below nature: sub-natural rather than super-natural; where the depths of vice may perhaps be so fathomed as to reach clown to the infernal.

The great power—The true reading is, This man is the power of God, which is called great. It refers, doubtless, to the masculine or greater power of nature in distinction from the feminine, of which Simon professed to be the incarnation.

It, of course, became the ascended Head of the Church, (see note on 1:1,) the Lord Jesus, to overcome these spurious miracles by the genuine, and the false doctrines by the divinely true.

Verse 11. Now there came a dearth — According to the prediction of Joseph, when the seven preceding years of extraordinary plenty were past, which he had also predicted; over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan — A calamity which reduced the latter country to such distress, that, fruitful as it had generally been, our fathers found no sustenance — Or, not what was sufficient to support themselves and their families. But Jacob, hearing that there was corn in Egypt — Ordered his sons to go and fetch a supply from thence; and sent our fathers first — Namely, the ten without Benjamin. And at the second time — That they went, when Benjamin accompanied them; Joseph was made known to his brethren — Of which see on Genesis 44:1-15. And, as the matter was immediately made public, Joseph’s kindred — Greek, to genov, his descent, or race, was discovered to Pharaoh, of which he had not been informed before. Then sent Joseph, and called his father — With Pharaoh’s full consent; and all his kindred — Now become numerous, amounting in the whole even to threescore and fifteen souls — So the Seventy interpreters, whom Stephen follows: one son and a grandson of Manasseh, and three children of Ephraim, being added to the seventy persons, mentioned Genesis 46:27. So Bengelius.

I. PHILIP, ONE OF THE SEVEN, EVANGELIZES SAMARIA, 5-40.

5. Philip—Stephen closes the Pentecostal Church; Philip opens the missionary or modern Church. To Stephen belongs the headship of the glorious army of martyrs, to Philip the leadership of the glorious army of foreign missionaries. Both were forerunners of Paul; the former in proclaiming the cessation of ritualism, the latter in heralding the Gospel beyond the boundaries of Judaism. Paul was Stephen and Philip united and enlarged.

It may appear a strange accident that not to apostles, but to mere so-called deacons such honours should be given. The fact, however, tells deacons, and even laymen, that working and dying for Christ are not privileges confined to dignitaries alone. But special reasons existed for this apparent accident. The great Head of the Church designed that the apostolic twelve should not yet be diminished by martyrdom; so they were holden back by a divine official conservatism, and to a deacon was it given to do the martyr’s work of first proclaiming the downfall of the ritual. A striking contrast is apparent in the characters of Stephen and Philip. The whole history of the former grows out of his own intense, stern, tragic personality; whereas the latter appears cheery, spiritualistic, and alert, and the effects he accomplishes are produced almost unexpectedly to himself, and rather through him than by him. The only express words of his recorded (verse 30) contain a pleasantry.

Went down—Down not from higher grounds, but from the more eminent capital. The city of Samaria—Without the article in Greek, and so held by most later scholars to mean a city; that is, some unknown city of the province of Samaria. But neither our view of Luke’s acquaintance with the present facts, (note on verse 9,) nor the familiar fulness of the narrative, permit us to suppose that the true locality was to him unknown. We find in polin thv Samareiav a genitive of apposition like poleiv Sodomwn kai Gomorrav, Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 2 Peter 2:7. So Urbs Romae, Flumen Rheni, city of Rome, river of the Rhine. The definite article is omitted because the city is made definite by the genitive. (See Winer, Gram. New Test., pp. 125, 531.) Some authorities supply the article, such as Lachmann and Tischendorf.

Samaria—The city of Samaria was the capital of the great province of Samaria, and of the kingdom of Israel while independent and separate from Judea. Its position is nearly the centre of Palestine. It was founded by King Omri, upon a hill bought of its owner, Shemer, after whom it is named, and signifies watch-height. It was a place of singular beauty and of powerful defences, excelling Jerusalem in both respects. During the kingdom of Israel it was eminently idolatrous, was the seat of a temple of Baal, and was denounced by the voice of the prophets. It was the scene of many of the acts of Elijah and Elisha. It was depopulated in the time of the captivity, but rebuilt and adorned with magnificent streets and edifices by Herod, who received it as a present from Augustus, whose name it bore in the Greek form, Sebaste. Such were its condition and name when visited by our Philip.

Preached Christ—The Christ who, less than nine years ago, had preached himself to Shechem, in Samaria. There may have been hearers of Philip who remembered the person of Jesus himself. And Philip himself had, doubtless, heard from the apostles the parable of the good Samaritan. In connection herewith, read our notes on Matthew 10:5, and John 5.

V. 12. Sent our fathers first-Without Benjamin.

12. Believed Philip—But so total a desertion of Simon as to compel him to surrender, indicates the manifestation of an entire superiority of the deacon’s manifestations over the magician’s.

They were baptized—Their faith in the miracles of Philip deepened into an experience of the truth and power of the Gospel he preached.

13. Simon himself believed—Simon was aware both of the falsehood existing in his own juggleries, and of the strange appearances of truth sometimes disclosing itself in his magical practices. He supposed that there was the same mixture of juggle and mysterious supernaturalism in Christianity, with a yet higher theurgic power. Christ was a daemon of more powerful name than he had known, and the miracles sprung from a deeper magic; and baptism was the method of induction into the new art. He continued with Philip, in hopes of acquiring the doctrines he preached; and, wondering at the signs, he hoped to acquire the power to perform. He might become himself a deacon, a wonder-worker, even an apostle!

Was baptized—But why did not Philip, with the gift of discerning spirits, detect and reject the hypocrite from baptism? Gifts, we reply, were not at the absolute command of those endowed, so as to be used at will. Philip may have perceived tokens of wrong in Simon, not sufficient to exclude him from baptism, but quite sufficient to need an apostle’s skill and power to deal with.

V. 14. Seventy-five souls-So the seventy interpreters, (whom St. Stephen follows,) one son and a grandson of Manasseh, and three children of Ephraim, being added to the seventy persons mentioned Genesis 46:27.

Verse 14. Threescore and fifteen souls.] There are several difficulties here, which it is hoped the reader will find satisfactorily removed in the note on Genesis 46:20. It is well known that in Genesis 46:27, and in Deuteronomy 10:22, their number is said to be threescore and ten; but Stephen quotes from the Septuagint, which adds five persons to the account which are not in the Hebrew text, Machir, Gilead, Sutelaam, Taham, and Edem; but see the note referred to above.

Ver. 14. Threescore and fifteen souls. The Chaldaic and Josephus follow the Hebrew, and read seventy, as in Genesis 46:27, and Deuteronomy 10:22. How is this reconciled with the Greek, which reads seventy five? The LXX add the five grandsons of Joseph, in the line of Ephraim and Manasseh. Other conjectures of the critics are offered, but this alone is generally received.

14. Apostles… Jerusalem… heard—The greatness of the event and the inferiority of the instrument alike surprised them. Cooperation, oversight, and control by them were evidently the demand of wisdom. Sent… Peter—The apostolic body acted organically, so that they must have been still in secret organized and authoritative position. And as Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, was the most important post, after Jerusalem, in all Palestine, so they sent thither the senior apostle.

Verses 15, 16. Jacob went down into Egypt, and died — After having been supported there about seventeen years, by the filial gratitude and tenderness of his son Joseph; and our fathers — The patriarch’s children also ended their lives in the same country; and were carried over into Sychem — That is, as Jacob was immediately carried, with solemn funeral pomp and procession, to be buried in the cave of Machpelah, with Abraham and Isaac, (Genesis 50:13,) so the patriarchs also, having been embalmed, and put into coffins, in Egypt, (Genesis 50:26,) were, at the return of Israel from thence, carried over to Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre — Made in that field which Jacob bequeathed to Joseph, as a peculiar legacy; he having first, as Abraham had done in a like case, bought it for a sum of money, (that is, for one hundred pieces of silver,) of the sons of Emmor, the father of Sychem — From whom, in particular, the place was named; and the Amorites having afterward seized it, Jacob had by force recovered it out of their hands. See notes on Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32. It seems that St. Stephen, rapidly running over so many circumstances of history, had not leisure (nor was it needful, where they were so well known) to recite them all distinctly. Therefore he here contracts into one two different sepulchres, places, and purchases, so as, in the former history, to name the buyer, omitting the seller; in the latter, to name the seller, omitting the buyer. Abraham bought a burying-place of the children of Heth, Genesis 23. There Jacob was buried. Jacob bought a field of the children of Hamor. There Joseph was buried. You see here how St. Stephen contracts these two purchases into one. This concise manner of speaking, strange as it seems to us, was common among the Hebrews: particularly when, in a case notoriously known, the speaker mentioned but part of the story, and left the rest, which would have interrupted the current of his discourse, to be supplied in the mind of the hearer. And laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought — The first land which these strangers bought was for a sepulchre. They sought for a country in heaven. Perhaps the whole sentence might be rendered thus: So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Shechem, and laid by the sons [that is, descendants] of Hamor, the father of Shechem, in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money. So Bengelius and Wesley.

Ver. 15, 16. So Jacob went into Egypt and died there, he and our fathers, and were carried and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought of the sons of Emmor. That is, in the sepulchre called Macpelah. There Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried, believing in the resurrection of the dead. The difficulty in Genesis 33:19, that Jacob bought a piece of land of Hamor, Shechem’s father, is fully removed by numerous instances from the Greek and Latin authors, that children in patriarchal society are called by the more honourable name of any of their forefathers, and sometimes the name of the father is put for the name of the children.

15. When they were come down—We do not, with Dr. Goulburn, (Acts of the Deacons,) extol Philip’s modesty in now standing in the background. Philip held the apostles as much his superiors here as in Jerusalem; and the apostles came with the same spirit of wise and holy supervision as they exerted in first establishing the deaconship.

Prayed for them—The apostles seemed to think that praying was better than criticism. Rather than be too ready at exercising their own authority, they sought the decision of the Lord Jesus Christ.

V. 16. And were carried over to Shechem-It seems that St. Stephen, rapidly running over so many circumstances of history, has not leisure (nor was it needful where they were so well known) to recite them all distinctly. Therefore he here contracts into one, two different sepulchres, places, and purchases, so as in the former history, to name the buyer, omitting the seller, in the latter, to name the seller, omitting the buyer. Abraham bought a burying place of the children of Heth, Gen. xxiii. Genesis 23:1-20 There Jacob was buried. Jacob bought a field of the children of Hamor. There Joseph was buried. You see here, how St. Stephen contracts these two purchases into one. This concise manner of speaking, strange as it seems to us, was common among the Hebrews; particularly, when in a case notoriously known, the speaker mentioned but part of the story, and left the rest, which would have interrupted the current of his discourse, to be supplied in the mind of the hearer.

And laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought-The first land which these strangers bought was for a sepulchre. They sought for a country in heaven. Perhaps the whole sentence might be rendered thus: So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over to Shechem, and laid by the sons (that is, decendants) of Hamor, the father of Shechem, in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money.

Verse 16. And were carried over to Sychem] “It is said, Genesis 50:13, that Jacob was buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre. And in Joshua 24:32, and Exodus 13:19, it is said that the bones of Joseph were carried out of Egypt by the Israelites, and buried in Shechem, which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem. As for the eleven brethren of Joseph, we are told by Josephus, Ant. lib. ii. cap. 8. sect. 2, that they were buried in Hebron, where their father had been buried. But, since the books of the Old Testament say nothing about this, the authority of Stephen (or of Luke here) for their being buried in Sychem is at least as good as that of Josephus for their being buried in Hebron.”-Bp. Pearce.

We have the uniform consent of the Jewish writers that all the patriarchs were brought out of Egypt, and buried in Canaan, but none, except Stephen, mentions their being buried in Sychem. As Sychem belonged to the Samaritans, probably the Jews thought it too great an honour for that people to possess the bones of the patriarchs; and therefore have carefully avoided making any mention of it. This is Dr. Lightfoot’s conjecture; and it is as probable as any other.

That Abraham bought for a sum of money] Two accounts seem here to be confounded: 1. The purchase made by Abraham of the cave and field of Ephron, which was in the field of Machpelah: this purchase was made from the children of Heth, Genesis 23:3, 10, 17. 2. The purchase made by Jacob, from the sons of Hamor or Emmor, of a sepulchre in which the bones of Joseph were laid: this was in Sychem or Shechem, Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32. The word Abraham, therefore, in this place, is certainly a mistake; and the word Jacob, which some have supplied, is doubtless more proper. Bp. Pearce supposes that Luke originally wrote, o wnhsato timhv arguriou, which he bought for a sum of money: i.e. which Jacob bought, who is the last person, of the singular number, spoken of in the preceding verse. Those who saw that the word wnhsato, bought, had no nominative case joined to it, and did not know where to find the proper one, seem to have inserted abraam, Abraham, in the text, for that purpose, without sufficiently attending to the different circumstances of his purchase from that of Jacob’s.

Verses 15, 16. Jacob went down into Egypt, and died — After having been supported there about seventeen years, by the filial gratitude and tenderness of his son Joseph; and our fathers — The patriarch’s children also ended their lives in the same country; and were carried over into Sychem — That is, as Jacob was immediately carried, with solemn funeral pomp and procession, to be buried in the cave of Machpelah, with Abraham and Isaac, (Genesis 50:13,) so the patriarchs also, having been embalmed, and put into coffins, in Egypt, (Genesis 50:26,) were, at the return of Israel from thence, carried over to Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre — Made in that field which Jacob bequeathed to Joseph, as a peculiar legacy; he having first, as Abraham had done in a like case, bought it for a sum of money, (that is, for one hundred pieces of silver,) of the sons of Emmor, the father of Sychem — From whom, in particular, the place was named; and the Amorites having afterward seized it, Jacob had by force recovered it out of their hands. See notes on Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32. It seems that St. Stephen, rapidly running over so many circumstances of history, had not leisure (nor was it needful, where they were so well known) to recite them all distinctly. Therefore he here contracts into one two different sepulchres, places, and purchases, so as, in the former history, to name the buyer, omitting the seller; in the latter, to name the seller, omitting the buyer. Abraham bought a burying-place of the children of Heth, Genesis 23. There Jacob was buried. Jacob bought a field of the children of Hamor. There Joseph was buried. You see here how St. Stephen contracts these two purchases into one. This concise manner of speaking, strange as it seems to us, was common among the Hebrews: particularly when, in a case notoriously known, the speaker mentioned but part of the story, and left the rest, which would have interrupted the current of his discourse, to be supplied in the mind of the hearer. And laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought — The first land which these strangers bought was for a sepulchre. They sought for a country in heaven. Perhaps the whole sentence might be rendered thus: So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Shechem, and laid by the sons [that is, descendants] of Hamor, the father of Shechem, in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money. So Bengelius and Wesley.

Ver. 15, 16. So Jacob went into Egypt and died there, he and our fathers, and were carried and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought of the sons of Emmor. That is, in the sepulchre called Macpelah. There Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried, believing in the resurrection of the dead. The difficulty in Genesis 33:19, that Jacob bought a piece of land of Hamor, Shechem’s father, is fully removed by numerous instances from the Greek and Latin authors, that children in patriarchal society are called by the more honourable name of any of their forefathers, and sometimes the name of the father is put for the name of the children.

I. PHILIP, ONE OF THE SEVEN, EVANGELIZES SAMARIA, 5-40.

5. Philip—Stephen closes the Pentecostal Church; Philip opens the missionary or modern Church. To Stephen belongs the headship of the glorious army of martyrs, to Philip the leadership of the glorious army of foreign missionaries. Both were forerunners of Paul; the former in proclaiming the cessation of ritualism, the latter in heralding the Gospel beyond the boundaries of Judaism. Paul was Stephen and Philip united and enlarged.

It may appear a strange accident that not to apostles, but to mere so-called deacons such honours should be given. The fact, however, tells deacons, and even laymen, that working and dying for Christ are not privileges confined to dignitaries alone. But special reasons existed for this apparent accident. The great Head of the Church designed that the apostolic twelve should not yet be diminished by martyrdom; so they were holden back by a divine official conservatism, and to a deacon was it given to do the martyr’s work of first proclaiming the downfall of the ritual. A striking contrast is apparent in the characters of Stephen and Philip. The whole history of the former grows out of his own intense, stern, tragic personality; whereas the latter appears cheery, spiritualistic, and alert, and the effects he accomplishes are produced almost unexpectedly to himself, and rather through him than by him. The only express words of his recorded (verse 30) contain a pleasantry.

Went down—Down not from higher grounds, but from the more eminent capital. The city of Samaria—Without the article in Greek, and so held by most later scholars to mean a city; that is, some unknown city of the province of Samaria. But neither our view of Luke’s acquaintance with the present facts, (note on verse 9,) nor the familiar fulness of the narrative, permit us to suppose that the true locality was to him unknown. We find in polin thv Samareiav a genitive of apposition like poleiv Sodomwn kai Gomorrav, Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 2 Peter 2:7. So Urbs Romae, Flumen Rheni, city of Rome, river of the Rhine. The definite article is omitted because the city is made definite by the genitive. (See Winer, Gram. New Test., pp. 125, 531.) Some authorities supply the article, such as Lachmann and Tischendorf.

Samaria—The city of Samaria was the capital of the great province of Samaria, and of the kingdom of Israel while independent and separate from Judea. Its position is nearly the centre of Palestine. It was founded by King Omri, upon a hill bought of its owner, Shemer, after whom it is named, and signifies watch-height. It was a place of singular beauty and of powerful defences, excelling Jerusalem in both respects. During the kingdom of Israel it was eminently idolatrous, was the seat of a temple of Baal, and was denounced by the voice of the prophets. It was the scene of many of the acts of Elijah and Elisha. It was depopulated in the time of the captivity, but rebuilt and adorned with magnificent streets and edifices by Herod, who received it as a present from Augustus, whose name it bore in the Greek form, Sebaste. Such were its condition and name when visited by our Philip.

Preached Christ—The Christ who, less than nine years ago, had preached himself to Shechem, in Samaria. There may have been hearers of Philip who remembered the person of Jesus himself. And Philip himself had, doubtless, heard from the apostles the parable of the good Samaritan. In connection herewith, read our notes on Matthew 10:5, and John 5.

V. 17. Exodus 1:7.

Verses 17-21. When the time of the promise drew nigh — That is, the time for the accomplishment of the promise; which God had sworn to Abraham — Concerning the multiplication of his seed; see note on Genesis 22:16Genesis

17. Laid… hands—What is called the rite of confirmation by the laying on of episcopal hands, though of venerable antiquity in the Church, is not made obligatory in this or any other passage of the New Testament. This was an imposition of hands by a miraculous authority and for a miraculous purpose. Received the Holy Ghost—In his miraculous and extraordinary manifestation; not merely sanctifying but charismatic. They had been doubtless regenerated by that Spirit before their baptism, in his secret and ordinary power and operation.

We have here, as at Cesarea (Acts 10:44-48) and at Ephesus, (Acts 19:5-7,) a miniature Pentecost, in which a new inauguration seems to take place by the repetition of the same charismatic effusions, each time under apostolic supervision. (See note, page 30, on 2:4.) Samaria is thus ushered into the kingdom of Christ; and her semi-Gentilism, intermediate between Judaism and paganism, is authenticated as truly called. Hence, we see that not until the apostles came to Samaria might the charismatic Spirit descend. This was part of that miraculous supremacy of the apostles— Christ’s own chosen, original, witnessing twelve—which they could not communicate to any fellow, or transmit to any successor.

V. 18. Another king-Probably of another family.

Verse 18. Which knew not Joseph.] That is, did not approve of him, of his mode of governing the kingdom, nor of his people, nor of his God. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 1:8”.

Verses 17-21. When the time of the promise drew nigh — That is, the time for the accomplishment of the promise; which God had sworn to Abraham — Concerning the multiplication of his seed; see note on Genesis 22:16Genesis

18. Simon saw—Simon now takes no share in the laying on of hands. He stood by, a spectator, and saw. Simon the Magus is intently gazing on Simon the Apostle: the very emblem of error and sin malignly eyeing the power of Christian truth and holiness, incapable of understanding its nature. He sees a work performed on the young Samaritan converts that raises them above themselves. He notes how beautiful and miraculous the results. These apostles he sees are higher than the deacon; they are the topmost masters of the new system, the possessors of the original wonder-working power, alone able to impart that power to others. From them, and not from their subordinate Philip, must the true primal secret be obtained. Offered them money—He hopes to buy a seat in the apostolic college. From his name a mercenary traffic in holy things has, through the Christian ages, been called simony. “It is fortunate for us,” Dr. Hackett well says, “that our religious institutions in this country require us to obtain our knowledge of the term from a lexicon.”

V. 19. Exposed-Cast out to perish by hunger or wild beasts.

Verse 19. The same dealt subtilty] outov katasofisamenov, A word borrowed from the Septuagint, who thus translate the Hebrew wl hmkjhn nithchokmah lo, let us deal wisely with it, i.e. with cunning and deceit, as the Greek word implies; and which is evidently intended by the Hebrew. See Genesis 27:35, Thy brother came with subtilty, which the Targumist explains by amkwjb be-chokma, with wisdom, that is, cunning and deceit. For this the Egyptians were so remarkable that aiguptiazein, to Egyptize, signified to act cunningly, and to use wicked devices. Hence the Jews compared them to foxes; and it is of them that Canticles, Song of Solomon 2:15, is understood by the rabbins: Take us the little foxes which spoil our vines; destroy the Egyptians, who, having slain our male children, sought to destroy the name of Israel from the face of the earth. To the end they might not live.] Might not grow up and propagate, and thus build up the Hebrew nation.

Verses 17-21. When the time of the promise drew nigh — That is, the time for the accomplishment of the promise; which God had sworn to Abraham — Concerning the multiplication of his seed; see note on Genesis 22:16Genesis

19. Give me—As we have noted of Judas’s What will ye give me? (Matthew 26:15,) “This is a true huckster’s proposition.” Judas sold the SON; Simon would have bought the HOLY GHOST!

V. 20. In which time-A sad but a seasonable time. Exodus 2:2.

Verse 20. Moses-was exceeding fair] asteiov tw qew, Was fair to God, i.e. was divinely beautiful. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 2:2”.

Verses 17-21. When the time of the promise drew nigh — That is, the time for the accomplishment of the promise; which God had sworn to Abraham — Concerning the multiplication of his seed; see note on Genesis 22:16Genesis

Ver. 20. Moses was born, and was exceeding fair: ageiov tw Qew, divinely beautiful.

20. Money perish with thee—Literally, May thy silver be with thee unto destruction; in which the apostle, assuming that the magician is bound to destruction, wishes that he may take his briberies with him. The words of the apostle are a true imprecation; but without any element of selfish wrath, such as the magus might have uttered, being but the judicial anathema of holiness against heinous sin. Money is a mighty power for evil or for good. With it a man may purchase death and damnation; with it he may increase his treasures in heaven. If the rich are to be envied for anything, it is for their means for munificence in endowing schools, colleges, and churches, in providing advantages for the poor, and sending the Gospel to the outcasts.

V. 21. Pharaoh's daughter took him up-By which means, being designed for a kingdom, he had all those advantages of education, which he could not have had, if he had not been exposed.

Verses 17-21. When the time of the promise drew nigh — That is, the time for the accomplishment of the promise; which God had sworn to Abraham — Concerning the multiplication of his seed; see note on Genesis 22:16Genesis

21. Part—A share by their own right or character. Lot—By the allotment or assignment of God. This matter—Of dispensing the Holy Ghost. Not right—Literally, not straight. Rectitude is a straight line, with which the thoughts of a pure heart coincide. In the sight of God—Who sees with perfect accuracy both the straight line and the crookedness of the heart not coinciding with it.

V. 22. In all the wisdom of the Egyptians-Which was then celebrated in all the world, and for many ages after.

And mighty in words-Deep, solid, weighty, though not of a ready utterance.

Verse 22. In all the wisdom of the Egyptians] Who were, at that time, the most intelligent and best instructed people in the universe. Philo says, Moses was taught arithmetic, geometry, poetry, music, medicine, and the knowledge of hieroglyphics. In Sohar Cadash, fol. 46, it is said, “that, of the ten portions of wisdom which came into the world, the Egyptians had nine, and that all the inhabitants of the earth had only the remaining portion.” Much of the same nature may be seen in the rabbins, though they apply the term wisdom here to magic.

Was mighty in words and in deeds.] This may refer to the glorious doctrines he taught, and the miracles he wrought in Egypt. Josephus Ant. lib. ii. cap. 10, sect. 1, gives an account of his being general of an Egyptian army, defeating the Ethiopians, who had invaded Egypt, driving them back into their own country, and taking Saba their capital, which was afterwards called Meroe. But this, like many other tales of the same writer, is worthy of little credit.

Phœnix says the same of Achilles:-

Muqwn te rhthrJ emenai, prhkthra te ergwn.

Il. ix. v. 443.

Not only an orator of words, but a performer of deeds.

22:16, 17; the people grew, &c. — Became very numerous in Egypt, notwithstanding that they were under great oppression there; till another king arose — Probably of another family; which knew not Joseph — And had no regard to his memory. The same dealt subtly with our kindred — Formed crafty and treacherous designs against them; and evil-entreated our fathers — Used them in a most injurious and barbarous way, lest in time they should become too powerful; so that — In obedience to a most inhuman order, which he published; they cast out their young children — Exposed them to perish by hunger or wild beasts; or cast them into the river Nile; to the end they might not live — That they might be cut off from being a people, and their very race become quite extinct. In which afflictive and persecuting, but seasonable time — When our fathers were reduced to this miserable state; Moses was born — The person intended by God to be the instrument of his people’s deliverance; and was exceeding fair — Greek, asteiov tw Qew, fair to God, as the margin reads it. The words, being a Hebraism, are only an emphatical expression, to denote Moses’s extraordinary beauty, and might be not unfitly rendered divinely beautiful, the name of God being often introduced to express such things as were extraordinary in their kind. So in the Hebrew, what we translate great wrestlings, (Genesis 30:8,) is wrestlings of God; goodly cedars, (Psalms 80:10Psalm 80:10,) are cedars of God; great mountains, (Psalms 36:6Psalm 36:6,) are mountains of God. This then agrees with what is said of Moses, (Exodus 2:2,) that he was a goodly child; and with the account which Josephus gives of him, who says, “that when he was but three years old, his extraordinary beauty was such, that it struck every one that saw him; and as they carried him about, persons would leave their work to look at him.” See Grotius and Whitby. And when he was cast out — Was thus exposed to perish, the providence of God so ordered it, that Pharaoh’s daughter took him up — Being moved with pity at the sight of him; and nourished him — With a purpose of adopting him; for her own son — By which means, being designed for a kingdom, he had all those advantages of education, which he could not have had if he had not been exposed. “All these extraordinary circumstances, relating to the birth, preservation, education, genius, and character of Moses, serve to aggravate the crime of Israel in rejecting him, when he offered himself to them as a deliverer under so many advantages, and when Providence had so wonderfully interested itself in his favour.” — Doddridge.

Verse 22. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians — Which was then celebrated in all the world, and for many ages after. Geography, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, natural history, physic, and hieroglyphics, are all mentioned by ancient writers as branches of Egyptian literature. Several ancient testimonies to the extraordinary learning of Moses may be seen in Philo, Justin Martyr, Origen, and Clemens Alexandrinus. And was mighty in words — Deep, solid, weighty, though not of a ready utterance. “It expresses,” says Doddridge, “such a weight and solidity in his counsels and speeches, as may be very consistent with the want of a flowing elocution;” and in deeds — Referring to the astonishing miracles which God wrought by him. We may observe here, that it must have been a great piece of self-denial, such as none but a lover of learning, and one who has made some progress in it, can understand, for a person of such a genius and education as Moses, in the prime of life, to leave the polite court of Egypt, and live as a retired shepherd in the Arabian desert.

Ver. 22. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. They studied geometry, and were the first nation to build temples. They understood the zodiac, or twelve signs of heaven. Languages, eloquence and poësy were cultivated there. Occult sciences were the lowest of their studies. Moses was learned in the art of war; he accompanied the army through the deserts of Numidia to Ethiopia, as related by Josephus. In a word, he had a princely education.

22. Repent… of wickedness—Literally, repent from thy wickedness. For repentance is a mental turning away from the wrong, and its effect is separation from it. Perhaps—This word does not express doubt of the mercy of God if Simon truly repents, but of the probability of Simon’s ever truly repenting. There are so many depths and so many bottoms to his duplicity and depravity that Peter has slight faith in any repentance he may profess.

V. 23. It came into his heart-Probably by an impulse from God.

Verse 23. When he was full forty years old] This was a general tradition among the Jews: “Moses was forty years in Pharaoh’s court, forty years in Midian, and forty years he served Israel.”

To visit his brethren] Probably on the ground of trying to deliver them from their oppressive bondage. This desire seems to have been early infused into his mind by the Spirit of God; and the effect of this desire to deliver his oppressed countrymen was his refusing to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter-see Hebrews 11:24, and thus renouncing all right to the Egyptian crown, choosing rather to endure addiction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Verses 23-25. When he was forty years old — So long he continued in Pharaoh’s court; it came into his heart — Probably by an impulse from God; to visit his brethren — He having been instructed, it appears, in the knowledge of his real descent, and in the principles of the Jewish religion; and it is likely his spirit was so impressed with a concern for their welfare, that all the pleasure and grandeur at the court of Egypt could not make him easy, without going in person to take a view of their state. And seeing one of them suffer wrong — Probably by one of the task-masters; he defended him — And smiting the Egyptian with a mortal wound, he at once rescued and avenged him that was oppressed — See note on Exodus 2:11, 12. For he supposed his brethren would have understood, &c. — The manner in which Stephen expresses himself, seems to imply, that he considered Moses as doing this action in consequence of a special impression from God on his mind, intimating to him the important work for which he was intended, that God by his hands would deliver them — Two things are here proper to be inquired into, namely, 1st, By what authority or right Moses slew the Egyptian. 2d, What reason he had to expect the people should understand that God designed him for their deliverer? “The Jewish historians,” says Whitby, “give us a very easy solution of these difficulties; for, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, their priests declare that Moses slew the Egyptian with a word, and so gave them a miracle to prove his mission: and Josephus assures us, that ‘God appeared to Amram, the father of Moses, as he was praying to him for the afflicted Jews, and said to him, Thy son, now in the womb of thy wife, shall escape the hand of the Egyptians, and shall deliver the Hebrews from the afflictions of Egypt; and that, to confirm this vision, his wife brought him forth without any pain.’ The Jerusalem Talmud likewise declares that Moses slew the Egyptian by the spirit of prophecy, or by an extraordinary impulse from God; and Maimonides makes this action one degree of prophecy. And thus, as Stephen here says: it came into his heart, namely, from God, to visit his brethren: and indeed otherwise he could not have justified this fact to God and his own conscience. Now Moses, knowing what had been declared of him to his father, and by this action working deliverance to one of them, might justly hope they would look upon him as one appointed by God to be their deliverer.” Dr. Benson, however, not crediting these stories, thinks “it does not appear that Moses had as yet any prophecy to assure him that he was the person who should deliver Israel; but, knowing there was a divine promise of deliverance made to, and retained in the house of Israel; that he himself had been extraordinarily preserved and educated, and that the time of their deliverance was approaching, he showed himself willing to run all hazards and dangers with the people of God, rather than continue in the splendour of the Egyptian court; and that when the time should be fully come, he would cheerfully join and head them, in order to rescue them from their bondage and cruel slavery.” But it seems there is more than this implied in the verse; and though we may have no certain information of any prophecy that Moses had yet received, it does not follow but he might have received some private revelation from God, that he was the person appointed by him to deliver the Israelites. But they understood not — Such was their stupidity and sloth, which made him afterward unwilling to go to them.

23. Gall of bitterness—Bitterness is depravity; true hatred and malignity against holiness and God. But in Simon the apostle sees the very gall of such bitterness, the very quintessence of depravity. Bond of iniquity— Hemmed around by habits and principles of iniquity, as if bound fast by a fetter or bond, from which he cannot energetically even will to escape. Such are all men by nature without Christ and Spirit and Gospel. To such a condition do men tend by habits and principles of profligacy, even in spite of Christ and his provisions. Simon was none the less guilty for these bonds, for his own free will had fastened them about himself.

V. 24. Seeing one wronged-Probably by one of the task masters.

Verse 24. Smote the Egyptian] See this explained, Exodus 2:11, 12.

Verses 23-25. When he was forty years old — So long he continued in Pharaoh’s court; it came into his heart — Probably by an impulse from God; to visit his brethren — He having been instructed, it appears, in the knowledge of his real descent, and in the principles of the Jewish religion; and it is likely his spirit was so impressed with a concern for their welfare, that all the pleasure and grandeur at the court of Egypt could not make him easy, without going in person to take a view of their state. And seeing one of them suffer wrong — Probably by one of the task-masters; he defended him — And smiting the Egyptian with a mortal wound, he at once rescued and avenged him that was oppressed — See note on Exodus 2:11, 12. For he supposed his brethren would have understood, &c. — The manner in which Stephen expresses himself, seems to imply, that he considered Moses as doing this action in consequence of a special impression from God on his mind, intimating to him the important work for which he was intended, that God by his hands would deliver them — Two things are here proper to be inquired into, namely, 1st, By what authority or right Moses slew the Egyptian. 2d, What reason he had to expect the people should understand that God designed him for their deliverer? “The Jewish historians,” says Whitby, “give us a very easy solution of these difficulties; for, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, their priests declare that Moses slew the Egyptian with a word, and so gave them a miracle to prove his mission: and Josephus assures us, that ‘God appeared to Amram, the father of Moses, as he was praying to him for the afflicted Jews, and said to him, Thy son, now in the womb of thy wife, shall escape the hand of the Egyptians, and shall deliver the Hebrews from the afflictions of Egypt; and that, to confirm this vision, his wife brought him forth without any pain.’ The Jerusalem Talmud likewise declares that Moses slew the Egyptian by the spirit of prophecy, or by an extraordinary impulse from God; and Maimonides makes this action one degree of prophecy. And thus, as Stephen here says: it came into his heart, namely, from God, to visit his brethren: and indeed otherwise he could not have justified this fact to God and his own conscience. Now Moses, knowing what had been declared of him to his father, and by this action working deliverance to one of them, might justly hope they would look upon him as one appointed by God to be their deliverer.” Dr. Benson, however, not crediting these stories, thinks “it does not appear that Moses had as yet any prophecy to assure him that he was the person who should deliver Israel; but, knowing there was a divine promise of deliverance made to, and retained in the house of Israel; that he himself had been extraordinarily preserved and educated, and that the time of their deliverance was approaching, he showed himself willing to run all hazards and dangers with the people of God, rather than continue in the splendour of the Egyptian court; and that when the time should be fully come, he would cheerfully join and head them, in order to rescue them from their bondage and cruel slavery.” But it seems there is more than this implied in the verse; and though we may have no certain information of any prophecy that Moses had yet received, it does not follow but he might have received some private revelation from God, that he was the person appointed by him to deliver the Israelites. But they understood not — Such was their stupidity and sloth, which made him afterward unwilling to go to them.

24. Pray ye—For a moment the Magus is overawed. He believes the divine power to reside in the apostles, and trembles at the perdition into which Peter’s imprecation precipitates his money and himself. He begs their prayer, not as refusing to pray for himself, but as believing they have an interest with the Divine, while his is only with the lower powers. But still his lower dregs of character remain undisturbed. Peter tells him to seek forgiveness; he only wants the aversion of threatened evil. He is at bottom still a sorcerer, and has not the slightest purpose of turning from his deviltries and demonish ways.

Josephus relates that, some ten years later than this, the Roman procurator, Felix, sent one of his friends, Simon by name, a Jew, a Cyprian by birth, claiming to be a magus, to seduce by glowing predictions and promises, Drusilla, daughter of Herod Agrippa and wife of Azizus, king of Emesa, to forsake her husband and marry the procurator. Rosenmuller, Kuinoel, Neander, and others, identify the two magi as one. But this Simon was a Cyprian; and the testimony of Justin Martyr that Luke’s Simon was a Samaritan, born at Gitton, is a little too specific to be fictitious, and is confirmed by the newly discovered writings of Hippolytus. If either was mistaken as to Simon’s birthplace it was Josephus.

In the early apocryphal writings, Simon Magus was made a legendary hero. His imagined contests with St. Peter were marvellous. He elevated himself into the air, (like a modern pseudo-spiritualist,) but was made to fall to the earth and was crushed, by Peter’s prayers, in Nero’s presence. He shut himself up in a tomb at Rome, promising to rise from it the third day; but, as Hippolytus says, he remains there still!

The case of Simon Magus suggests a brief discussion of the differences between a true and a false miracle. We agree with that class of thinkers, including Dr. Samuel Johnson, Baxter, Wesley, and, at the present day, Dr. Bushnell, who maintain that supernatural events of various classes are not confined to Scripture alone, but that the narratives affirming them are too numerous and too well authenticated to be rationally rejected summarily and universally. These narrated events may be roughly classified as 1. Fictitious, 2. Preternatural, 3. Supernatural, and 4. Miracle.

1. The Fictitious. Narratives not sustained by contemporaneous evidence of perfectly unexceptionable character are to be held false. This sweeps away the larger mass of pagan and papal supernaturalisms. They are not generally, like the Gospel miracles, sustained by eyewitnesses, or the eyewitnesses were easily deceived by collusion, or mechanical and other contrivances. In countries where supernatural events, in accordance with the established faith, are readily believed without any critical hesitation, abundance of stories of the kind will prevail. Others are true in fact, but explicable by science. Marks of the cross on the body, which were once imagined to be miraculous, are found to be producible by electricity. Apparitions are often the result of disease.

2. The Preternatural. A large share of wonders there are, not produced by any superhuman agent, but connected with the human system, which seem to belong to that side of our nature which is nearest to the supernatural, which is divided from the supernatural by no clear line, and which seems to be an avenue through which the supernatural reaches us, but which human scrutiny has never yet fully investigated. Under this class may come somnambulism, mesmeric sleep, verified presentiments, second sight, and some predictive dreams. Here may come those marvels in witchcraft which have never been explained. All these phenomena reveal depths in our nature never yet revealed by science.

Our systems are susceptible of preternatural wonders from the intense expectation of their coming upon us. (See note on Acts 3:4.) Here we may place, perhaps, the curing of diseases by the shadow of Peter, (Acts 5:15,) and the handkerchiefs and aprons of Paul, (Acts 19:12.) Here, too, we place mostly the performances of Sceva and his set at Ephesus, as well as the wonders there produced by the spells of Diana; and the casting out of demons by the Jews as narrated by Josephus and alluded to by Jesus. Here we may place the wonder-working of Simon Magus, Elymas the sorcerer, and their class. Many preternatural phenomena take place in intense religious excitements, such as catalepsies, jerkings, and trances. The Mohammedan dancing dervishes perform preternatural exploits in whirling, and the Shakers in dancing. Many preternaturalisms combine the marvel of expectation with the tentative. By tentative marvels we mean those which seem sometimes to succeed, but often fail. Thus the royal touch to cure the king’s evil, (of which Lecky in his “History of European Morals” makes much account,) had in its favour (besides the predisposition to feign and lie for flattery to the king) all the power of intense expectation, and yet often failed, or cured doubtfully, partially, or temporarily. So the public papers, both of New York and London, have contained marvellous paragraphs concerning the preternatural cures of certain classes of cases, performed by a Dr. Newton through manipulations and faith, which cures were partial and temporary, and yet sometimes apparently real. No clear case has ever yet occurred, we may believe, of curing congenital blindness or lameness.

The oracles of antiquity mostly arose from a preternatural excitement of the faculty of presentiment, in persons of a predisposed temperament, by artificial means. We have no necessity to deny that real predictions were sometimes produced. The difference between the oracular predictions and the divine prophecies is, that the former were scattered, and were, if not aimless, merely temporal in their objects and origin, and the latter were a collective system converging upon the Divine Messiah, having in view eternal objects as well as claiming a Divine origin.

3. Supernatural. The simply supernatural, as distinct both from the preternatural and the miraculous, is a phenomenon that comes upon us from some invisible, yet clearly living superhuman agent. The power of that prophecy which identifies itself to the consciousness as the revelation from God, and is fully sustained as such by a fulfilment, is a supernaturalism. The gifts or charisms of the New Testament Church, as promised by Christ, and forming part of his divine system, though often underlaid by the preternatural, are clearly supernatural. So, also, are the inspiration of the sacred writers, and even the influences of the Holy Spirit. All these are parts of one great supernatural whole, of which the word of God is the record and Christ the centre. All stand or fall together. Under the supernatural, too, superinduced upon the preternatural, we rank demoniacal possessions and the case of the pythonic girl of Philippi. Here come all well-authenticated apparitions of the dead, and the appearance of angels, as to the apostles at ascension. It is impossible to explain the celebrated phenomena occurring in the Wesley family as other than supernatural, that is, as produced by an invisible, intelligent, purposing agent. They were sustained by such contemporaneous, intelligent, and incorrupt testimony as would prove even a miracle; they are authentic facts which no natural or materialistic philosopher has ever yet reconciled with his own system.

4. The Miraculous. All miracle is supernatural; and from the standpoint of God himself, the Author of nature, both all nature and all supernatural, as by him performed, are miraculous. But from our human standpoint we may limit the term to a particular kind of supernaturalism, namely, to a supernaturalism visibly originated and performed at the will of a visible agent in attestation of a religious truth, system, or mission. A supernaturalism like a dream or a presentiment, coming upon a man from an invisible source rather than performed voluntarily by him, would thus be no miracle. Miracles, therefore, are in fact mostly limited to Scripture history. And the power for these miracles may be conceived as either in their agent’s permanent and original possession, and completely at his will, or specially delegated to him on only special occasions. Moses performed one miracle of larger physical magnitude than any one performed by Christ; but his miracles were specifically limited and prescribed to him. Christ alone appears to be full master of all miraculous power at will. All other performers of miracles are only occasional, and by special delegation from God, or from the ascended Christ. He stands alone in the attitude of claiming and wielding at pleasure, or in permanent unity with God’s will, any power he pleases in proof of his supreme identification with God himself. The human system, the elements, the gates of death and hades, nay, the powers of hell, submit to his sway and volition. He stands, therefore, without a rival; alone among all wonder-workers, alone among all professed religious founders; and when we superadd the identification of his divine person by antecedent prophecy, the majesty of his personality as it presents itself in the Gospel picture, and the wonderful effects of his life on human history, it is absurd to bring any supernaturalism into competition with his Divine Supremacy. Quite the reverse. Every other visible manifestation of the supernatural serves to remove the presupposition against miracle, and especially against the supreme miracle of Christ claiming to be God-man.

V. 25. They understood it not-Such was their stupidity and sloth; which made him afterward unwilling to go to them.

Verse 25. He supposed his brethren would have understood, &c.] He probably imagined that, as he felt from the Divine influence he was appointed to be their deliverer, they would have his Divine appointment signified to them in a similar way; and the act of justice which he now did in behalf of his oppressed countryman would be sufficient to show them that he was now ready to enter upon his office, if they were willing to concur.

Verses 23-25. When he was forty years old — So long he continued in Pharaoh’s court; it came into his heart — Probably by an impulse from God; to visit his brethren — He having been instructed, it appears, in the knowledge of his real descent, and in the principles of the Jewish religion; and it is likely his spirit was so impressed with a concern for their welfare, that all the pleasure and grandeur at the court of Egypt could not make him easy, without going in person to take a view of their state. And seeing one of them suffer wrong — Probably by one of the task-masters; he defended him — And smiting the Egyptian with a mortal wound, he at once rescued and avenged him that was oppressed — See note on Exodus 2:11, 12. For he supposed his brethren would have understood, &c. — The manner in which Stephen expresses himself, seems to imply, that he considered Moses as doing this action in consequence of a special impression from God on his mind, intimating to him the important work for which he was intended, that God by his hands would deliver them — Two things are here proper to be inquired into, namely, 1st, By what authority or right Moses slew the Egyptian. 2d, What reason he had to expect the people should understand that God designed him for their deliverer? “The Jewish historians,” says Whitby, “give us a very easy solution of these difficulties; for, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, their priests declare that Moses slew the Egyptian with a word, and so gave them a miracle to prove his mission: and Josephus assures us, that ‘God appeared to Amram, the father of Moses, as he was praying to him for the afflicted Jews, and said to him, Thy son, now in the womb of thy wife, shall escape the hand of the Egyptians, and shall deliver the Hebrews from the afflictions of Egypt; and that, to confirm this vision, his wife brought him forth without any pain.’ The Jerusalem Talmud likewise declares that Moses slew the Egyptian by the spirit of prophecy, or by an extraordinary impulse from God; and Maimonides makes this action one degree of prophecy. And thus, as Stephen here says: it came into his heart, namely, from God, to visit his brethren: and indeed otherwise he could not have justified this fact to God and his own conscience. Now Moses, knowing what had been declared of him to his father, and by this action working deliverance to one of them, might justly hope they would look upon him as one appointed by God to be their deliverer.” Dr. Benson, however, not crediting these stories, thinks “it does not appear that Moses had as yet any prophecy to assure him that he was the person who should deliver Israel; but, knowing there was a divine promise of deliverance made to, and retained in the house of Israel; that he himself had been extraordinarily preserved and educated, and that the time of their deliverance was approaching, he showed himself willing to run all hazards and dangers with the people of God, rather than continue in the splendour of the Egyptian court; and that when the time should be fully come, he would cheerfully join and head them, in order to rescue them from their bondage and cruel slavery.” But it seems there is more than this implied in the verse; and though we may have no certain information of any prophecy that Moses had yet received, it does not follow but he might have received some private revelation from God, that he was the person appointed by him to deliver the Israelites. But they understood not — Such was their stupidity and sloth, which made him afterward unwilling to go to them.

Ver. 25. Moses supposed his brethren would have understood, that God (by vision or dream) had appeared to him, and called him to emancipate the Hebrews. It is quite plain, as in John the baptist’s case, though no particulars are named, that Moses was divinely called to be the judge of Israel. But they might have understood it from his marvellous preservation.

25. And they… returned—Like victors from the field, the apostles return to the capital. They probably pass by the same route which they once travelled with the Lord from Samaria, (Luke 9:51-55. See note on John 4:4.) Then John would have called fire from heaven upon the people. Now they testified the historic fact of the Lord’s history, and preached salvation through his name. For the route they took and the villages they evangelized (reversing our Lord’s course) see our note on John 4:4.

2. First Fruit of Africa, the Ethiopian Eunuch, 26-40.

Africa received the Gospel earlier perhaps than Europe; and as an angel invited the Gospel into Europe, (Acts 16:9,) so an angel commissions it to be sent into Africa, (verse 26.) Were these angels the guardian princes of those continents? Daniel 10:20.

V. 26. He showed himself-Of his own accord, unexpectedly.

Verse 26. Unto them as they strove] Two Hebrews, See Clarke on “Exodus 2:13”, &c.

Verses 26-29. The next day he showed himself unto them — Of his own accord, unexpectedly; as they strove — As they were quarrelling with each other; and would have set them at one — That is, by interposing between them, he would have put an end to their quarrel, and have persuaded them to live in peace and friendship; saying, Sirs, ye are brethren — Descended from Jacob, our common ancestor, and now also joined in affliction as well as in religion; which things ought doubly to cement your affections to each other; why then do you injure one another? But he that did his neighbour wrong — Unable to bear with his plain and faithful reproof; insolently thrust him away — As a person that had nothing to do in their controversy; saying, Who made thee a ruler, &c., over us? — Thus, under the pretence of the want of a call by man, the instruments of God are often rejected. The speech of this single person is represented (verse 35) as expressing the sentiments of the whole body of the people, as their slowness afterward to believe the mission of Moses, when attested by miracle, (Exodus 5:20, 21,) seems evidently to show that it was. Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian, &c. — His blood may cost thee dear enough, without adding mine to it. Then fled Moses — Finding the matter was discovered, and being apprehensive that, in consequence of it, the Egyptian power would soon be armed against him, while the Israelites were not inclined to use any efforts for his protection, nor to put themselves under his guidance. See the note on Exodus 2:15. And was a stranger in the land of Madian — Where he became shepherd to Jethro, the prince of the country, and marrying Zipporah his daughter, he begat two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

26. The angel—An angel. Perhaps, as to Paul, (Acts 16:9,) in a dream; as the word arise may possibly, but not certainly indicate. Philip is still in Samaria. The apostles return home in the ordinary level of their apostleship, but for the cheery and spiritual Philip there is an angel-call to a lively work.

Why are the nearer thousands overleaped, and the distant and lonely one selected for this angel-directed visit through the desert? The reply, From God’s mere sovereignty, is absurd, for God has no mere sovereignty, but always a sovereignty with a reason. Now Abyssinia, to this day Christian, says that it was by this eunuch, his name being Indich, that she was converted to the Christian faith. This our Indich had been on a blessed visit to Jerusalem, and was returning with a heart full of God, and his hands holding God’s book, and his lips pronouncing the syllables of God’s open word. And the Divine Head of the Church said, He must not go to Ethiopia before he hears the name of Jesus. And he spake to his angel to speak to Philip to go and speak to the eunuch. And to such a heart how welcome the name of the Saviour would come! We strongly believe that Indich converted Candace and her Ethiopia. South… way—The road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip is to go southward from Samaria until he arrives at that Gaza road which is the desert one. There are three routes from Jerusalem to Gaza: one, the most northern, passes through Wady Aly, (a wady is a valley;) the middle one through Wady Surar; the southern one through Eleutheropolis. To this last the epithet desert is most applicable. Some apply the epithet desert not to the road, but to Gaza itself; but, first, there would be no reason for specifying the condition of the city; and, second, there is no reason to doubt that Gaza was at this time a populous city, having lately been rebuilt by Gabinius, the Roman general. The words of the angel literally are, The same is desert. He gives Philip no information what he will find besides or in the desert; but he must go to that road of the three which is desert. Let him obey and he will find what the desert can afford. Gaza—Gaza is a very ancient city, mentioned as early as Genesis 10:19, and is celebrated as the scene of one of Samson’s most noted exploits, the carrying off of the city gates. It was one of the frontier towns defending Palestine from Egyptian invasion. It was three miles from the sea, but had a seaport town. It was the route through which the eunuch would take ship for Alexandria.

V. 27. Who appointed thee-"Under the presence of the want of a call by man, the instruments of God are often rejected."

Verses 26-29. The next day he showed himself unto them — Of his own accord, unexpectedly; as they strove — As they were quarrelling with each other; and would have set them at one — That is, by interposing between them, he would have put an end to their quarrel, and have persuaded them to live in peace and friendship; saying, Sirs, ye are brethren — Descended from Jacob, our common ancestor, and now also joined in affliction as well as in religion; which things ought doubly to cement your affections to each other; why then do you injure one another? But he that did his neighbour wrong — Unable to bear with his plain and faithful reproof; insolently thrust him away — As a person that had nothing to do in their controversy; saying, Who made thee a ruler, &c., over us? — Thus, under the pretence of the want of a call by man, the instruments of God are often rejected. The speech of this single person is represented (verse 35) as expressing the sentiments of the whole body of the people, as their slowness afterward to believe the mission of Moses, when attested by miracle, (Exodus 5:20, 21,) seems evidently to show that it was. Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian, &c. — His blood may cost thee dear enough, without adding mine to it. Then fled Moses — Finding the matter was discovered, and being apprehensive that, in consequence of it, the Egyptian power would soon be armed against him, while the Israelites were not inclined to use any efforts for his protection, nor to put themselves under his guidance. See the note on Exodus 2:15. And was a stranger in the land of Madian — Where he became shepherd to Jethro, the prince of the country, and marrying Zipporah his daughter, he begat two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

27. Went—Dr. Thomson thinks that Philip intercepted the eunuch somewhere southwest of Latron. Behold—The desert is just now not wholly desert, for the chariot of a princely negro is rolling by, giving it a rare life. Ethiopia—Is a country south of Egypt, including the modern Abyssinia. The word Ethiopia is derived from the Greek aiqw, burn, and wy, face, and alludes, of course, to the negro colour. Eunuch—The word etymologically signifies a couch-keeper or chamberlain, and designates a class of mutilated men who are in the East employed to guard the harems. But as in the palaces of princes such persons often gained the personal confidence of the despot, and became his chief adviser, so the very word eunuch was often used of officers of state who belonged not to this injured class. Yet the Greek for of great authority, dunasthv, a dynast or potentate, seems to express the official power, and leaves the term eunuch to its natural meaning. Candace—A name, like Pharaoh, designating not a single individual, but each one of the line of queens by which the country was ruled. Candace was queen of Meroe, (near the modern Sennaar,) an island, or rather peninsula, termed by two arms of the river, a thousand miles up the Nile from Alexandria; to which city the eunuch is on his way to take his upward-sailing Nile-boat, made perhaps of papyrus and acacia. The name of Candace (spelled Kandakatis) is still found on her palace walls in Meroe, as in the cut, in hieroglyphical characters. Her buildings are in Egyptian style, varied with modern, perhaps Roman, elements. Come to Jerusalem—Most probably to the feast of Tabernacles, the festival most visited by far distant residents. Come to worship—He was probably a pagan proselyte, converted from the worship of the ram-headed Ammon by the influence of some of the many Jews residing in Meroe.

Verses 26-29. The next day he showed himself unto them — Of his own accord, unexpectedly; as they strove — As they were quarrelling with each other; and would have set them at one — That is, by interposing between them, he would have put an end to their quarrel, and have persuaded them to live in peace and friendship; saying, Sirs, ye are brethren — Descended from Jacob, our common ancestor, and now also joined in affliction as well as in religion; which things ought doubly to cement your affections to each other; why then do you injure one another? But he that did his neighbour wrong — Unable to bear with his plain and faithful reproof; insolently thrust him away — As a person that had nothing to do in their controversy; saying, Who made thee a ruler, &c., over us? — Thus, under the pretence of the want of a call by man, the instruments of God are often rejected. The speech of this single person is represented (verse 35) as expressing the sentiments of the whole body of the people, as their slowness afterward to believe the mission of Moses, when attested by miracle, (Exodus 5:20, 21,) seems evidently to show that it was. Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian, &c. — His blood may cost thee dear enough, without adding mine to it. Then fled Moses — Finding the matter was discovered, and being apprehensive that, in consequence of it, the Egyptian power would soon be armed against him, while the Israelites were not inclined to use any efforts for his protection, nor to put themselves under his guidance. See the note on Exodus 2:15. And was a stranger in the land of Madian — Where he became shepherd to Jethro, the prince of the country, and marrying Zipporah his daughter, he begat two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

28. Was returning—Very probably he may have been in Jerusalem at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom, when the city was rife with the name of Jesus and his Nazarenes. In his chariot—In vain, at the present day, does the traveller look for such a thing as a chariot in this country. This very desert is more a desert now than when the eunuch travelled by its route. The barbarism of the Mohammedan conquerors of the country has abolished all vehicles, and camels, mules, and asses are the only means of conveyance. A better day is coming when these vile intruders will be vanquished, and the railway will send its wonders through this land. Reading—The rabbies had a maxim which the eunuch here well practises: “The companionless traveller should employ his thoughts in study of the law.” Esaias—The Greek form for Isaiah.

Verses 26-29. The next day he showed himself unto them — Of his own accord, unexpectedly; as they strove — As they were quarrelling with each other; and would have set them at one — That is, by interposing between them, he would have put an end to their quarrel, and have persuaded them to live in peace and friendship; saying, Sirs, ye are brethren — Descended from Jacob, our common ancestor, and now also joined in affliction as well as in religion; which things ought doubly to cement your affections to each other; why then do you injure one another? But he that did his neighbour wrong — Unable to bear with his plain and faithful reproof; insolently thrust him away — As a person that had nothing to do in their controversy; saying, Who made thee a ruler, &c., over us? — Thus, under the pretence of the want of a call by man, the instruments of God are often rejected. The speech of this single person is represented (verse 35) as expressing the sentiments of the whole body of the people, as their slowness afterward to believe the mission of Moses, when attested by miracle, (Exodus 5:20, 21,) seems evidently to show that it was. Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian, &c. — His blood may cost thee dear enough, without adding mine to it. Then fled Moses — Finding the matter was discovered, and being apprehensive that, in consequence of it, the Egyptian power would soon be armed against him, while the Israelites were not inclined to use any efforts for his protection, nor to put themselves under his guidance. See the note on Exodus 2:15. And was a stranger in the land of Madian — Where he became shepherd to Jethro, the prince of the country, and marrying Zipporah his daughter, he begat two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

29. The Spirit said—Philip subsequently had four daughters all prophetesses, so that the prophetic impulse was familiar perhaps to his interior consciousness. Go near—Probably Philip encountered the eunuch at the point where his Samaritan road fell into the Gaza road. Both the angel and the Spirit give the briefest possible directions, and in the order of climax.

V. 30. The angel-The Son of God; as appears from his styling himself Jehovah.

In a flame of fire-Signifying the majesty of God then present. Exodus 3:2.

Verse 30. In a flame of fire in a bush.] See this and the following verses largely explained in the notes, see Clarke Exodus 3:1-8.

Verses 30-34. When forty years were expired — That is, forty after his leaving Egypt; during which time Israel had continued under this bondage, and Moses, inured to hardships and poverty, and to contemplation and devotion, had been trained up and prepared, in the humble and retired life of a shepherd, for the great work for which God designed him; see on Exodus 2:22; there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina — Which lay in the confines of the Midianite country, not far from the Red sea; an angel of the Lord — The Son of God, as appears from his styling himself Jehovah; (see on Exodus 3:2;) a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth, Psalm lxxxiii,

18. It was therefore the Angel of the covenant: Malachi 3:1, the Angel of God’s presence, Isaiah 63:9, who delivered the law to Moses, and was with the church in the wilderness, and gave them possession of Canaan as the Captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 5:14. In a flame of fire in a bush — Which, though of combustible matter, was not consumed; representing the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed by it, but miraculously preserved as a people, and even increased. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight — Wondered why the bush, which burned, was not consumed: it was a phenomenon, with the solution of which all his Egyptian learning could not furnish him. And as he drew near to behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, &c. — Expressions sufficiently showing that the person speaking was not a mere angel, but possessed of true Deity, and therefore, as being also styled an angel, or messenger, was the Son of God, the Father’s Messenger to men. Then Moses trembled — Moses, upon this, perceiving that God himself was there present, and spake to him, trembled at this appearance of his majesty, and durst not behold with a curious regard, as he had intended. Then said the Lord, Put off thy shoes — An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground — The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there. See the note on Exodus 2:5. “It was formerly in the eastern nations, and is now in the southern, esteemed a ceremony of respect, to put off the shoes when approaching a superior, lest any of the dirt or dust cleaving to the shoes should be brought near him, and that the person approaching barefoot might tread more cautiously. This, which perhaps was introduced at first in court apartments, where rich carpets might be used, the King of kings requires to be done in a desert, as a token of the infinitely greater reverence due to him. See Joshua 5:15, and Ecclesiastes 5:1. On the same principle, it seems, the priests ministered thus in the tabernacle and temple, no direction being given for shoes or sandals as a part of their dress, though all the rest of it was so particularly prescribed.” I have seen, I have seen the affliction — See note on Exodus 2:7, 8.

30. Philip ran—The chariot of the eunuch moved gently, so as not to impede the reading, and Philip by a quick pace could overtake it. Heard him read—The Oriental reads even to himself alone with a full voice. Understandest—The question of Philip, for the purpose of vivacity, contains a play upon words in the Greek, for which the nearest parallel we can invent would be, Heedest what thou readest? (See note on verse 5.) Though he understood not to the bottom, yet his heart understood enough of the divine word to feed its spiritual life on. God’s word has several bottoms, and deeper and deeper surfaces. Beneath the stratum to which the eunuch could penetrate, Philip knew the Divine Saviour lay.

Verses 30-34. When forty years were expired — That is, forty after his leaving Egypt; during which time Israel had continued under this bondage, and Moses, inured to hardships and poverty, and to contemplation and devotion, had been trained up and prepared, in the humble and retired life of a shepherd, for the great work for which God designed him; see on Exodus 2:22; there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina — Which lay in the confines of the Midianite country, not far from the Red sea; an angel of the Lord — The Son of God, as appears from his styling himself Jehovah; (see on Exodus 3:2;) a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth, Psalm lxxxiii,

18. It was therefore the Angel of the covenant: Malachi 3:1, the Angel of God’s presence, Isaiah 63:9, who delivered the law to Moses, and was with the church in the wilderness, and gave them possession of Canaan as the Captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 5:14. In a flame of fire in a bush — Which, though of combustible matter, was not consumed; representing the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed by it, but miraculously preserved as a people, and even increased. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight — Wondered why the bush, which burned, was not consumed: it was a phenomenon, with the solution of which all his Egyptian learning could not furnish him. And as he drew near to behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, &c. — Expressions sufficiently showing that the person speaking was not a mere angel, but possessed of true Deity, and therefore, as being also styled an angel, or messenger, was the Son of God, the Father’s Messenger to men. Then Moses trembled — Moses, upon this, perceiving that God himself was there present, and spake to him, trembled at this appearance of his majesty, and durst not behold with a curious regard, as he had intended. Then said the Lord, Put off thy shoes — An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground — The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there. See the note on Exodus 2:5. “It was formerly in the eastern nations, and is now in the southern, esteemed a ceremony of respect, to put off the shoes when approaching a superior, lest any of the dirt or dust cleaving to the shoes should be brought near him, and that the person approaching barefoot might tread more cautiously. This, which perhaps was introduced at first in court apartments, where rich carpets might be used, the King of kings requires to be done in a desert, as a token of the infinitely greater reverence due to him. See Joshua 5:15, and Ecclesiastes 5:1. On the same principle, it seems, the priests ministered thus in the tabernacle and temple, no direction being given for shoes or sandals as a part of their dress, though all the rest of it was so particularly prescribed.” I have seen, I have seen the affliction — See note on Exodus 2:7, 8.

31. Guide me—The eunuch understands that he is challenged to an exegesis of the passage he is reading, and indirectly accepts the indirect proffer. He invites the stranger to a seat and to a biblical investigation. The Christian often needs a commentator, but never needs a pope. When headstrong ignorance rejects the aid of the skill and learning which able expositors have gathered upon the word of God, illustrating its statements by the aid of history, geography, grammar, and suggestive thought, and assumes ability to draw right conclusions from the bare words of the English text, it is very likely to land where rash ignorance ever lands, in the depths of error. But when men, with all the aids of learning and sagacity and the blessed Spirit, give themselves over to a supposed infallible living expounder, they are very likely to be consigned to bondage and perdition. Men must use the right of private judgment by the aid of the best facts, lights, and counsels; but the right itself they have no right to renounce.

Verses 30-34. When forty years were expired — That is, forty after his leaving Egypt; during which time Israel had continued under this bondage, and Moses, inured to hardships and poverty, and to contemplation and devotion, had been trained up and prepared, in the humble and retired life of a shepherd, for the great work for which God designed him; see on Exodus 2:22; there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina — Which lay in the confines of the Midianite country, not far from the Red sea; an angel of the Lord — The Son of God, as appears from his styling himself Jehovah; (see on Exodus 3:2;) a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth, Psalm lxxxiii,

18. It was therefore the Angel of the covenant: Malachi 3:1, the Angel of God’s presence, Isaiah 63:9, who delivered the law to Moses, and was with the church in the wilderness, and gave them possession of Canaan as the Captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 5:14. In a flame of fire in a bush — Which, though of combustible matter, was not consumed; representing the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed by it, but miraculously preserved as a people, and even increased. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight — Wondered why the bush, which burned, was not consumed: it was a phenomenon, with the solution of which all his Egyptian learning could not furnish him. And as he drew near to behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, &c. — Expressions sufficiently showing that the person speaking was not a mere angel, but possessed of true Deity, and therefore, as being also styled an angel, or messenger, was the Son of God, the Father’s Messenger to men. Then Moses trembled — Moses, upon this, perceiving that God himself was there present, and spake to him, trembled at this appearance of his majesty, and durst not behold with a curious regard, as he had intended. Then said the Lord, Put off thy shoes — An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground — The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there. See the note on Exodus 2:5. “It was formerly in the eastern nations, and is now in the southern, esteemed a ceremony of respect, to put off the shoes when approaching a superior, lest any of the dirt or dust cleaving to the shoes should be brought near him, and that the person approaching barefoot might tread more cautiously. This, which perhaps was introduced at first in court apartments, where rich carpets might be used, the King of kings requires to be done in a desert, as a token of the infinitely greater reverence due to him. See Joshua 5:15, and Ecclesiastes 5:1. On the same principle, it seems, the priests ministered thus in the tabernacle and temple, no direction being given for shoes or sandals as a part of their dress, though all the rest of it was so particularly prescribed.” I have seen, I have seen the affliction — See note on Exodus 2:7, 8.

32. The place of the Scripture—The section. When the persecutor Antiochus forbade the Law to be read, the Jews divided the prophets into fifty-four sections for reading in the public service. The section now being read by the eunuch was 53-56. The passage given by Luke (Isaiah 53:7, 8) is undoubtedly from the Septuagint, a version made in Egypt, and familiar, of course, to the Ethiopian. It differs somewhat in meaning from the Hebrew. Sheep… lamb dumb—A vivid description of our Lord’s silent submission to sentence and death.

V. 33. Then said the Lord, Loose thy shoes-An ancient token of reverence;

for the place is holy ground-The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there.

Verses 30-34. When forty years were expired — That is, forty after his leaving Egypt; during which time Israel had continued under this bondage, and Moses, inured to hardships and poverty, and to contemplation and devotion, had been trained up and prepared, in the humble and retired life of a shepherd, for the great work for which God designed him; see on Exodus 2:22; there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina — Which lay in the confines of the Midianite country, not far from the Red sea; an angel of the Lord — The Son of God, as appears from his styling himself Jehovah; (see on Exodus 3:2;) a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth, Psalm lxxxiii,

18. It was therefore the Angel of the covenant: Malachi 3:1, the Angel of God’s presence, Isaiah 63:9, who delivered the law to Moses, and was with the church in the wilderness, and gave them possession of Canaan as the Captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 5:14. In a flame of fire in a bush — Which, though of combustible matter, was not consumed; representing the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed by it, but miraculously preserved as a people, and even increased. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight — Wondered why the bush, which burned, was not consumed: it was a phenomenon, with the solution of which all his Egyptian learning could not furnish him. And as he drew near to behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, &c. — Expressions sufficiently showing that the person speaking was not a mere angel, but possessed of true Deity, and therefore, as being also styled an angel, or messenger, was the Son of God, the Father’s Messenger to men. Then Moses trembled — Moses, upon this, perceiving that God himself was there present, and spake to him, trembled at this appearance of his majesty, and durst not behold with a curious regard, as he had intended. Then said the Lord, Put off thy shoes — An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground — The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there. See the note on Exodus 2:5. “It was formerly in the eastern nations, and is now in the southern, esteemed a ceremony of respect, to put off the shoes when approaching a superior, lest any of the dirt or dust cleaving to the shoes should be brought near him, and that the person approaching barefoot might tread more cautiously. This, which perhaps was introduced at first in court apartments, where rich carpets might be used, the King of kings requires to be done in a desert, as a token of the infinitely greater reverence due to him. See Joshua 5:15, and Ecclesiastes 5:1. On the same principle, it seems, the priests ministered thus in the tabernacle and temple, no direction being given for shoes or sandals as a part of their dress, though all the rest of it was so particularly prescribed.” I have seen, I have seen the affliction — See note on Exodus 2:7, 8.

33. Judgment was taken away—Not his own mental faculty of judgment; but a fair judicial trial, which was taken away by violence and fraud. His generation—Who shall describe the generation, that is, the men of that cruel age? Life is taken—For they unjustly deprived him of earthly life.

Verses 30-34. When forty years were expired — That is, forty after his leaving Egypt; during which time Israel had continued under this bondage, and Moses, inured to hardships and poverty, and to contemplation and devotion, had been trained up and prepared, in the humble and retired life of a shepherd, for the great work for which God designed him; see on Exodus 2:22; there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina — Which lay in the confines of the Midianite country, not far from the Red sea; an angel of the Lord — The Son of God, as appears from his styling himself Jehovah; (see on Exodus 3:2;) a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth, Psalm lxxxiii,

18. It was therefore the Angel of the covenant: Malachi 3:1, the Angel of God’s presence, Isaiah 63:9, who delivered the law to Moses, and was with the church in the wilderness, and gave them possession of Canaan as the Captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 5:14. In a flame of fire in a bush — Which, though of combustible matter, was not consumed; representing the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed by it, but miraculously preserved as a people, and even increased. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight — Wondered why the bush, which burned, was not consumed: it was a phenomenon, with the solution of which all his Egyptian learning could not furnish him. And as he drew near to behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, &c. — Expressions sufficiently showing that the person speaking was not a mere angel, but possessed of true Deity, and therefore, as being also styled an angel, or messenger, was the Son of God, the Father’s Messenger to men. Then Moses trembled — Moses, upon this, perceiving that God himself was there present, and spake to him, trembled at this appearance of his majesty, and durst not behold with a curious regard, as he had intended. Then said the Lord, Put off thy shoes — An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground — The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there. See the note on Exodus 2:5. “It was formerly in the eastern nations, and is now in the southern, esteemed a ceremony of respect, to put off the shoes when approaching a superior, lest any of the dirt or dust cleaving to the shoes should be brought near him, and that the person approaching barefoot might tread more cautiously. This, which perhaps was introduced at first in court apartments, where rich carpets might be used, the King of kings requires to be done in a desert, as a token of the infinitely greater reverence due to him. See Joshua 5:15, and Ecclesiastes 5:1. On the same principle, it seems, the priests ministered thus in the tabernacle and temple, no direction being given for shoes or sandals as a part of their dress, though all the rest of it was so particularly prescribed.” I have seen, I have seen the affliction — See note on Exodus 2:7, 8.

34. Answered—Responded to some previous remark not given by this question. Of himself—Very probably the eunuch, had heard the Jewish tradition that Isaiah was martyred by sawing asunder at the command of the wicked king Manasseh, and so supposed that the prophet might have predicted his own death.

V. 35. This Moses whom they refused-Namely, forty years before. Probably, not they, but their fathers did it, and God imputes it to them. So God frequently imputes the sins of the fathers to those of their children who are of the same spirit.

Him did God send to be a deliverer-Which is much more than a judge; by the hand of-That is, by means of the angel-This angel who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai expressly called himself Jehovah, a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth, Psalms 83:18Psalm 83:18. It was therefore the Son of God who delivered the law to Moses, under the character of Jehovah, and who is here spoken of as the angel of the covenant, in respect of his mediatorial office.

Verses 35, 36. This Moses, whom they refused — Namely, forty years before: probably not they, but their fathers did it, and God imputes it to them. So God frequently imputes the sins of parents to those of their children who are of the same spirit. The same did God send to be a ruler and deliverer — Which is much more than a judge. By the hand — That is, by the means; of the angel — See on verse 30. He brought them out — Though for a while he hesitated, he afterward complied, and at length led them forth in triumph, a willing people listed under his banner; after he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt — Which were afterward continued for the completing their deliverance, according as the case called for it; in the Red sea, and in the wilderness, forty years — During which space they were every day miraculously fed with manna from heaven, and conducted by a pillar of fire and cloud, and had a variety of other astonishing miracles wrought in their behalf continually. Thus Stephen is so far from blaspheming Moses, that he extols him as a glorious instrument in the hand of God in the forming of the Old Testament Church. But it does not at all derogate from his just honour, to say that he was but an instrument, and was excelled by Jesus, whom he encourages these Jews yet to receive and obey; not fearing, if they did so, but that they should be accepted, and obtain salvation by him, as the people of Israel were delivered by Moses, though they had once refused him.

35. Opened his mouth—As if to roll out a large discourse. (See note on Matthew 5:2.) The passage, and the eunuch’s question, furnish large text for large sermon. The expositor expounds, and expands into a preacher. Preached… Jesus—Unfolded the agreement of prophecy and history in him; showed how Jesus was the true Messiah of Israel’s expectation explained how to believe and be baptized in his name is the way of life.

Verse 36. He brought them out, after that he had showed wonders, &c.] Thus the very person whom they had rejected, and, in effect, delivered up into the hands of Pharaoh that he might be slain, was the person alone by whom they were redeemed from their Egyptian bondage. And does not St. Stephen plainly say by this, that the very person, Jesus Christ, whom they had rejected and delivered up into the hands of Pilate to be crucified, was the person alone by whom they could be delivered out of their spiritual bondage, and made partakers of the inheritance among the saints in light? No doubt they felt that this was the drift of his speech.

Verses 35, 36. This Moses, whom they refused — Namely, forty years before: probably not they, but their fathers did it, and God imputes it to them. So God frequently imputes the sins of parents to those of their children who are of the same spirit. The same did God send to be a ruler and deliverer — Which is much more than a judge. By the hand — That is, by the means; of the angel — See on verse 30. He brought them out — Though for a while he hesitated, he afterward complied, and at length led them forth in triumph, a willing people listed under his banner; after he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt — Which were afterward continued for the completing their deliverance, according as the case called for it; in the Red sea, and in the wilderness, forty years — During which space they were every day miraculously fed with manna from heaven, and conducted by a pillar of fire and cloud, and had a variety of other astonishing miracles wrought in their behalf continually. Thus Stephen is so far from blaspheming Moses, that he extols him as a glorious instrument in the hand of God in the forming of the Old Testament Church. But it does not at all derogate from his just honour, to say that he was but an instrument, and was excelled by Jesus, whom he encourages these Jews yet to receive and obey; not fearing, if they did so, but that they should be accepted, and obtain salvation by him, as the people of Israel were delivered by Moses, though they had once refused him.

36. Water—The Spirit and the water, the reality and the symbol, are diffused through the world, refreshing both the moral and the material desert of this earth. Baptized—Baptism was indeed suggested in the very prophecy the eunuch was reading: “So shall he (Messiah) sprinkle many nations,” words which the Ethiopian, son of a distant nation, might feel rightly to include himself. Rightly, therefore, he asks, “What doth hinder ME to be baptized?”

Robinson plausibly decides that this was “a certain water,” as the Greek signifies, “standing along the bottom of the adjacent wady,” [or valley, namely, of Tell el-Hasy.] “This water is on the most direct route from Beit Jibrin to Gaza, on the most southern road from Jerusalem, and in the midst of the country now desert, that is, without villages or fixed habitations. There is no other similar water on this road.” Undoubtedly “many changes” may have occurred in the earth, rendering all such identifications somewhat uncertain; but the entire presumption is that the traveller stands on the very spot where Philip and the eunuch stood!

V. 37. The Lord will raise you up a prophet-St. Stephen here shows that there is no opposition between Moses and Christ. Deuteronomy 18:15

Verse 37. This is that Moses, which said-A prophet, &c.] This very Moses, so highly esteemed and honoured by God, announced that very prophet whom ye have lately put to death. See the observations at Deuteronomy 18:22.

Verses 37, 38. This is that Moses which said, A prophet, &c. — Here Stephen shows that there is no opposition between Moses and Christ. And it is mentioned as one of the greatest honours God put upon Moses; nay, as that which exceeded all the rest, that by him God gave notice to the Israelites of the great prophet that should come into the world, raised their expectation of him, and required them to receive him on pain of utter destruction. Now this was very full to Stephen’s purpose, supposing him to have intimated, as his accusers affirmed, that Jesus should change the customs of the ceremonial law. And he is so far from blaspheming Moses, that he really does him the greatest honour imaginable, by showing how one of the most important of his prophecies was fulfilled. This is he (Moses) that was in the church in the wilderness — Presiding in all the affairs of it for forty years, and being king as well as prophet: in Jeshurun, Deuteronomy 33:5. Here we see the camp of Israel is called the church in the wilderness; and with good reason, for it was a sacred society, incorporated by a divine charter, under a divine government, and blessed with a divine revelation. It was a church, though not yet so perfectly formed as it was to be when they should come to Canaan. It was the honour of Moses that he was in that church; and many a time it would have been destroyed, if Moses had not been in it to intercede for it. But Christ is the president and guide of a more excellent and glorious church than that in the wilderness; and is more in it than Moses could be in that, as being the life and soul of it. With the angel that spake to him — The Angel of the covenant, even of the old as well as of the new. The angel that went before him and was a guide to him, otherwise he could not have been a guide to Israel. Of this God speaks, (Exodus 23:20,) I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, &c., beware of him, and obey his voice, for my name is in him. He was in the church with the angel, without whom he could have done no service to the church: but Christ is himself that angel which was with the church in the wilderness, and therefore has an authority above Moses. Who (Moses) received the lively oracles — Not only the ten commandments, but the other instructions, which the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak them to the children of Israel. Observe, reader, 1st, The words of God are oracles, certain and infallible, and of unquestionable authority and obligation: they are to be consulted as oracles, and by them all controversies must be determined. 2d, They are lively oracles, for they are the oracles of the living God, not of the dumb and dead idols of the heathen. They are full of divine life and energy; quick and powerful, (Hebrews 4:12,) enlightening the eyes, rejoicing the heart, converting the soul, raising the dead: for the word that God speaks is spirit and life: they were delivered in an awakening and impressive manner, and instruct us in the way to life and happiness. Not that the law of Moses could give life of itself, but it showed the way to life, especially as exhibiting, in types and shadows, good things to come. 3d, It was the principal privilege of the Jews that unto them were committed these oracles, and it was by the hand of Moses that they were committed. Moses was not the author of them, nor of the law contained in them: he was merely the medium, or instrument, of their communication. And he that gave those customs by his servant Moses, might, no doubt, when he pleased, change them by his Son Jesus, who has received more lively oracles to give unto us than Moses gave.

37. And—This verse is wanting in the most reliable manuscripts and versions. It is, however, as old as Irenaeus, and Augustine did not question its authenticity. It may have been a later addition by Luke himself to his own work. (See introductory note, John 21.) It was inserted, Meyer suggests, to conform the text to the baptismal service, requiring faith as a condition. With all thine heart—For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Faith is affectional as well as intellectual. So the eunuch heartily professes that Jesus, the Messiah, is the Son of God. And he who, believing this from the heart, consents to be baptized in the fulness of the meaning of the baptismal service, is a true, saved Christian, how sudden soever the work. The outpoured water, the symbol of the outpoured Spirit, is the external regeneration and washing away of sin, correspondent to the internal regeneration previously wrought by the descending power.

V. 38. This is he-Moses.

With the angel, and with our fathers-As a mediator between them. Who received the living oracles-Every period beginning with, And the Lord said unto Moses, is properly an oracle. But the oracles here intended are chiefly the ten commandments. These are termed living, because all the word of God, applied by his Spirit, is living and powerful, Hebrews 4:12, enlightening the eyes, rejoicing the heart, converting the soul, raising the dead. Exodus 19:3.

Verse 38. With the angel which spake to him] Stephen shows that Moses received the law by the ministry of angels; and that he was only a mediator between the angel of God and them.

The lively oracles] logia zwnta, The living oracles. The doctrines of life, those doctrines-obedience to which entitled them, by the promise of God, to a long life upon earth, which spoke to them of that spiritual life which every true believer has in union with his God, and promised that eternal life which those who are faithful unto death shall enjoy with him in the realms of glory.

The Greek word logion, which we translate oracle, signifies a Divine revelation, a communication from God himself, and is here applied to the Mosaic law; to the Old Testament in general, Romans 3:2; Hebrews 5:12; and to Divine revelation in general, 1 Peter 4:11.

Verses 37, 38. This is that Moses which said, A prophet, &c. — Here Stephen shows that there is no opposition between Moses and Christ. And it is mentioned as one of the greatest honours God put upon Moses; nay, as that which exceeded all the rest, that by him God gave notice to the Israelites of the great prophet that should come into the world, raised their expectation of him, and required them to receive him on pain of utter destruction. Now this was very full to Stephen’s purpose, supposing him to have intimated, as his accusers affirmed, that Jesus should change the customs of the ceremonial law. And he is so far from blaspheming Moses, that he really does him the greatest honour imaginable, by showing how one of the most important of his prophecies was fulfilled. This is he (Moses) that was in the church in the wilderness — Presiding in all the affairs of it for forty years, and being king as well as prophet: in Jeshurun, Deuteronomy 33:5. Here we see the camp of Israel is called the church in the wilderness; and with good reason, for it was a sacred society, incorporated by a divine charter, under a divine government, and blessed with a divine revelation. It was a church, though not yet so perfectly formed as it was to be when they should come to Canaan. It was the honour of Moses that he was in that church; and many a time it would have been destroyed, if Moses had not been in it to intercede for it. But Christ is the president and guide of a more excellent and glorious church than that in the wilderness; and is more in it than Moses could be in that, as being the life and soul of it. With the angel that spake to him — The Angel of the covenant, even of the old as well as of the new. The angel that went before him and was a guide to him, otherwise he could not have been a guide to Israel. Of this God speaks, (Exodus 23:20,) I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, &c., beware of him, and obey his voice, for my name is in him. He was in the church with the angel, without whom he could have done no service to the church: but Christ is himself that angel which was with the church in the wilderness, and therefore has an authority above Moses. Who (Moses) received the lively oracles — Not only the ten commandments, but the other instructions, which the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak them to the children of Israel. Observe, reader, 1st, The words of God are oracles, certain and infallible, and of unquestionable authority and obligation: they are to be consulted as oracles, and by them all controversies must be determined. 2d, They are lively oracles, for they are the oracles of the living God, not of the dumb and dead idols of the heathen. They are full of divine life and energy; quick and powerful, (Hebrews 4:12,) enlightening the eyes, rejoicing the heart, converting the soul, raising the dead: for the word that God speaks is spirit and life: they were delivered in an awakening and impressive manner, and instruct us in the way to life and happiness. Not that the law of Moses could give life of itself, but it showed the way to life, especially as exhibiting, in types and shadows, good things to come. 3d, It was the principal privilege of the Jews that unto them were committed these oracles, and it was by the hand of Moses that they were committed. Moses was not the author of them, nor of the law contained in them: he was merely the medium, or instrument, of their communication. And he that gave those customs by his servant Moses, might, no doubt, when he pleased, change them by his Son Jesus, who has received more lively oracles to give unto us than Moses gave.

Ver. 38. This is he, even the prophet promised by Moses, that was in the church in the wilderness. The God who spake to Moses at the burning bush, is called the Angel of JEHOVAH, and a little afterwards, JEHOVAH. When Moses asked his name, he answered, I AM THAT I AM. And Moses, the prince of prophets, prays for “the good will of him that dwelt in the bush” to be with Israel. Deuteronomy 33:16. The fathers of the church with one consent attribute all these words to Christ, and infer his deity, his preëxistence, and power to remit or punish the sins of Israel. How blind soever the jews might be as to the subsistence of the three hypostases, the scriptures being full of this doctrine, we are bound to hold fast the faith against all modern and ancient apostasy. To ascribe all those powers and titles to any created angel is blasphemy. No angel durst say, “I am Jehovah thy God.” The chariots of angels, countless in number, were in attendance on the Lord, as in Psalms 82:1Psalm 82:1. “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the gods.” This is the faith in which Stephen died: he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

38. Down—The opposite of up in the next verse. And as this up describes the ascending the bank, so the down most properly describes (not the alighting from the chariot but) the walking adown the bank. Into—The Greek eiv, into, signifies prevalently, but not universally, into, and not merely to. Here it is opposed to out of in the next verse. The Greek for out of, ek, prevalently but not universally signifies out from, and not merely from, which is usually expressed by apo. Taking the correspondent force of both prepositions as they stand here, it ought to be conceded that an entrance of both Philip and the eunuch into the water most probably took place.

Even without the force of these prepositions, and in whatever mode the baptism was performed, the parties would naturally step into the water’s edge. A native of a southern clime, passing an arid desert, wearing nothing but light sandals, uninfluenced by a northerner’s fear of spoiling the polish of his boots, would step into the water even for the natural agreeableness. Baptized—Performed that rite which images forth the “sprinkling of many nations.” (See note on verse 36.) Immersion fails to be the type of the antitype, the shedding forth of God’s regenerating Spirit. The main support, we think, of the practice of immersion is derived not from Scripture practice, but, 1, from the pagan meaning of the word baptizw; and, 2, from ecclesiastical tradition.

1. The sense of baptizw in pagan authors denotes in some cases the descent of water on the subject.

2. Even if the pagan use of the word meant solely plunge, that decides not the New Testament meaning. Nearly every term borrowed from classic Greek to express a Christian use changes its force. The word ekklhsia, church, signifies a political town-meeting; the word deipnon, supper, would require the Lord’s Supper to be always performed at evening.

3. Early Christian practice favours immersion; but the earliest ecclesiastical practice requires self-immersion, naked, thrice performed.

Verse 39. In their hearts turned back again into Egypt] Became idolaters, and preferred their Egyptian bondage and their idolatry to the promised land and the pure worship of God. See the whole of these transactions explained at large in the notes on Exodus 32:1-35.

Verses 39-41. Whom our fathers would not obey — Even after all the proofs of his miraculous powers given in Egypt, and at the Red sea; but thrust him from them — Acting a part more stupid and ungrateful than that before mentioned, verse 27; rejecting him a second time, as in contempt of all these wonderful appearances of God by him; and in their hearts — In their affections and intentions; turning back again into Egypt — Preferring their garlick and onions there, before the manna they daily received under the conduct of Moses, and the milk and honey they hoped for in Canaan. They murmured at him, mutinied against him, refused to obey his orders, and sometimes were ready to stone him. Saying unto Aaron — At the very foot of that mountain upon which God had visibly manifested himself to them, while the sound of his voice was, as it were, yet in their ears, and though, but a few days before, they had seen their great leader ascending up to him, by an intimacy of approach allowed to no other mortal: make us gods to go before us — Back into Egypt, or forward to the promised land, and to conduct us in the way thither: for as for this Moses, who, indeed, brought us out of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him — And have not patience to wait for him any longer: therefore make us gods of gold — As if gods of Aaron’s making, though of gold, would be sufficient to supply the place of Moses, or rather, of Jehovah! And they made a calf — In imitation of the Egyptian Apis, to be their saviour and their guide; in those days — Those very days in which they continued encamped in that remarkable situation; and offered sacrifice unto the senseless and dead idol — Which could neither see nor hear, nor take any notice of the worship offered to it; and rejoiced in the work of their own hands — In the god they had made, as if, instead of being a reproach and abomination, it had been an ornament and defence to them. Nay, so proud were they of their new god, that, after they had sat down to eat and drink, they rose up to play (Exodus 32:6) before it, and in honour of it.

39. Caught away Philip—This, with the correspondent phrase in the next verse, was found at Azotus, can be hardly understood otherwise than to mean that Philip was by bodily “rapture” transferred to Azotus miraculously. So Ezekiel says, (Ezekiel 8:3,) “He (the Lord God) put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north.” The Old Testament prophets, at one period, not seldom underwent such transport. Said Obadiah to Elijah, “As soon as I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me.” And again: “Let them go and seek thy master, lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or valley.” The Greek for caught up here is used to describe the ascension of glorified saints, (1 Thessalonians 4:17,) and of Paul’s rapture into Paradise, (2 Corinthians 12:2-4,) and of the man-child into heaven, (Revelation 12:5.) Rejoicing—So that as there was a rapture of Philip’s body, there was a rapture in the eunuch’s soul. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit; and that the eunuch showed this fruit is good proof that his conversion was as sound as it was sudden. As to Philip the angel of God had given command, so to the eunuch, Philip, like an angel, had suddenly come, briefly but beneficially stayed, and instantly disappeared, never again to be beheld. One was to go beyond the land of the pyramids; the other northward, to the Roman Cesarea.

V. 40. Make us gods to go before us-Back into Egypt. Exodus 32:1.

Verses 39-41. Whom our fathers would not obey — Even after all the proofs of his miraculous powers given in Egypt, and at the Red sea; but thrust him from them — Acting a part more stupid and ungrateful than that before mentioned, verse 27; rejecting him a second time, as in contempt of all these wonderful appearances of God by him; and in their hearts — In their affections and intentions; turning back again into Egypt — Preferring their garlick and onions there, before the manna they daily received under the conduct of Moses, and the milk and honey they hoped for in Canaan. They murmured at him, mutinied against him, refused to obey his orders, and sometimes were ready to stone him. Saying unto Aaron — At the very foot of that mountain upon which God had visibly manifested himself to them, while the sound of his voice was, as it were, yet in their ears, and though, but a few days before, they had seen their great leader ascending up to him, by an intimacy of approach allowed to no other mortal: make us gods to go before us — Back into Egypt, or forward to the promised land, and to conduct us in the way thither: for as for this Moses, who, indeed, brought us out of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him — And have not patience to wait for him any longer: therefore make us gods of gold — As if gods of Aaron’s making, though of gold, would be sufficient to supply the place of Moses, or rather, of Jehovah! And they made a calf — In imitation of the Egyptian Apis, to be their saviour and their guide; in those days — Those very days in which they continued encamped in that remarkable situation; and offered sacrifice unto the senseless and dead idol — Which could neither see nor hear, nor take any notice of the worship offered to it; and rejoiced in the work of their own hands — In the god they had made, as if, instead of being a reproach and abomination, it had been an ornament and defence to them. Nay, so proud were they of their new god, that, after they had sat down to eat and drink, they rose up to play (Exodus 32:6) before it, and in honour of it.

40. Azotus—The Ashdod of the Old Testament. It stands on the summit of a grassy hill, near the Mediterranean shore, about eighteen miles north of Gaza. It was one of the powerful cities of the old Philistines, made wealthy by being the medium of trade between Asia and Europe across the Mediterranean. This marine town worshipped the fish-god Dagon. It was one of the border towns in the great wars between Syria and Egypt, and hence, being strongly fortified, it was an important objective point. It stood a siege, the longest on record, against Psammetichus. The ancient war between these Philistine coast towns and Judah was in more modern times obliterated, first, by the incoming of Alexander the Great, and, finally, by the overwhelming power of the Romans. Azotus is described as now a small village, with few traces of ancient magnificence. All the cities—The rapid Philip, skirting along the shore, evangelized (such is the Greek word transferred to English) the cities in line; such as Jamnia, Joppa, Apollonia, Antipatris, etc. This beautiful maritime strip of plain, lying between the sea and the Israelite high lands, dotted with towns, and checkered with gardens and grain-fields, was, in the olden time, the land of the PHILISTINES. These were descendants from Ham (as the Israelites were from Shem) through Mizraim, and so related to the Egyptians. From these Philistines, the Greeks and Romans, unacquainted with Israel in the interior, called the whole country, even to the Jordan and Dead Sea, PALESTINA. The Philistines had possession when Israel departed from Egypt, and Israel marched by a roundabout circuit to the Promised Land to avoid fighting with them. (Exodus 13:17.) While the Gospel was limited to Israel, this region is unmentioned in the New Testament. When Christianity began to feel the full force of its Gentile mission, among its earliest incursions, as we here see, was this visit to this beautiful margin of the Mediterranean, followed by numerous others; “as if Christianity,” says Stanley, “already felt its European destiny.”

This Philistine strip extended northward to the Tyrian Ladder; and then commences the similar sea-shore strip of the ancient Canaanites. These were also sons of Ham, through his younger son, Canaan. But the Greeks and Romans called their country PHENICIA, or Palm land, from its plentiful growth of that picturesque tree. Their early cities were Tyre and Sidon. They were celebrated as the inventors of letters, as the boldest of navigators, the richest of manufacturers; but condemned for the grossness of their sensuality and the cruelty of their idolatry, (Moloch worship,) even to human sacrifices. With the Philistines, Israel was ever at war; with the more distant Canaanites or Phenicians, usually at peace.

Cesarea—The Roman capital of Palestine.—A few years before the birth of Christ, almost the entire coast of Palestine, without the indentations that form good harbours, had a point called Strato’s Tower for an insecure landing place. Herod the Great, who was a prince in architecture, a munificent builder of palaces and a founder of cities, resolved to supply the maritime want by placing a great capital at this point. He laid it out in long rectangular streets, lined with structures of white stone, adorned at intervals with stately palaces, and crowned at its summits with splendid temples and royal statues. Josephus pronounced it “a city of palaces!” But noblest of all the works was the harbour. Herod extended a long semicircular wall, like an arm, into the sea, open at the north, to embrace the commerce of the Mediterranean within its sheltering haven. This marine wall was composed of stone, fifty feet long, into a sea sixty feet deep, and the surface of the wall presented a level two hundred feet broad. In honour of his royal master, the Emperor Augustus Cesar, Herod named this city CESAREA. He made it his own royal residence, and the political capital of his realm. The successive Roman procurators of Judea, Pilate, Felix, and Festus, held their residence and courts in Cesarea, under the authority of the great Prefect of all Syria residing at Antioch. Here Paul was two years imprisoned: and here, some years hence, Philip, with his four prophetic daughters, is found by Paul, still true to the cause of Christ. Cesarea afterward became an episcopate, of which Eusebius, the father of Church History, was, in the fourth century, bishop. The Church, though founded by the humble deacon, became renowned in ages of persecution for its confessors and martyrs. It is now a desolation, inhabited by lizards and jackals.

Near the time that Paul was imprisoned at Cesarea, there occurred the tragical event which opened the fatal war which closed with Jerusalem’s destruction. It was a standing strife—Was Cesarea a Jewish or a Greek city? “It is Jewish,” said the Jews, “for it was built by Judaic Herod.” “Those pagan temples,” replied the Greeks, “prove it Gentile.” At length the quarrel grew so fierce that the Greeks, aided by Felix, opened an indiscriminate massacre upon the twenty thousand Jews, and in a few hours not a single Jew remained to question the pure Gentilism of Cesarea.

V. 41. And they made a calf-In imitation of Apis, the Egyptian god: and rejoiced in the works of their hands-In the god they had made.

Verses 39-41. Whom our fathers would not obey — Even after all the proofs of his miraculous powers given in Egypt, and at the Red sea; but thrust him from them — Acting a part more stupid and ungrateful than that before mentioned, verse 27; rejecting him a second time, as in contempt of all these wonderful appearances of God by him; and in their hearts — In their affections and intentions; turning back again into Egypt — Preferring their garlick and onions there, before the manna they daily received under the conduct of Moses, and the milk and honey they hoped for in Canaan. They murmured at him, mutinied against him, refused to obey his orders, and sometimes were ready to stone him. Saying unto Aaron — At the very foot of that mountain upon which God had visibly manifested himself to them, while the sound of his voice was, as it were, yet in their ears, and though, but a few days before, they had seen their great leader ascending up to him, by an intimacy of approach allowed to no other mortal: make us gods to go before us — Back into Egypt, or forward to the promised land, and to conduct us in the way thither: for as for this Moses, who, indeed, brought us out of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him — And have not patience to wait for him any longer: therefore make us gods of gold — As if gods of Aaron’s making, though of gold, would be sufficient to supply the place of Moses, or rather, of Jehovah! And they made a calf — In imitation of the Egyptian Apis, to be their saviour and their guide; in those days — Those very days in which they continued encamped in that remarkable situation; and offered sacrifice unto the senseless and dead idol — Which could neither see nor hear, nor take any notice of the worship offered to it; and rejoiced in the work of their own hands — In the god they had made, as if, instead of being a reproach and abomination, it had been an ornament and defence to them. Nay, so proud were they of their new god, that, after they had sat down to eat and drink, they rose up to play (Exodus 32:6) before it, and in honour of it.

Ver. 41. They made a calf in those days. Many divines think that this calf was intended to represent Jehovah, and not Apis the Egyptian idol; especially as the calf was one of the four living creatures which the prophet saw in vision. Ezekiel 1. 4. 10. This somewhat diminishes Aaron’s sin; and no doubt he acted in some degree of ignorance. Hence his life was spared. But oh what mischief followed!

V. 42. God turned-From them in anger;

and gave them up-Frequently from the time of the golden calf, to the time of Amos, and afterward.

The host of heaven-The stars are called an army or host, because of their number, order, and powerful influence.

In the book of the prophets-Of the twelve prophets, which the Jews always wrote together in one book.

Have ye offered-The passage of Amos referred to, Amos 5:25 &c., consists of two parts; of which the former confirms Acts 7:41 of the sin of the people; the latter the beginning of Acts 7:42, concerning their punishment.

Have ye offered to me-They had offered many sacrifices; but God did not accept them as offered to him, because they sacrificed to idols also; and did not sacrifice to him with an upright heart. Amos 5:25.

Verse 42. Then God turned, and gave them up, &c.] He left them to themselves, and then they deified and worshipped the sun, moon, planets, and principal stars.

In the book of the prophets] As this quotation is found in Amos, #Amos 5:25, by the book of the prophets is meant the twelve minor prophets, which, in the ancient Jewish division of the sacred writings, formed only one book.

Have ye offered to me slain beasts] It is certain that the Israelites did offer various sacrifices to God, while in the wilderness; and it is as certain that they scarcely ever did it with an upright heart. They were idolatrous, either in heart or act, in almost all their religious services; these were therefore so very imperfect that they were counted for nothing in the sight of God; for this seems to be strongly implied in the question here asked, Have ye offered to ME (exclusively and with an upright heart) slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years? On the contrary, these forty years were little else than a tissue of rebellion and idolatry.

Verses 42, 43. Then God turned — Upon this, God, being most righteously provoked, turned away from them in anger, and, as in many other instances, punished one sin by letting them fall into another; and at length gave them up, in succeeding ages, to the most abandoned, public, and general idolatry, even to worship all the host of heaven — The stars and other heavenly bodies, and that with as little reserve, and as little shame, as the most stupid of the heathen nations. As it is written in the book of the prophets — Namely, of the twelve minor prophets, which the Jews always connected together in one book. What is here quoted is taken from the Prophet Amos 5:25; where see the note. The passage consists of two parts; of which the former confirms verse 41, concerning the sin of the people; the latter, the beginning of verse 42, respecting their punishment: O house of Israel, have ye offered to me — To me alone; slain beasts, &c., forty years in the wilderness? — You know that even then you began to revolt, and provoke me to jealousy with your abominations. They had offered many sacrifices, but did not offer them to God alone, but sacrificed to idols also; and God did not accept even those that they offered to him, because they did not offer them with an upright heart. And in succeeding ages you were continually renewing and aggravating your rebellions and treasons against me. Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch — Instead of confining yourselves to my tabernacle; and the star of your god Remphan — Or Chium, as it is called in Amos. Moloch probably meant the sun, and Remphan, or Chium, the moon; or some other star. Aben Ezra thinks Saturn; figures which ye made — Images, or emblematical representations, of these supposed deities; to worship them — Both the images, and the supposed deities which they were intended to represent. See note on Amos 5:26. I will carry you away beyond Babylon — Into countries more distant. So Dr. Prideaux reconciles Stephen’s quotation with the original passages in Amos, where we read, beyond Damascus. This was fulfilled by the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:6.

Ver. 42. God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. They embraced the worship of Sabianism, which was anterior to idolatry, and pervaded the whole oriental world, as stated on Job 1:15.

V. 43. Ye took up-Probably not long after the golden calf: but secretly; else Moses would have mentioned it.

The shrine-A small, portable chapel, in which was the image of their god. Moloch was the planet Mars, which they worshipped under a human shape. Remphan, that is, Saturn, they represented by a star.

And I will carry you beyond Babylon-That is, beyond Damascus (which is the word in Amos) and Babylon. This was fulfilled by the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:6.

Verse 43. Ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them.] This is a literal translation of the place, as it stands in the Septuagint; but in the Hebrew text it stands thus: But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Molech, and Chiun, your images, the star of your god which ye made to yourselves. This is the simple version of the place, unless we should translate מלככם twks ta µtacnw venasatem eth Siccuth malkekem, ye took SIKUTH your king, (instead of ye took up the tabernacle of your MOLEK,) as some have done. The place is indeed very obscure, and the two texts do not tend to cast light on each other. The rabbins say siccuth, which we translate tabernacle, is the name of an idol. Molech is generally understood to mean the sun; and several persons of good judgment think that by Remphan or Raiphan is meant the planet Saturn, which the Copts call rhfan, Rephan. It will be seen above that instead of Remphan, or, as some of the best MSS. have it, Rephan, the Hebrew text has כיונ Chiun, which might possibly be a corruption of ריפנ Reiphan, as it would be very easy to mistake the k caph for r resh, and the vau shurek w for p pe. This emendation would bring the Hebrew, Septuagint, and the text of Luke, nearer together; but there is no authority either from MSS. or versions for this correction: however, as Chiun is mentioned in no other place, though Molech often occurs, it is the more likely that there might have been some very early mistake in the text, and that the Septuagint has preserved the true reading.

It was customary for the idolaters of all nations to carry images of their gods about them in their journeys, military expeditions, &c.; and these, being very small, were enclosed in little boxes, perhaps some of them in the shape of temples, called tabernacles; or, as we have it, Acts 19:24, shrines. These little gods were the penates and lares among the Romans, and the tselems or talismans among the ancient eastern idolaters. The Hebrew text seems to refer to these when it says, the tabernacle of your Molech, and Chiun, your images, µkymlx tsalmeycem, your tselems, touv tupouv, the types or simulachres of your gods. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 31:19”. Many of those small portable images are now in my own collection, all of copper or brass; some of them the identical penates of the ancient Romans, and others the offspring of the Hindoo idolatry; they are from an ounce weight to half a pound. Such images as these I suppose the idolatrous Israelites, in imitation of their neighbours, the Moabites, Ammonites, &c., to have carried about with them; and to such the prophet appears to me unquestionably to allude. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.] You have carried your idolatrous images about; and I will carry you into captivity, and see if the gods in whom ye have trusted can deliver you from my hands. Instead of beyond Babylon, Amos, from whom the quotation is made, says, I will carry you beyond Damascus. Where they were carried was into Assyria and Media, see 2 Kings 17:6: now, this was not only beyond Damascus, but beyond Babylon itself; and, as Stephen knew this to be the fact, he states it here, and thus more precisely fixes the place of their captivity. The Holy Spirit, in his farther revelations, has undoubted right to extend or illustrate those which he had given before. This case frequently occurs when a former prophecy is quoted in later times.

Verses 42, 43. Then God turned — Upon this, God, being most righteously provoked, turned away from them in anger, and, as in many other instances, punished one sin by letting them fall into another; and at length gave them up, in succeeding ages, to the most abandoned, public, and general idolatry, even to worship all the host of heaven — The stars and other heavenly bodies, and that with as little reserve, and as little shame, as the most stupid of the heathen nations. As it is written in the book of the prophets — Namely, of the twelve minor prophets, which the Jews always connected together in one book. What is here quoted is taken from the Prophet Amos 5:25; where see the note. The passage consists of two parts; of which the former confirms verse 41, concerning the sin of the people; the latter, the beginning of verse 42, respecting their punishment: O house of Israel, have ye offered to me — To me alone; slain beasts, &c., forty years in the wilderness? — You know that even then you began to revolt, and provoke me to jealousy with your abominations. They had offered many sacrifices, but did not offer them to God alone, but sacrificed to idols also; and God did not accept even those that they offered to him, because they did not offer them with an upright heart. And in succeeding ages you were continually renewing and aggravating your rebellions and treasons against me. Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch — Instead of confining yourselves to my tabernacle; and the star of your god Remphan — Or Chium, as it is called in Amos. Moloch probably meant the sun, and Remphan, or Chium, the moon; or some other star. Aben Ezra thinks Saturn; figures which ye made — Images, or emblematical representations, of these supposed deities; to worship them — Both the images, and the supposed deities which they were intended to represent. See note on Amos 5:26. I will carry you away beyond Babylon — Into countries more distant. So Dr. Prideaux reconciles Stephen’s quotation with the original passages in Amos, where we read, beyond Damascus. This was fulfilled by the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:6.

Ver. 43. The tabernacle of Moloch. An Egyptian king was called Moloch, who was idolized after death, and supposed to be represented by Mars. Remphan is conjectured to be the king who elevated Joseph, and to be deified after death, because of his riches, and represented by Saturn. So Dr. Hammond.

V. 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony-The testimony was properly the two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written. Hence the ark which contained them is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole tabernacle in this place. The tabernacle of the testimony-according to the model which he had seen-When he was caught up in the visions of God on the mount.

Verse 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness] That is, the tabernacle in which the two tables of stone written by the finger of God were laid up, as a testimony that he had delivered these laws to the people, and that they had promised to obey them. As one great design of St. Stephen was to show the Jews that they placed too much dependence on outward privileges, and had not used the law, the tabernacle, the temple, nor the temple service, for the purpose of their institution, he labours to bring them to a due sense of this, that conviction might lead to repentance and conversion. And he farther shows that God did not confine his worship to one place, or form. He was worshipped without any shrine in the times of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, &c. He was worshipped with a tabernacle, or portable temple, in the wilderness. He was worshipped also in the fixed temple projected by David, but built by Solomon. He asserts farther that his infinite majesty cannot be confined to temples, made by human hands; and where there is neither tabernacle nor temple, (in any part of his vast dominions,) he may be worshipped acceptably by the upright in heart. Thus he proves that neither tabernacle nor temple are essentially requisite for the true worship of the true God. Concerning the tabernacle to which St. Stephen here refers, the reader is requested to consult the notes, see Clarke “Exodus 25:8”, &c., and the subsequent chapters. Speaking unto Moses] oJ lalwn, Who spake, as in the margin; signifying the angel of God who spake to Moses, or God himself. See Exodus 25:40.

Verses 44-47. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness — Greek, tou marturiou, of the testimony. The two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were most properly the testimony, as being a constant testimony of the relation between God and Israel: hence the ark, which contained them, is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole tabernacle in this place, the tabernacle of the testimony. This, says Stephen, was with our fathers in the wilderness, a tabernacle made in all respects as God had appointed, who, speaking unto Moses, commanded him to make it according to the fashion, or model, that he had seen — Namely, in the mount, Exodus 25:40. “As Stephen had been accused of blaspheming the temple, he, with great propriety, takes occasion to speak of their sacred places with due reverence, as raised by special direction from God; and yet corrects that extravagant regard for them, and confidence in them, which the Jews entertained.” — Doddridge. Which our fathers, that came after — Or rather, as diadexamenoi more properly signifies, having received; brought in with Jesus — That is, with Joshua, when he led them over Jordan; into the possession of the Gentiles — Into the land which the Gentiles possessed before. So that God’s favour is not a necessary consequence of inhabiting this land. All along Stephen intimates two things: 1st, That God always loved good men in every land. 2d, That he never loved bad men even in this. Unto the days of David — That is, the tabernacle continued for many ages, even unto David’s time, to be the resort of the pious worshippers in Israel; above four hundred years before there was any thought of building a temple. David indeed having found favour before God, desired — Greek, hthsato, petitioned, this further blessing, on which his heart was set; even to have the honour to find a tabernacle — Or a dwelling more stable and splendid; for the God of Jacob — But he did not obtain his petition. For, as he had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, God would not permit him to build the temple. He laid a plan for it, however, and consecrated a considerable part of the spoils which he had taken from the enemy toward erecting it. But God remained without any temple till Solomon built him a house — Which, till the reign of that prince, he never had commanded or permitted to be done. Observe how wisely the word house is used here, rather than the word temple, with respect to what follows.

V. 45. Which our fathers having received-From their ancestors; brought into the possession of the Gentiles-Into the land which the Gentiles possessed before. So that God's favour is not a necessary consequence of inhabiting this land. All along St. Stephen intimates two things: 1. That God always loved good men in every land: 2. That he never loved bad men even in this. Joshua 3:14.

Verse 45. Brought in with Jesus] That is, with JOSHUA, whom the Greek version, quoted by St. Stephen, always writes ihsouv, JESUS, but which should constantly be written Joshua in such cases as the present, in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion.

Possession of the Gentiles] twn eqnwn, of the heathens, whom Joshua conquered, and gave their land to the children of Israel.

Verses 44-47. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness — Greek, tou marturiou, of the testimony. The two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were most properly the testimony, as being a constant testimony of the relation between God and Israel: hence the ark, which contained them, is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole tabernacle in this place, the tabernacle of the testimony. This, says Stephen, was with our fathers in the wilderness, a tabernacle made in all respects as God had appointed, who, speaking unto Moses, commanded him to make it according to the fashion, or model, that he had seen — Namely, in the mount, Exodus 25:40. “As Stephen had been accused of blaspheming the temple, he, with great propriety, takes occasion to speak of their sacred places with due reverence, as raised by special direction from God; and yet corrects that extravagant regard for them, and confidence in them, which the Jews entertained.” — Doddridge. Which our fathers, that came after — Or rather, as diadexamenoi more properly signifies, having received; brought in with Jesus — That is, with Joshua, when he led them over Jordan; into the possession of the Gentiles — Into the land which the Gentiles possessed before. So that God’s favour is not a necessary consequence of inhabiting this land. All along Stephen intimates two things: 1st, That God always loved good men in every land. 2d, That he never loved bad men even in this. Unto the days of David — That is, the tabernacle continued for many ages, even unto David’s time, to be the resort of the pious worshippers in Israel; above four hundred years before there was any thought of building a temple. David indeed having found favour before God, desired — Greek, hthsato, petitioned, this further blessing, on which his heart was set; even to have the honour to find a tabernacle — Or a dwelling more stable and splendid; for the God of Jacob — But he did not obtain his petition. For, as he had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, God would not permit him to build the temple. He laid a plan for it, however, and consecrated a considerable part of the spoils which he had taken from the enemy toward erecting it. But God remained without any temple till Solomon built him a house — Which, till the reign of that prince, he never had commanded or permitted to be done. Observe how wisely the word house is used here, rather than the word temple, with respect to what follows.

V. 46. Who petitioned to find a habitation for the God of Jacob-But he did not obtain his petition: for God remained without any temple till Solomon built him a house. Observe how wisely the word is chosen with respect to what follows.

Verse 46. Desired to find a tabernacle] This was in David’s heart, and it met with the Divine approbation: see 2 Samuel 7:2, &c., and see the purpose, <19D202>Psalm 132:2-5; but, as David had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, God would not permit him to build the temple; but he laid the plan and made provision for it, and Solomon executed the design.

Verses 44-47. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness — Greek, tou marturiou, of the testimony. The two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were most properly the testimony, as being a constant testimony of the relation between God and Israel: hence the ark, which contained them, is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole tabernacle in this place, the tabernacle of the testimony. This, says Stephen, was with our fathers in the wilderness, a tabernacle made in all respects as God had appointed, who, speaking unto Moses, commanded him to make it according to the fashion, or model, that he had seen — Namely, in the mount, Exodus 25:40. “As Stephen had been accused of blaspheming the temple, he, with great propriety, takes occasion to speak of their sacred places with due reverence, as raised by special direction from God; and yet corrects that extravagant regard for them, and confidence in them, which the Jews entertained.” — Doddridge. Which our fathers, that came after — Or rather, as diadexamenoi more properly signifies, having received; brought in with Jesus — That is, with Joshua, when he led them over Jordan; into the possession of the Gentiles — Into the land which the Gentiles possessed before. So that God’s favour is not a necessary consequence of inhabiting this land. All along Stephen intimates two things: 1st, That God always loved good men in every land. 2d, That he never loved bad men even in this. Unto the days of David — That is, the tabernacle continued for many ages, even unto David’s time, to be the resort of the pious worshippers in Israel; above four hundred years before there was any thought of building a temple. David indeed having found favour before God, desired — Greek, hthsato, petitioned, this further blessing, on which his heart was set; even to have the honour to find a tabernacle — Or a dwelling more stable and splendid; for the God of Jacob — But he did not obtain his petition. For, as he had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, God would not permit him to build the temple. He laid a plan for it, however, and consecrated a considerable part of the spoils which he had taken from the enemy toward erecting it. But God remained without any temple till Solomon built him a house — Which, till the reign of that prince, he never had commanded or permitted to be done. Observe how wisely the word house is used here, rather than the word temple, with respect to what follows.

Verses 44-47. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness — Greek, tou marturiou, of the testimony. The two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were most properly the testimony, as being a constant testimony of the relation between God and Israel: hence the ark, which contained them, is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole tabernacle in this place, the tabernacle of the testimony. This, says Stephen, was with our fathers in the wilderness, a tabernacle made in all respects as God had appointed, who, speaking unto Moses, commanded him to make it according to the fashion, or model, that he had seen — Namely, in the mount, Exodus 25:40. “As Stephen had been accused of blaspheming the temple, he, with great propriety, takes occasion to speak of their sacred places with due reverence, as raised by special direction from God; and yet corrects that extravagant regard for them, and confidence in them, which the Jews entertained.” — Doddridge. Which our fathers, that came after — Or rather, as diadexamenoi more properly signifies, having received; brought in with Jesus — That is, with Joshua, when he led them over Jordan; into the possession of the Gentiles — Into the land which the Gentiles possessed before. So that God’s favour is not a necessary consequence of inhabiting this land. All along Stephen intimates two things: 1st, That God always loved good men in every land. 2d, That he never loved bad men even in this. Unto the days of David — That is, the tabernacle continued for many ages, even unto David’s time, to be the resort of the pious worshippers in Israel; above four hundred years before there was any thought of building a temple. David indeed having found favour before God, desired — Greek, hthsato, petitioned, this further blessing, on which his heart was set; even to have the honour to find a tabernacle — Or a dwelling more stable and splendid; for the God of Jacob — But he did not obtain his petition. For, as he had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, God would not permit him to build the temple. He laid a plan for it, however, and consecrated a considerable part of the spoils which he had taken from the enemy toward erecting it. But God remained without any temple till Solomon built him a house — Which, till the reign of that prince, he never had commanded or permitted to be done. Observe how wisely the word house is used here, rather than the word temple, with respect to what follows.

V. 48. Yet the Most High inhabiteth not temples made with hands-As Solomon declared at the very dedication of the temple, 1 Kings 8:27. The Most High-Whom as such no building can contain. Isaiah 66:1.

Verse 48. The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands] Here St. Stephen evidently refers to Solomon’s speech, 1 Kings 8:27. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have builded? Both Solomon and St. Stephen mean that the majesty of God could not be contained, not even in the whole vortex of nature; much less in any temple which human hands could erect.

As saith the prophet] The place referred to is Isaiah 66:1, 2: Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest, &c., with which the quotation by Stephen agrees.

Verses 48-50. Howbeit — Alla, but, or yet; we are not to imagine that God permitted a temple to be built even then for his own sake: for it was acknowledged, at the same time, by Solomon himself, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands — Be they ever so rich, splendid, and majestic. As saith the prophet — Namely, Isaiah, chap. 66:1, where, speaking in the name of God, he says, Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool; and how then should my presence be confined to any particular place? What house will ye build me — Suitable for me; saith the Lord: or, what is the place of my rest? — Have I need of rest? What need have I of a house? either to rest in, or wherein to show my glory? Hath not my hand made all these things? — Whatever splendour any temples may have, did not I form the materials with which they are built, and endow the workmen, that fashioned them, with all their art and genius? Do not imagine, then, that you can confer any obligation upon me by such structures as these, or any act of homage which you can render to me in them, nor think that you can charm me to continue my abode there, or to be a constant guard to you, merely because you have such edifices among you.

V. 49. What is the place of my rest?-Have I need to rest?

Verses 48-50. Howbeit — Alla, but, or yet; we are not to imagine that God permitted a temple to be built even then for his own sake: for it was acknowledged, at the same time, by Solomon himself, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands — Be they ever so rich, splendid, and majestic. As saith the prophet — Namely, Isaiah, chap. 66:1, where, speaking in the name of God, he says, Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool; and how then should my presence be confined to any particular place? What house will ye build me — Suitable for me; saith the Lord: or, what is the place of my rest? — Have I need of rest? What need have I of a house? either to rest in, or wherein to show my glory? Hath not my hand made all these things? — Whatever splendour any temples may have, did not I form the materials with which they are built, and endow the workmen, that fashioned them, with all their art and genius? Do not imagine, then, that you can confer any obligation upon me by such structures as these, or any act of homage which you can render to me in them, nor think that you can charm me to continue my abode there, or to be a constant guard to you, merely because you have such edifices among you.

Verse 50. Hath not my hand made all these things?] Stephen certainly had not finished his discourse, nor drawn his inferences from the facts already stated; but it is likely that, as they perceived he was about to draw conclusions unfavourable to the temple and its ritual, they immediately raised up a clamour against him, which was the cause of the following very cutting address.

Verses 48-50. Howbeit — Alla, but, or yet; we are not to imagine that God permitted a temple to be built even then for his own sake: for it was acknowledged, at the same time, by Solomon himself, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands — Be they ever so rich, splendid, and majestic. As saith the prophet — Namely, Isaiah, chap. 66:1, where, speaking in the name of God, he says, Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool; and how then should my presence be confined to any particular place? What house will ye build me — Suitable for me; saith the Lord: or, what is the place of my rest? — Have I need of rest? What need have I of a house? either to rest in, or wherein to show my glory? Hath not my hand made all these things? — Whatever splendour any temples may have, did not I form the materials with which they are built, and endow the workmen, that fashioned them, with all their art and genius? Do not imagine, then, that you can confer any obligation upon me by such structures as these, or any act of homage which you can render to me in them, nor think that you can charm me to continue my abode there, or to be a constant guard to you, merely because you have such edifices among you.

V. 51. Ye stiff necked-Not bowing the neck to God's yoke; and uncircumcised in heart-So they showed themselves, Acts 7:54; and ears-As they showed, Acts 7:57 So far were they from receiving the word of God into their hearts, that they would not hear it even with their ears.

Ye-And your fathers, always-As often as ever ye are called, resist the Holy Ghost-Testifying by the prophets of Jesus, and the whole truth. This is the sum of what he had shown at large.

Verse 51. Ye stiff-necked] sklhrotrachloi. A metaphor taken from untoward oxen, who cannot be broken into the yoke; and whose strong necks cannot be bended to the right or the left.

Uncircumcised in heart and ears] This was a Jewish mode of speech, often used by the prophets. Circumcision was instituted, not only as a sign and seal of the covenant into which the Israelites entered with their Maker, but also as a type of that purity and holiness which the law of God requires; hence there was an excision of what was deemed not only superfluous but also injurious; and by this cutting off, the propensity to that crime which ruins the body, debases the mind, and was generally the forerunner of idolatry, was happily lessened. It would be easy to prove this, were not the subject too delicate. Where the spirit of disobedience was found, where the heart was prone to iniquity, and the ears impatient of reproof and counsel, the person is represented as uncircumcised in those parts, because devoted to iniquity, impatient of reproof, and refusing to obey. In Pirkey Eliezer, chap. 29, “Rabbi Seira said, There are five species of uncircumcision in the world; four in man, and one in trees. Those in man are the following:-

“1. Uncircumcision of the EAR. Behold, their EAR is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken, Jeremiah 6:10.

“2. The uncircumcision of the LIPS. How shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised LIPS? Exodus 6:12.

“3. Uncircumcision of HEART. If then their uncircumcised HEARTS be humbled, Leviticus 26:41. Circumcise therefore the FORESKIN of your HEART, Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4. For all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the HEART, Jeremiah 9:26.

“4. The uncircumcision of the FLESH. Ye shall circumcise the FLESH of your FORESKIN, &c., Genesis 17:11.”

Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost] 1. Because they were uncircumcised in heart, they always resisted the influences of the Holy Spirit, bringing light and conviction to their minds; in consequence of which they became hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and neither repented at the preaching of John, nor credited the glad tidings told them by Christ and the apostles. 2. Because they were uncircumcised in ears, they would neither hear nor obey Moses, the prophets, Christ, nor the apostles. As your fathers did, so do ye.] They were disobedient children, of disobedient parents: in all their generations they had been disobedient and perverse. This whole people, as well as this text, are fearful proofs that the Holy Spirit, the almighty energy of the living God, may be resisted and rendered of none effect. This Spirit is not sent to stocks, stones, or machines, but to human beings endued with rational souls; therefore it is not to work on them with that irresistible energy which it must exert on inert matter, in order to conquer the vis inertiæ or disposition to abide eternally in a motionless state, which is the state of all inanimate beings; but it works upon understanding, will, judgment, conscience, &c., in order to enlighten, convince, and persuade. If, after all, the understanding, the eye of the mind, refuses to behold the light; the will determines to remain obstinate; the judgment purposes to draw false inferences; and the conscience hardens itself against every check and remonstrance, (and all this is possible to a rational soul, which must be dealt with in a rational way,) then the Spirit of God, being thus resisted, is grieved, and the sinner is left to reap the fruit of his doings. To force the man to see, feel, repent, believe, and be saved, would be to alter the essential principles of his creation and the nature of mind, and reduce him into the state of a machine, the vis inertiæ of which was to be overcome and conducted by a certain quantum of physical force, superior to that resistance which would be the natural effect of the certain quantum of the vis inertiæ possessed by the subject on and by which this agent was to operate. Now, man cannot be operated on in this way, because it is contrary to the laws of his creation and nature; nor can the Holy Ghost work on that as a machine which himself has made a free agent. Man therefore may, and generally does, resist the Holy Ghost; and the whole revelation of God bears unequivocal testimony to this most dreadful possibility, and most awful truth. It is trifling with the sacred text to say that resisting the Holy Ghost here means resisting the laws of Moses, the exhortations, threatenings, and promises of the prophets, &c. These, it is true, the uncircumcised ear may resist; but the uncircumcised heart is that alone to which the Spirit that gave the laws, exhortations, promises, &c;, speaks; and, as matter resists matter, so spirit resists spirit. These were not only uncircumcised in ear, but uncircumcised also in heart; and therefore they resisted the Holy Ghost, not only in his declarations and institutions, but also in his actual energetic operations upon their minds.

Verses 51-53. Ye stiff-necked, &c. — Stephen, finding by a confused murmur in the place that they understood whither his discourse tended, and perceiving by the eagerness of their countenances that they would soon interrupt him, applied himself more closely to his persecutors in these remarkable words, which he boldly addressed to them under the influence of the Holy Spirit, by whose direction he spoke; Ye stiff-necked — Inflexible and obstinate sinners, not bowing your necks to God’s yoke; and uncircumcised in heart and ears — So that you will not hearken to instruction, or be seriously affected with it. This they immediately showed. See verses 54, 57. So far were they from receiving the word of God with their hearts, that they would not hear it even with their ears. Ye — And your fathers; ye, as a people, in all ages; resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did — In former ages; so do ye now. This is the sum of what he had shown at large. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? — Some have inferred from this, that many writings, containing the history of these persecutions, have been destroyed by the Jews; but it seems more natural to understand the words in a limited sense, as only intimating that most of the prophets had suffered such unworthy usage. Attempts, however, were sometimes made to cut off all the prophets of the Lord at once. See 1 Kings 19:10, 14; 2 Chronicles 36:16. They have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just or righteous One — That is, Christ; so called by way of eminence, as being alone perfectly righteous: of whom — When you ought to have heard of him with delight, and to have received him with the most humble reverence and joyful gratitude; you have been now the perfidious betrayers, and cruel murderers. Who have received the law — Delivered from Sinai with astonishing circumstances of solemnity, majesty, and terror, by the disposition, or administration of angels, and have not kept, but continually violated it — When the Son of God gave the law on mount Sinai, he was attended with thousands of angels, Galatians 3:19; Psalms 67:1Psalm 67:17. Dr. Doddridge renders the original expression, eiv diatagav aggelwn, through ranks of angels, “marshalled in solemn array upon that grand occasion:” and he thinks it is evident, from Hebrews 2:2, that God made use of the instrumentality of angels to form the voice heard at that awful time.

Verse 52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?] Ye have not only resisted the Holy Ghost, but ye have persecuted all those who have spoken to you in his name, and by his influence: thus ye prove your opposition to the Spirit himself, by your opposition to every thing that proceeds from him.

They have slain them, &c.] Isaiah, who showed before of the coming of Christ, the Jews report, was sawn asunder at the command of Manasseh. The coming of the Just One] tou dikaiou, Meaning Jesus Christ; emphatically called the just or righteous person, not only because of the unspotted integrity of his heart and life, but because of his plenary acquittal, when tried at the tribunal of Pilate: I find no fault at all in him. The mention of this circumstance served greatly to aggravate their guilt. The character of Just One is applied to our Lord in three other places of Scripture: Acts 3:14; 22:14; and James 5:6. The betrayers and murderers] Ye first delivered him up into the hands of the Romans, hoping they would have put him to death; but, when they acquitted him, then, in opposition to the declaration of his innocence, and in outrage to every form of justice, ye took and murdered him. This was a most terrible charge; and one against which they could set up no sort of defense. No wonder, then, that they were instigated by the spirit of the old destroyer, which they never resisted, to add another murder to that of which they had been so recently guilty.

Verses 51-53. Ye stiff-necked, &c. — Stephen, finding by a confused murmur in the place that they understood whither his discourse tended, and perceiving by the eagerness of their countenances that they would soon interrupt him, applied himself more closely to his persecutors in these remarkable words, which he boldly addressed to them under the influence of the Holy Spirit, by whose direction he spoke; Ye stiff-necked — Inflexible and obstinate sinners, not bowing your necks to God’s yoke; and uncircumcised in heart and ears — So that you will not hearken to instruction, or be seriously affected with it. This they immediately showed. See verses 54, 57. So far were they from receiving the word of God with their hearts, that they would not hear it even with their ears. Ye — And your fathers; ye, as a people, in all ages; resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did — In former ages; so do ye now. This is the sum of what he had shown at large. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? — Some have inferred from this, that many writings, containing the history of these persecutions, have been destroyed by the Jews; but it seems more natural to understand the words in a limited sense, as only intimating that most of the prophets had suffered such unworthy usage. Attempts, however, were sometimes made to cut off all the prophets of the Lord at once. See 1 Kings 19:10, 14; 2 Chronicles 36:16. They have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just or righteous One — That is, Christ; so called by way of eminence, as being alone perfectly righteous: of whom — When you ought to have heard of him with delight, and to have received him with the most humble reverence and joyful gratitude; you have been now the perfidious betrayers, and cruel murderers. Who have received the law — Delivered from Sinai with astonishing circumstances of solemnity, majesty, and terror, by the disposition, or administration of angels, and have not kept, but continually violated it — When the Son of God gave the law on mount Sinai, he was attended with thousands of angels, Galatians 3:19; Psalms 67:1Psalm 67:17. Dr. Doddridge renders the original expression, eiv diatagav aggelwn, through ranks of angels, “marshalled in solemn array upon that grand occasion:” and he thinks it is evident, from Hebrews 2:2, that God made use of the instrumentality of angels to form the voice heard at that awful time.

V. 53. Who have received the law by the administration of angels-God, when he gave the law on Mount Sinai, was attended with thousands of his angels, Galatians 3:19; Psalms 68:17Psalm 68:17.

Verse 53. By the disposition of angels] eiv diatagav aggelwn. After all that has been said on this difficult passage, perhaps the simple meaning is, that there were ranks, diatagai, of angels attending on the Divine Majesty when he gave the law: a circumstance which must have added greatly to the grandeur and solemnity of the occasion; and to this Psalms 68:17Psalm 68:17 seems to me most evidently to allude: The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even many thousands of angels: the Lord is among them as in SINAI, in the holy place. It was not then by the mouths nor by the hands of angels, as prime agents, that Moses, and through him the people, received the law; but God himself gave it, accompanied with many thousands of those glorious beings. As it is probable they might be assisting in this most glorious solemnity, therefore St. Paul might say, Galatians 3:19, that it was ordained by angels, diatageiv diJ aggelwn, in the hand of a Mediator. And as they were the only persons that could appear, for no man hath seen God at any time, therefore the apostle might say farther, (if indeed he refers to the same transaction, see the note there,) the word spoken by angels was steadfast, Hebrews 2:2. But the circumstances of this case are not sufficiently plain to lead to the knowledge of what was done by the angels in this most wonderful transaction; only we learn, from the use made of this circumstance by St. Stephen, that it added much to the enormity of their transgression, that they did not keep a law, in dispensing of which the ministry of angels had been employed. Some think Moses, Aaron, and Joshua are the angels here intended; and others think that the fire, light, darkness, cloud and thick darkness were the angels which Jehovah used on this occasion, and to which St. Stephen refers; but neither of these senses appears sufficiently natural, and particularly the latter.

Verses 51-53. Ye stiff-necked, &c. — Stephen, finding by a confused murmur in the place that they understood whither his discourse tended, and perceiving by the eagerness of their countenances that they would soon interrupt him, applied himself more closely to his persecutors in these remarkable words, which he boldly addressed to them under the influence of the Holy Spirit, by whose direction he spoke; Ye stiff-necked — Inflexible and obstinate sinners, not bowing your necks to God’s yoke; and uncircumcised in heart and ears — So that you will not hearken to instruction, or be seriously affected with it. This they immediately showed. See verses 54, 57. So far were they from receiving the word of God with their hearts, that they would not hear it even with their ears. Ye — And your fathers; ye, as a people, in all ages; resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did — In former ages; so do ye now. This is the sum of what he had shown at large. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? — Some have inferred from this, that many writings, containing the history of these persecutions, have been destroyed by the Jews; but it seems more natural to understand the words in a limited sense, as only intimating that most of the prophets had suffered such unworthy usage. Attempts, however, were sometimes made to cut off all the prophets of the Lord at once. See 1 Kings 19:10, 14; 2 Chronicles 36:16. They have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just or righteous One — That is, Christ; so called by way of eminence, as being alone perfectly righteous: of whom — When you ought to have heard of him with delight, and to have received him with the most humble reverence and joyful gratitude; you have been now the perfidious betrayers, and cruel murderers. Who have received the law — Delivered from Sinai with astonishing circumstances of solemnity, majesty, and terror, by the disposition, or administration of angels, and have not kept, but continually violated it — When the Son of God gave the law on mount Sinai, he was attended with thousands of angels, Galatians 3:19; Psalms 67:1Psalm 67:17. Dr. Doddridge renders the original expression, eiv diatagav aggelwn, through ranks of angels, “marshalled in solemn array upon that grand occasion:” and he thinks it is evident, from Hebrews 2:2, that God made use of the instrumentality of angels to form the voice heard at that awful time.

Ver. 53. Received the law by the disposition of angels. Jehovah, the Christ, came down in the sight of all the people. Exodus 19:11. Not indeed in figure, but in visible glory, and in all the grandeur of celestial majesty. God himself gave the law, but angels attended as servants of the Messiah, and as witnesses of the covenant. Or the law was given to make man partaker of the disposition of angels. Or the law was given, that it might be published by prophets and ministers, who are often called angels. This text should be understood as in Galatians 3:19. See a long note here in HEINSIUS.

Verse 54. They were cut to the heart] dieprionto, They were sawn through. See Clarke’s note on “Acts 5:33”.

They gnashed on him with their teeth.] They were determined to hear him no longer; were filled with rage against him, and evidently thirsted for his blood.

Verses 54-56. When they heard these things — These plain, and undeniable, and alarming truths; they were cut to the heart — Or sawn asunder, the original word being the same that is used chap. 5:33. And not permitting him to proceed any further, in a transport of rage, they gnashed on him with their teeth — As if they would have devoured him alive. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost — And therefore no way terrified with the foresight of the evil which appeared to be determined against him; looked up steadfastly into heaven — From whence alone he could expect help or mercy; and saw the glory of God — Prepared for him; and Jesus standing on the right hand of God — Risen up from the throne of his glory, (for he is generally represented as sitting,) to afford help to his distressed servant, and ready to receive him. Doubtless many other martyrs, as Mr. Addison has observed, when called to suffer the last extremities, had extraordinary assistances of a similar kind; otherwise frail mortality could not have endured the torments under which they rejoiced, and sometimes preached Christ, to the conversion of spectators, and, in some instances, of their guards and tormentors.

V. 55. But he looking steadfastly up to heaven, saw the glory of God-Doubtless he saw such a glorious representation, God miraculously operating on his imagination, as on Ezekiel's, when he sat in his house at Babylon, and saw Jerusalem, and seemed to himself transported thither, Ezekiel 8:1-4. And probably other martyrs, when called to suffer the last extremity, have had extraordinary assistance of some similar kind.

Verse 55. Saw the glory of God] The Shekinah, the splendour or manifestation of the Divine Majesty.

And Jesus standing on the right hand of God] In his official character, as Mediator between God and man.

Stephen had this revelation while in the Sanhedrin; for as yet he had not been forced out of the city. See Acts 7:58.

Verses 54-56. When they heard these things — These plain, and undeniable, and alarming truths; they were cut to the heart — Or sawn asunder, the original word being the same that is used chap. 5:33. And not permitting him to proceed any further, in a transport of rage, they gnashed on him with their teeth — As if they would have devoured him alive. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost — And therefore no way terrified with the foresight of the evil which appeared to be determined against him; looked up steadfastly into heaven — From whence alone he could expect help or mercy; and saw the glory of God — Prepared for him; and Jesus standing on the right hand of God — Risen up from the throne of his glory, (for he is generally represented as sitting,) to afford help to his distressed servant, and ready to receive him. Doubtless many other martyrs, as Mr. Addison has observed, when called to suffer the last extremities, had extraordinary assistances of a similar kind; otherwise frail mortality could not have endured the torments under which they rejoiced, and sometimes preached Christ, to the conversion of spectators, and, in some instances, of their guards and tormentors.

V. 56. I see the Son of man standing-As if it were just ready to receive him. Otherwise he is said to sit at the right hand of God.

Verses 54-56. When they heard these things — These plain, and undeniable, and alarming truths; they were cut to the heart — Or sawn asunder, the original word being the same that is used chap. 5:33. And not permitting him to proceed any further, in a transport of rage, they gnashed on him with their teeth — As if they would have devoured him alive. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost — And therefore no way terrified with the foresight of the evil which appeared to be determined against him; looked up steadfastly into heaven — From whence alone he could expect help or mercy; and saw the glory of God — Prepared for him; and Jesus standing on the right hand of God — Risen up from the throne of his glory, (for he is generally represented as sitting,) to afford help to his distressed servant, and ready to receive him. Doubtless many other martyrs, as Mr. Addison has observed, when called to suffer the last extremities, had extraordinary assistances of a similar kind; otherwise frail mortality could not have endured the torments under which they rejoiced, and sometimes preached Christ, to the conversion of spectators, and, in some instances, of their guards and tormentors.

Ver. 56. I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God, exercising all his regal powers in glory. Psalms 8:5Psalm 8:5.

V. 57. They rushed upon him-Before any sentence passed.

Verse 57. They-stopped their ears] As a proof that he had uttered blasphemy, because he said, He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This was a fearful proof against them; for if Jesus was at the right hand of God, then they had murdered an innocent person; and they must infer that God’s justice must speedily avenge his death. They were determined not to suffer a man to live any longer who could say he saw the heavens opened and Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God.

Verses 57-59. Then they cried out with a loud voice — Being provoked to such a degree that they could not contain themselves, and meaning to drown the voice of Stephen; and stopped their ears — As if they could not bear to hear such blasphemy as they wished to have it thought he had spoken. And ran upon him — Greek, wrmhsan, rushed on him with one accord, before any sentence was regularly passed; and cast — Greek, ekbalontev exw thv polewv, casting him out of the city — It seems by a gate near the place where the sanhedrim sat; and as soon as they had got without the boundaries of that sacred place, of which they judged it would be a profanation to stain it with human blood, they stoned him — This, like the stoning of Paul at Lystra, seems to have been an act of popular fury, exceeding the power which the Jews regularly had; which, though it might have extended to passing a capital sentence, was certainly not sufficient for carrying it into execution, without the consent of the Romans. The Jews were more than once ready to stone Christ, not only when by their own confession they had not power to put any one to death, (John 18:31,) but when nothing had passed which had the shadow of a legal trial. How far they now might have formed those express notions of what the rabbis call the judgment of zeal, is not easy to say; but it is certain they acted on that principle, and as if they had thought every private Israelite had, like Phinehas, who is pleaded as an example of it, a right to put another to death on the spot, if he found him in a capital breach of the divine law; a notion, by the way, directly contrary to Deuteronomy 17:6, which required at least two witnesses in capital cases, where there was a legal process. And the two witnesses — Whose hands were first upon him to put him to death; laid down their clothes, &c. — In executions of this kind, it was usual for those who had borne witness against the criminal to cast the first stones at him; and for this purpose they were wont to put off their upper garments, and gave them to be kept by persons equally hearty in the prosecution with themselves; and on this occasion the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of Saul, afterward called Paul, who, it seems, willingly took charge of them, to show how heartily he concurred with them in the execution. O Saul! wouldst thou have believed, if one had told thee, while thou wast urging on the cruel multitude, that the time would come when thou thyself shouldst be twice stoned in the same cause, and shouldst triumph in committing thy soul likewise to that Jesus whom thou wast now blaspheming? His dying prayer reached thee, as well as many others. And the martyr Stephen, and Saul the persecutor, (afterward his brother, both in faith and martyrdom,) are now joined in everlasting friendship, and dwell together in the happy company of those who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

V. 58. The witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul-O Saul, couldst thou have believed, if one had told thee, that thou thyself shouldst be stoned in the same cause? and shouldst triumph in committing thy soul likewise to that Jesus whom thou art now blaspheming? His dying prayer reached thee, as well as many others. And the martyr Stephen, and Saul the persecutor, (afterward his brother both in faith and martyrdom,) are now joined in everlasting friendship, and dwell together in the happy company of those who have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

Verse 58. Cast him out of the city, and stoned him] They did not however wait for any sentence to be pronounced upon him; it seems they were determined to stone him first, and then prove, after it had been done, that it was done justly. For the manner of stoning among the Jews, see Clarke’s note on “Leviticus 24:23”.

The witnesses laid down their clothes] To illustrate this whole transaction, see the observations at the end of this chapter. See Clarke “Acts 7:60”

Verses 57-59. Then they cried out with a loud voice — Being provoked to such a degree that they could not contain themselves, and meaning to drown the voice of Stephen; and stopped their ears — As if they could not bear to hear such blasphemy as they wished to have it thought he had spoken. And ran upon him — Greek, wrmhsan, rushed on him with one accord, before any sentence was regularly passed; and cast — Greek, ekbalontev exw thv polewv, casting him out of the city — It seems by a gate near the place where the sanhedrim sat; and as soon as they had got without the boundaries of that sacred place, of which they judged it would be a profanation to stain it with human blood, they stoned him — This, like the stoning of Paul at Lystra, seems to have been an act of popular fury, exceeding the power which the Jews regularly had; which, though it might have extended to passing a capital sentence, was certainly not sufficient for carrying it into execution, without the consent of the Romans. The Jews were more than once ready to stone Christ, not only when by their own confession they had not power to put any one to death, (John 18:31,) but when nothing had passed which had the shadow of a legal trial. How far they now might have formed those express notions of what the rabbis call the judgment of zeal, is not easy to say; but it is certain they acted on that principle, and as if they had thought every private Israelite had, like Phinehas, who is pleaded as an example of it, a right to put another to death on the spot, if he found him in a capital breach of the divine law; a notion, by the way, directly contrary to Deuteronomy 17:6, which required at least two witnesses in capital cases, where there was a legal process. And the two witnesses — Whose hands were first upon him to put him to death; laid down their clothes, &c. — In executions of this kind, it was usual for those who had borne witness against the criminal to cast the first stones at him; and for this purpose they were wont to put off their upper garments, and gave them to be kept by persons equally hearty in the prosecution with themselves; and on this occasion the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of Saul, afterward called Paul, who, it seems, willingly took charge of them, to show how heartily he concurred with them in the execution. O Saul! wouldst thou have believed, if one had told thee, while thou wast urging on the cruel multitude, that the time would come when thou thyself shouldst be twice stoned in the same cause, and shouldst triumph in committing thy soul likewise to that Jesus whom thou wast now blaspheming? His dying prayer reached thee, as well as many others. And the martyr Stephen, and Saul the persecutor, (afterward his brother, both in faith and martyrdom,) are now joined in everlasting friendship, and dwell together in the happy company of those who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Ver. 58. The witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. Cardinal Baronius contends that Saul was now thirty five years of age, and in the ministry, “and profited above his equals in the jewish religion.” It appears however that his father had become a Roman citizen, engaged in military service. In stoning a blasphemer, the jewish executioners threw heavy stones upon him, while he lay extended on the ground, which broke all his bones.

V. 59. And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit-This is the literal translation of the words, the name of God not being in the original. Nevertheless such a solemn prayer to Christ, in which a departing soul is thus committed into his hands, is such an act of worship, as no good man could have paid to a mere creature; Stephen here worshipping Christ in the very same manner in which Christ worshipped the Father on the cross.

Verse 59. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God] The word God is not found in any MS. or version, nor in any of the primitive fathers except Chrysostom. It is not genuine, and should not be inserted here: the whole sentence literally reads thus: And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! Here is a most manifest proof that prayer is offered to Jesus Christ; and that in the most solemn circumstances in which it could be offered, viz., when a man was breathing his last. This is, properly speaking, one of the highest acts of worship which can be offered to God; and, if Stephen had not conceived Jesus Christ to be GOD, could he have committed his soul into his hands? We may farther observe that this place affords a full proof of the immateriality of the soul; for he could not have commended his spirit to Christ, had he believed that he had no spirit, or, in other words, that his body and soul were one and the same thing. Allowing this most eminent saint to have had a correct notion of theology, and that, being full of the Holy Ghost, as he was at this time, he could make no mistake in matters of such vast weight and importance, then these two points are satisfactorily stated in this verse: 1. That Jesus Christ is GOD; for Stephen died praying to him. 2. That the soul is immaterial; for Stephen, in dying, commends his departing spirit into the hand of Christ.

Verses 59, 60. And thus they stoned Stephen — Who, during this furious assault, continued with his eyes fixed on the heavenly glory, of which he had so bright a vision, calling upon God — The word God is not in the original, which is literally, invoking; and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit — For Christ was the person to whom he prayed: and surely such a solemn prayer addressed to him, in which a departing soul was thus committed into his hands, was such an act of worship as no good man could have paid to a mere creature; Stephen here worshipping Christ in the very same manner in which Christ worshipped the Father on the cross. And he kneeled down, &c. — Having nothing further relating to himself which could give him any solicitude, all his remaining thoughts were occupied in compassion to these inhuman wretches, who were employed in effecting his destruction. Having, therefore, as we have reason to suppose, received many violent blows, rising as well as he could upon his knees, he cried, though with an expiring, yet with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge — With severity proportionable to the weight of the offence, but graciously forgive them, as indeed I do from my heart. The original expression, mh sthshv autoiv thn amartian, has a peculiar emphasis, and is not easy to be exactly translated, without multiplying words to an improper degree. It is literally weigh not out to them this sin; that is, a punishment proportionable to it; alluding, it seems, to passages of Scripture where God is represented as weighing men’s characters and actions in the dispensations of his justice and providence. This prayer of Stephen was heard, and remarkably answered, in the conversion of Saul, of whose history we shall shortly hear more. When he had said this — Calmly resigning his soul into the Saviour’s hand, with a sacred serenity, in the midst of this furious assault, he sweetly fell asleep — Leaving the traces of a gentle composure, rather than a horror, upon his breathless corpse.

Verse 60. He kneeled down] That he might die as the subject of his heavenly MASTER-acting and suffering in the deepest submission to his Divine will and permissive providence; and, at the same time, showing the genuine nature of the religion of his Lord, in pouring out his prayers with his blood in behalf of his murderers!

Lay not this sin to their charge.] That is, do not impute it to them so as to exact punishment. How much did the servant resemble his Lord, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do! This was the cry of our Lord in behalf of his murderers; and the disciple, closely copying his Master, in the same spirit, and with the same meaning, varies the expression, crying with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge! What an extent of benevolence! And in what a beautiful light does this place the spirit of the Christian religion! Christ had given what some have supposed to be an impossible command; Love your enemies; pray for them that despitefully use and persecute you. And Stephen shows here, in his own person, how practicable the grace of his Master had made this sublime precept. He fell asleep.] This was a common expression among the Jews to signify death, and especially the death of good men. But this sleep is, properly speaking, not attributable to the soul, but to the body; for he had commended his spirit to the Lord Jesus, while his body was overwhelmed with the shower of stones cast on him by the mob.

After the word ekoimhqh, fell asleep, one MS. adds, en eirhnh, in peace; and the Vulgate has, in Domino, in the Lord. Both these readings are true, as to the state of St. Stephen; but I believe neither of them was written by St. Luke.

The first clause of the next chapter should come in here, And Saul was consenting unto his death: never was there a worse division than that which separated it from the end of this chapter: this should be immediately altered, and the amputated member restored to the body to which it belongs.

1. THOUGH I have spoken pretty much at large on the punishment of stoning among the Jews, in Clarke’s note on “Leviticus 24:23”, yet, as the following extracts will serve to bring the subject more fully into view, in reference to the case of St. Stephen, the reader will not be displeased to find them here.

Dr. Lightfoot sums up the evidence he has collected on this subject, in the following particulars:-

“I. The place of stoning was without the sanhedrin, according as it is said, bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp, Leviticus 24:14. It is a tradition, the place of stoning was without three camps. The gloss tells us that the court was the camp of the Divine Presence; the mountain of the temple, the camp of the Levites; and Jerusalem, the camp of Israel. Now, in every sanhedrin, in whatever city, the place of stoning was without the city, as it was at Jerusalem.

We are told the reason by the Gemarists, why the place of stoning was without the sanhedrin, and again without three camps: viz. If the Sanhedrin go forth and sit without the three camps, they make the place for stoning also distant from the sanhedrin, partly lest the sanhedrin should seem to kill the man; partly, that by the distance of the place there may be a little stop and space of time before the criminal come to the place of execution, if peradventure any one might offer some testimony that might make for him; for in the expectation of some such thing:-

“II. There stood one at the door of the sanhedrin having a handkerchief in his hand, and a horse at such a distance as it was only within sight. If any one therefore say, I have something to offer in behalf of the condemned person, he waves the

handkerchief, and the horseman rides and calls back the people. Nay, if the man himself say, I have something to offer in my own defence, they bring him back four or five times one after another, if it be any thing of moment that he hath to say.” I doubt they hardly dealt so gently with the innocent Stephen.

“III. If no testimony arise that makes any thing for him, then they go on to stoning him: the crier proclaiming before him, ‘N. the son of N. comes forth to be stoned for such or such a crime. N. and N. are the witnesses against him; if any one have any thing to testify in his behalf, let him come forth and give his evidence.’ “IV. When they come within ten cubits of the place where he must be stoned, they exhort him to confess, for so it is the custom for the malefactor to confess, because every one that confesseth hath his part in the world to come, as we find in the instance of Achan, &c. “V. When they come within four cubits of the place, they strip off his clothes, and make him naked.

“VI. The place of execution was twice a man’s height. One of the witnesses throws him down upon his loins; if he roll on his breast, they turn him on his loins again. If he die so, well. If not, then the other witness takes up a stone, and lays it upon his heart. If he die so, well. If not, he is stoned by all Israel.

“VII. All that are stoned, are handed also, &c.” These things I thought fit to transcribe the more largely, that the reader may compare this present action with this rule and common usage of doing it.

“1. It may be questioned for what crime this person was condemned to die? You will say for blasphemy for the have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. But no one is condemned as a blasphemer, unless for abusing the sacred name with four letters, viz. hwhy YeHoVaH. Hence it is that although they oftentimes accused our Saviour as a blasphemer, yet he was not condemned for this, but because he used witchcraft and deceived Israel, and seduced them into apostasy. And those are reckoned among persons that are to be stoned: He that evilly persuades; and he that draws into apostasy; and he that is a conjuror.

“2. It may farther be questioned whether our blessed martyr was condemned by any formal sentence of the sanhedrin, or hurried in a tumultuary manner by the people; and so murdered: it seems to be the latter.”

2. The defense of Stephen against the charges produced by his accusers must be considered as being indirect; as they had a show of truth for the ground of their accusations, it would have been improper at once to have roundly denied the charge. There is no doubt that Stephen had asserted and proved JESUS to be the Christ or MESSIAH; and that the whole nation should consider him as such, receive his doctrine, obey him, or expose themselves to the terrible sentence denounced in the prophecy of Moses: Whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him, Deuteronomy 18:19; for they well knew that this word implied that Divine judgments should inevitably fall upon them. To make proper way for this conclusion, Stephen enters into a detail of their history, showing that, from the beginning, God had in view the dispensation which was now opening, and that his designs were uniformly opposed by their impious forefathers. That, notwithstanding all this, God carried on his work: First, by revealing his will to ABRAHAM, and giving him the rite of circumcision, which was to be preserved among his descendants. Secondly, to MOSES and AARON in Egypt. Thirdly, to the whole congregation of Israel at Mount Sinai, and variously in the wilderness. Fourthly, by instituting the tabernacle worship, which was completed in the promised land, and continued till the days of Solomon, when the temple was builded, and the worship of God became fixed. Fifthly, by the long race of prophets raised up under that temple, who had been all variously persecuted by their forefathers, who departed from the true worship, and frequently became idolatrous; in consequence of which God gave them up into the hands of their enemies, and they were carried into captivity. How far St. Stephen would have proceeded, or to what issue he would have brought his discourse, we can only conjecture, as the fury of his persecutors did not permit him to come to a conclusion. But this they saw most clearly, that, from his statement, they could expect no mercy at the hand of God, if they persisted in their opposition to Jesus of Nazareth, and that their temple and political existence must fall a sacrifice to their persevering obstinacy. Their guilt stung them to the heart, and they were determined rather to vent their insupportable feelings by hostile and murderous acts, than in penitential sorrow and supplication for mercy. The issue was the martyrdom of Stephen; a man of whom the sacred writings give the highest character, and a man who illustrated that character in every part of his conduct. Stephen is generally called the proto-martyr, i.e. the FIRST martyr or witness, as the word martur implies; the person who, at the evident risk and ultimate loss of his life, bears testimony to TRUTH. This honour, however, may be fairly contested, and the palm at least divided between him and John the Baptist. The martyrdom of Stephen, and the spirit in which he suffered, have been an honour to the cause for which he cheerfully gave up his life, for eighteen hundred years. While Christianity endures, (and it will endure till time is swallowed up in eternity,) the martyrdom of Stephen will be the model, as it has been, for all martyrs, and a cause of triumph to the Church of God.

3. I cannot close these observations without making one remark on his prayer for his murderers. Though this shows most forcibly the amiable, forgiving spirit of the martyr, yet we must not forget that this, and all the excellent qualities with which the mind of this blessed man was endued, proceeded from that HOLY GHOST of whose influences his mind was full. The prayer therefore shows most powerfully the matchless benevolence of GOD. Even these most unprincipled, most impious, and most brutal of all murderers, were not out of the reach of HIS mercy! His Spirit influenced the heart of this martyr to pray for his destroyers; and could such prayers fail? No: Saul of Tarsus, in all probability was the first fruits of them. St. Augustine has properly remarked, Si Stephanus non orasset, ecclesia Paulum non haberet. If Stephen had not prayed, the Church of Christ could not have numbered among her saints the apostle of the Gentiles. Let this example teach us at once the spirit that becomes a disciple of Christ, the efficacy of prayer, and the unbounded philanthropy of God. ACTS

Verses 59, 60. And thus they stoned Stephen — Who, during this furious assault, continued with his eyes fixed on the heavenly glory, of which he had so bright a vision, calling upon God — The word God is not in the original, which is literally, invoking; and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit — For Christ was the person to whom he prayed: and surely such a solemn prayer addressed to him, in which a departing soul was thus committed into his hands, was such an act of worship as no good man could have paid to a mere creature; Stephen here worshipping Christ in the very same manner in which Christ worshipped the Father on the cross. And he kneeled down, &c. — Having nothing further relating to himself which could give him any solicitude, all his remaining thoughts were occupied in compassion to these inhuman wretches, who were employed in effecting his destruction. Having, therefore, as we have reason to suppose, received many violent blows, rising as well as he could upon his knees, he cried, though with an expiring, yet with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge — With severity proportionable to the weight of the offence, but graciously forgive them, as indeed I do from my heart. The original expression, mh sthshv autoiv thn amartian, has a peculiar emphasis, and is not easy to be exactly translated, without multiplying words to an improper degree. It is literally weigh not out to them this sin; that is, a punishment proportionable to it; alluding, it seems, to passages of Scripture where God is represented as weighing men’s characters and actions in the dispensations of his justice and providence. This prayer of Stephen was heard, and remarkably answered, in the conversion of Saul, of whose history we shall shortly hear more. When he had said this — Calmly resigning his soul into the Saviour’s hand, with a sacred serenity, in the midst of this furious assault, he sweetly fell asleep — Leaving the traces of a gentle composure, rather than a horror, upon his breathless corpse.