independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The speech before the Sanhedrin: the God of glory from Abraham to the Righteous One 7:1–53
vv. 1–2a — the high priest's question and the address
1
Εἶπεν δὲ ὁ ἀρχιερεύς· Εἰ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει;independent — the hearing's single question (εἰ introducing a direct question, Septuagintal) — the presiding judge opens the floor on the charges of 6:13–14
2
Ὁ δὲ ἔφη·independent — the speech-frame — from this one ἔφη the whole defence (vv. 2–53), the longest speech in the NT, hangs
Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, ἀκούσατε.content — the captatio — the same address Paul will use before the same city (22:1); Stephen claims the family before indicting it
vv. 2b–8 — Abraham: called out, kept landless, given promise and covenant
Ὁ θεὸς τῆς δόξης ὤφθη τῷ πατρὶ ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμcontent — ὁ θεὸς τῆς δόξης (Ps 29:3) — the keynote: glory appearing outside the land, before temple or law; the phrase returns as δόξα θεοῦ at v. 55
ὄντι ἐν τῇ Μεσοποταμίᾳparticipial — temporal participle agreeing with Ἀβραάμ — the call located in Ur, before Haran (Gen 15:7; Neh 9:7)
πρὶν ἢ κατοικῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν Χαρράν,phrase modifier — πρὶν ἤ + accusative-and-infinitive — Stephen antedates the Gen 12:1 call to Ur, reading Genesis with Gen 15:7
3
καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν·content — coordinate with ὤφθη — the appearing becomes a word
Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας σου,content — Gen 12:1 LXX — God's speech nested within Stephen's; the double ἐκ strips country and clan
καὶ δεῦρο εἰς τὴν γῆνcontent — δεῦρο — the summons toward an unnamed destination; reissued to Moses at v. 34
ἣν ἄν σοι δείξω.relative — ἄν + future δείξω — the land known only in the showing: faith's itinerary
4
τότε ἐξελθὼν ἐκ γῆς Χαλδαίωνparticipial — forward-leaning on κατῴκησεν — obedience narrated in the call's own verb: ἐξελθών answering Ἔξελθε
κατῴκησεν ἐν Χαρράν·content — the first, partial settlement — still short of the land
κἀκεῖθεν μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ μετῴκισεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτηνcontent — crux — μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν harmonizes Gen 11:26, 32 with 12:4 (so also Philo, Migr. 177); the subject slides silently to God (μετῴκισεν, the verb of v. 43)
εἰς ἣν ὑμεῖς νῦν κατοικεῖτε·relative — the first ὑμεῖς — the audience made tenants of a promise they did not earn
5
καὶ οὐκ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ κληρονομίαν ἐν αὐτῇ οὐδὲ βῆμα ποδός,content — βῆμα ποδός (Deut 2:5) — the patriarch lives landless in the land
καὶ ἐπηγγείλατοcontent — the pivot from possession to promise — ἐπαγγελία, the speech's load-bearing word (v. 17)
δοῦναι αὐτῷ εἰς κατάσχεσιν αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτόν,content — complement infinitive — Gen 17:8 LXX (εἰς κατάσχεσιν); κατάσχεσις returns redeemed at v. 45
οὐκ ὄντος αὐτῷ τέκνου.participial — concessive genitive absolute — promise against the evidence (Gen 15:2–3)
6
ἐλάλησεν δὲ οὕτως ὁ θεὸςcontent — the citation formula for Gen 15:13–14
ὅτι ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ πάροικον ἐν γῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ,content — πάροικος — the speech's theology of exile: the promise ripens outside the land (cf. v. 29)
καὶ δουλώσουσιν αὐτὸ καὶ κακώσουσιν ἔτη τετρακόσια·content — the round figure of Gen 15:13 (Exod 12:40 has 430) — κακόω returns at vv. 19 and 34
7
καὶ τὸ ἔθνος ᾧ ἐὰν δουλεύσουσιν κρινῶ ἐγώ,content — the oracle turns direct — fronted τὸ ἔθνος, emphatic final ἐγώ; ἐάν + future indicative, Koine indefiniteness
ὁ θεὸς εἶπεν,content — parenthetical re-attribution inside the quotation — Stephen keeps the divine speaker before his judges
καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξελεύσονταιcontent — Gen 15:14 — the exodus promised from inside the covenant, four centuries early
καὶ λατρεύσουσίν μοι ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ.content — Exod 3:12 grafted onto Genesis — worship, not real estate, as the promise's goal: ὁ τόπος οὗτος answering the τόπος-charge of 6:13–14
8
καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ διαθήκην περιτομῆς·content — Gen 17:10 — the ἔδωκεν the land withheld (v. 5), given as covenant sign
καὶ οὕτως ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰσαὰκcontent — οὕτως — under that covenant: the promise at last embodied
καὶ περιέτεμεν αὐτὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ὀγδόῃ,content — Gen 21:4 — circumcision kept in the flesh, against the 'uncircumcised hearts' of v. 51
καὶ Ἰσαὰκ τὸν Ἰακώβ,content — ἐγέννησεν gapped — the genealogy accelerates
καὶ Ἰακὼβ τοὺς δώδεκα πατριάρχας.content — the verb still gapped — οἱ πατριάρχαι named just in time to sell their brother (v. 9)
vv. 9–16 — Joseph: sold out of jealousy, and God was with him
9
Καὶ οἱ πατριάρχαι ζηλώσαντες τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἀπέδοντο εἰς Αἴγυπτον·content — ζηλώσαντες (Gen 37:11) — the first rejection of a God-sent deliverer: the speech's pattern begins
καὶ ἦν ὁ θεὸς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ,content — Gen 39:2, 21 — the counter-clause: rejected below, accompanied above
10
καὶ ἐξείλατο αὐτὸν ἐκ πασῶν τῶν θλίψεων αὐτοῦ,content — ἐξαιρέομαι — the rescue-verb God will use of the whole nation at v. 34
καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ χάριν καὶ σοφίαν ἐναντίον Φαραὼ βασιλέως Αἰγύπτου,content — Gen 39:21; 41:38–39 — χάρις and σοφία, the very pair Luke gives Stephen himself (6:8, 10)
καὶ κατέστησεν αὐτὸν ἡγούμενον ἐπ᾽ Αἴγυπτον καὶ ὅλον τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ.content — the subject slides to Pharaoh (Gen 41:43) — καθίστημι, the 'Who appointed you?' verb of vv. 27 and 35
11
ἦλθεν δὲ λιμὸς ἐφ᾽ ὅλην τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Χανάαν καὶ θλῖψις μεγάλη,content — Gen 41:54–57 — θλῖψις again: the affliction out of which the rejected one will feed his rejecters
καὶ οὐχ ηὕρισκον χορτάσματα οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν.content — iterative imperfect ηὕρισκον — kept searching, kept failing; οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, still 'ours'
12
ἀκούσας δὲ Ἰακὼβ ὄντα σιτία εἰς Αἴγυπτονparticipial — forward-leaning on ἐξαπέστειλεν — participial indirect discourse (ὄντα); εἰς for ἐν, Koine
ἐξαπέστειλεν τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν πρῶτον·content — πρῶτον setting up the fateful δεύτερον of v. 13 (Gen 42:1–2)
13
καὶ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ ἀνεγνωρίσθη Ἰωσὴφ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ,content — ἀνεγνωρίσθη (Gen 45:1 LXX) — recognition only at the second encounter: the two-visit pattern Stephen is building toward Jesus
καὶ φανερὸν ἐγένετο τῷ Φαραὼ τὸ γένος τοῦ Ἰωσήφ.content — τὸ γένος — the covenant clan surfaces in the empire's court (Gen 45:16)
14
ἀποστείλας δὲ Ἰωσὴφparticipial — forward-leaning on μετεκαλέσατο — the sold one now the summoner
μετεκαλέσατο Ἰακὼβ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συγγένειαν ἐν ψυχαῖς ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε.content — crux — ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε follows LXX Gen 46:27 and Exod 1:5 against the MT's seventy
15
καὶ κατέβη Ἰακὼβ εἰς Αἴγυπτονcontent — κατέβη — the descent that begins the four hundred years of v. 6
καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν,content — all the patriarchs die outside the land: the promise still unpaid (cf. v. 5)
16
καὶ μετετέθησαν εἰς Συχὲμcontent — μετετέθησαν — in this speech even burial is a migration
καὶ ἐτέθησαν ἐν τῷ μνήματιcontent — the fathers rest in Samaritan ground — a pointed note before a Jerusalem court
ᾧ ὠνήσατο Ἀβραὰμ τιμῆς ἀργυρίου παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἑμμὼρ ἐν Συχέμ.relative — crux — Gen 23 (Abraham at Machpelah) conflated with Gen 33:19 (Jacob at Shechem); the telescoped tradition is kept unharmonized; ᾧ by attraction; τιμῆς, genitive of price
vv. 17–22 — the promise ripens: oppression in Egypt and the birth of Moses
17
Καθὼς δὲ ἤγγιζεν ὁ χρόνος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἧς ὡμολόγησεν ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἀβραάμ,comparative — temporal καθώς (BDAG 3) — forward-leaning on ηὔξησεν; ἧς attracted to τῆς ἐπαγγελίας; ὡμολόγησεν, God on record
ηὔξησεν ὁ λαὸς καὶ ἐπληθύνθη ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ,content — Exod 1:7 in creation-blessing verbs (Gen 1:28) — the promise keeps its own clock
18
ἄχρι οὗ ἀνέστη βασιλεὺς ἕτερος ἐπ᾽ Αἴγυπτονrelative — temporal-relative ἄχρι οὗ — Exod 1:8; ἕτερος, a different kind of king; ἀνέστη, the verb God will claim at v. 37
ὃς οὐκ ᾔδει τὸν Ἰωσήφ.relative — forgetting as policy — the saved forget the savior: the speech's other pattern
19
οὗτος κατασοφισάμενος τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἐκάκωσεν τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶνcontent — κατασοφίζομαι (Exod 1:10 LXX) — 'out-wisdomed'; ἐκάκωσεν, Gen 15:13 (v. 6) fulfilled to the letter
τοῦ ποιεῖν τὰ βρέφη ἔκθετα αὐτῶνcontent — τοῦ + infinitive of intended result — ἔκθετα, the exposure v. 21 will turn to salvation
εἰς τὸ μὴ ζῳογονεῖσθαι.purpose — εἰς τό + infinitive of purpose — ζῳογονεῖσθαι, the midwives' verb (Exod 1:17 LXX)
20
Ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ ἐγεννήθη Μωϋσῆς καὶ ἦν ἀστεῖος τῷ θεῷ·content — incorporated relative (ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ) — ἀστεῖος (Exod 2:2 LXX); the dative τῷ θεῷ an intensifying 'before God' (cf. Jon 3:3 LXX)
ὃς ἀνετράφη μῆνας τρεῖς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρός,relative — continuative relative — the first of the nurture-verbs (ἀνατρέφω, vv. 20–21)
21
ἐκτεθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on ἀνείλατο; the deliverer suffers the fate decreed at v. 19
ἀνείλατο αὐτὸν ἡ θυγάτηρ Φαραὼcontent — ἀναιρέομαι in its adoption sense (Exod 2:5) — the oppressor's own house rears the liberator
καὶ ἀνεθρέψατο αὐτὸν ἑαυτῇ εἰς υἱόν.content — ἑαυτῇ εἰς υἱόν — adoption formula; Moses formed inside Egypt
22
καὶ ἐπαιδεύθη Μωϋσῆς πάσῃ σοφίᾳ Αἰγυπτίων,content — a Hellenistic-Jewish commonplace (Philo, Mos. 1.21–24), not in Exodus — pagan learning claimed for God's man
ἦν δὲ δυνατὸς ἐν λόγοις καὶ ἔργοις αὐτοῦ.content — the very phrase for Jesus at Luke 24:19 — the typology said out loud; contrast Moses' own protest, Exod 4:10
vv. 23–29 — the first forty years end: the visit, the rejection, the flight
23
Ὡς δὲ ἐπληροῦτο αὐτῷ τεσσερακονταετὴς χρόνος,comparative — temporal ὡς — forward-leaning on ἀνέβη; the first of the life's three forties (vv. 30, 36; cf. Deut 34:7)
ἀνέβη ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦcontent — Septuagintism (Jer 3:16; Isa 65:16) — the visitation begins inward
ἐπισκέψασθαι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ.content — epexegetic infinitive — ἐπισκέπτομαι, God's own visitation-verb (Luke 1:68; 7:16)
24
καὶ ἰδών τινα ἀδικούμενονparticipial — forward-leaning on ἠμύνατο — ἀδικέω, the keyword of vv. 24–27
ἠμύνατοcontent — ἀμύνομαι — only here in the NT
καὶ ἐποίησεν ἐκδίκησιν τῷ καταπονουμένῳcontent — ἐκδίκησις — Moses acting as judge before being asked: the sting of v. 27
πατάξας τὸν Αἰγύπτιον.participial — participle of means — Exod 2:12, the burial in the sand left unmentioned
25
ἐνόμιζεν δὲ συνιέναι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺςcontent — Stephen's own interpretive aside — no Exodus warrant; imperfect ἐνόμιζεν, a sustained mistaken supposing
ὅτι ὁ θεὸς διὰ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ δίδωσιν αὐτοῖς σωτηρίαν·content — retained present δίδωσιν — διὰ χειρός, the idiom of vv. 35 and 45; σωτηρία already on offer
οἱ δὲ οὐ συνῆκαν.content — four words carrying the whole indictment — the refrain of Israel's story (cf. Luke 24:25)
26
τῇ τε ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὤφθη αὐτοῖς μαχομένοιςcontent — ὤφθη — the theophany-verb of vv. 2 and 30 used of Moses: the deliverer 'appears' and is refused
καὶ συνήλλασσεν αὐτοὺς εἰς εἰρήνηνcontent — conative imperfect συνήλλασσεν — peacemaking attempted, not achieved
εἰπών·participial — the speech-participle — Moses' words nested within Stephen's
Ἄνδρες, ἀδελφοί ἐστε·content — the appeal to kinship — Stephen's own address (v. 2) on Moses' lips
ἱνατί ἀδικεῖτε ἀλλήλους;content — ἱνατί (Exod 2:13 LXX) — the wrong now brother against brother
27
ὁ δὲ ἀδικῶν τὸν πλησίον ἀπώσατο αὐτὸνcontent — ἀπωθέομαι — the single shove that becomes the nation's verb at v. 39
εἰπών·participial — the rejection given words
Τίς σε κατέστησεν ἄρχοντα καὶ δικαστὴν ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν;content — Exod 2:14 — the question God will answer at v. 35, title for title
28
μὴ ἀνελεῖν με σὺ θέλειςcontent — μή expecting 'no' — but naming the fear; emphatic σύ
ὃν τρόπον ἀνεῖλες χθὲς τὸν Αἰγύπτιον;comparative — ὃν τρόπον — the secret out within a day (Exod 2:14): the deed that exiles the deliverer
29
ἔφυγεν δὲ Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳcontent — ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ — one sentence banishes him; the brothers' rejection, not Pharaoh's wrath (Exod 2:15), is Stephen's stated cause
καὶ ἐγένετο πάροικος ἐν γῇ Μαδιάμ,content — πάροικος — the deliverer joins the promise's exile pattern (v. 6)
οὗ ἐγέννησεν υἱοὺς δύο.relative — Gershom and Eliezer (Exod 18:3–4) — a life rebuilt in exile
vv. 30–34 — the second forty: the bush, the holy ground, the sending
30
Καὶ πληρωθέντων ἐτῶν τεσσεράκονταparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on ὤφθη; the second forty (Exod 7:7), spent in Midian
ὤφθη αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τοῦ ὄρους Σινᾶ ἄγγελος ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς βάτου.content — ὤφθη again (vv. 2, 26) — holy ground far from Jerusalem; the ἄγγελος of Exod 3:2, about to speak as the Lord (v. 31)
31
ὁ δὲ Μωϋσῆς ἰδὼν ἐθαύμαζεν τὸ ὅραμα·content — imperfect ἐθαύμαζεν — wonder held, not momentary; ὅραμα, Luke's vision-word (9:10; 10:3)
προσερχομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ κατανοῆσαιparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on ἐγένετο; κατανοῆσαι, the looking he will not dare finish (v. 32)
ἐγένετο φωνὴ κυρίου·content — the angel's flame becomes the Lord's voice — Luke's easy angel/Lord alternation (cf. vv. 35, 38)
32
Ἐγὼ ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων σου, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ.content — Exod 3:6 — verbless divine self-identification; the patriarchal triad, Jesus' own resurrection proof-text (Luke 20:37)
ἔντρομος δὲ γενόμενος Μωϋσῆς οὐκ ἐτόλμα κατανοῆσαι.content — ἔντρομος — the gaze of v. 31 broken off; imperfect ἐτόλμα, a sustained not-daring (contrast Stephen's ἀτενίσας, v. 55)
33
εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος·content — now κύριος outright — the bush's occupant named
Λῦσον τὸ ὑπόδημα τῶν ποδῶν σου·content — Exod 3:5 — God's speech nested within Stephen's
ὁ γὰρ τόπος ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἕστηκας γῆ ἁγία ἐστίν.cause — γῆ ἁγία in Midian — τόπος: holiness is where God stands, not where walls stand (against 6:13)
34
ἰδὼν εἶδον τὴν κάκωσιν τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ,content — ἰδὼν εἶδον — the Hebrew infinitive absolute (Exod 3:7) carried into Greek; κάκωσις, Gen 15:13 (v. 6) seen from heaven
καὶ τοῦ στεναγμοῦ αὐτῶν ἤκουσα,content — seen, then heard — the senses of the covenant God (Exod 2:24)
καὶ κατέβηνcontent — the divine κατέβην answering Jacob's κατέβη (v. 15) — God too goes down to Egypt
ἐξελέσθαι αὐτούς·purpose — purpose infinitive — ἐξαιρέομαι, Joseph's rescue-verb (v. 10) now for the nation
καὶ νῦν δεῦρο ἀποστελῶ σε εἰς Αἴγυπτον.content — δεῦρο — Abraham's summons (v. 3) reissued; ἀποστελῶ, the sending v. 35 vindicates
vv. 35–38 — the οὗτος-encomium: the rejected one is the sent one
35
Τοῦτον τὸν Μωϋσῆνphrase modifier — pendent accusative opening the fourfold οὗτος-anaphora (vv. 35, 36, 37, 38) — resumed by the second τοῦτον below
ὃν ἠρνήσαντοrelative — ἀρνέομαι — the verb of Acts 3:13–14: the Moses–Jesus overlay made audible
εἰπόντες·participial — the denial in their own recorded words
Τίς σε κατέστησεν ἄρχοντα καὶ δικαστήν;content — v. 27 quoted back verbatim — with ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν dropped: the question now stands against them all
τοῦτον ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἄρχοντα καὶ λυτρωτὴν ἀπέσταλκεν σὺν χειρὶ ἀγγέλου τοῦ ὀφθέντος αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ βάτῳ.content — resumptive τοῦτον — καὶ ἄρχοντα καὶ λυτρωτήν answers 'ruler and judge' and raises it (λυτρωτής only here in the NT); perfect ἀπέσταλκεν: the commission still stands
36
οὗτος ἐξήγαγεν αὐτοὺςcontent — the second οὗτος — ἐξάγω, the exodus verb (Exod 3:10)
ποιήσας τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐν Ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα.participial — τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα — Stephen's own charge-sheet phrase (6:8); the third forty completes the life
37
οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Μωϋσῆς ὁ εἴπας τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ·content — the third οὗτος — the attributive ὁ εἴπας makes Moses himself the witness for the prosecution
Προφήτην ὑμῖν ἀναστήσει ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν ὡς ἐμέ.content — Deut 18:15 — the speech's christological hinge (cf. 3:22); ἀναστήσει carrying resurrection overtones for Luke's readers
38
οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ γενόμενος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ μετὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου τοῦ λαλοῦντος αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾶ καὶ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν,content — the fourth οὗτος — ἐκκλησία for the Sinai congregation (Deut 9:10 LXX): wilderness Israel named with the church's own word; Moses posted between angel and people, the mediator's place
ὃς ἐδέξατο λόγια ζῶνταrelative — λόγια ζῶντα — the law honored as living speech: Stephen no antinomian (against 6:13)
δοῦναι ἡμῖν.purpose — purpose infinitive — received in order to hand on; ἡμῖν: Stephen still inside the 'us'
vv. 39–43 — the refusal: the calf, the handing-over, and Amos 5:25–27
39
ᾧ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν ὑπήκοοι γενέσθαι οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν,relative — the encomium pivots into indictment on a relative pronoun — refusal as an act of will (οὐκ ἠθέλησαν)
ἀλλὰ ἀπώσαντοrelative — ἀπωθέομαι again — the single shove of v. 27 now the nation's act
καὶ ἐστράφησαν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν εἰς Αἴγυπτον,relative — the return trip taken inwardly — geography of the heart (Num 14:3–4)
40
εἰπόντες τῷ Ἀαρών·participial — the turning given words — Exod 32:1
Ποίησον ἡμῖν θεοὺςcontent — ποιέω + θεοί — the oxymoron of idolatry: manufactured deity ('making' runs through vv. 41, 43, 44, 48, 50)
οἳ προπορεύσονται ἡμῶν·relative — the pillar's office (Exod 13:21) reassigned to metal
ὁ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς οὗτος,phrase modifier — pendent nominative — anacoluthon, resumed by αὐτῷ; οὗτος now contemptuous on their lips
ὃς ἐξήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου,relative — the exodus conceded in the act of deserting its leader
οὐκ οἴδαμεν τί ἐγένετο αὐτῷ.content — the indirect question folded in — forty days' absence (Exod 24:18) undoing forty years' deliverance
41
καὶ ἐμοσχοποίησαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναιςcontent — ἐμοσχοποίησαν — a coined verb, 'calf-made': the absurdity in one word
καὶ ἀνήγαγον θυσίαν τῷ εἰδώλῳcontent — θυσία to an εἴδωλον — the cult's forms kept, the object swapped
καὶ εὐφραίνοντο ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν.content — ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν — the prophets' idol-formula (Ps 115:4); the phrase that arms χειροποίητος at v. 48
42
ἔστρεψεν δὲ ὁ θεὸςcontent — answering their ἐστράφησαν (v. 39) — they turned, so he turned
καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺςcontent — παρέδωκεν — judicial abandonment (cf. Rom 1:24–28): the punishment is the permission
λατρεύειν τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ,content — complement infinitive — λατρεύω: the worship promised at v. 7 given to the stars instead (Deut 4:19; 2 Kgs 21:3)
καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ τῶν προφητῶν·comparative — the Twelve cited as one βίβλος — the formula for Amos 5:25–27 LXX
Μὴ σφάγια καὶ θυσίας προσηνέγκατέ μοι ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οἶκος Ἰσραήλ;content — Amos 5:25 — μή expects 'no': even the wilderness cult, God says, was not for me
43
καὶ ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ Μολὸχ καὶ τὸ ἄστρον τοῦ θεοῦ Ῥαιφάν,content — Amos 5:26 LXX — the chapter's first σκηνή is an idol's; Ῥαιφάν, the LXX's rendering of Kaiwan (Saturn)
τοὺς τύπους οὓς ἐποιήσατε προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς·phrase modifier — apposition to tent and star, its relative folded in — τύπος recurs in bono at v. 44; ποιέω again: worship of the made
καὶ μετοικιῶ ὑμᾶς ἐπέκεινα Βαβυλῶνος.content — crux — Amos 5:27 has Damascus; Βαβυλῶνος (with the LXX tradition Stephen cites) extends the sentence to the exile that came; μετοικίζω, Abraham's resettling-verb (v. 4), now in judgment
vv. 44–50 — the tent and the house: the Most High does not dwell in the handmade
44
Ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἦν τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,content — the true σκηνή set against Moloch's (v. 43) — dative of possession; a sanctuary that travels
καθὼς διετάξατο ὁ λαλῶν τῷ Μωϋσῇcomparative — ὁ λαλῶν — God named by his speaking; the tent legitimate because commanded, not because built
ποιῆσαι αὐτὴν κατὰ τὸν τύπονcontent — the one sanctioned 'making' in the chapter — κατὰ τὸν τύπον (Exod 25:40): a copy answering to heaven
ὃν ἑωράκει·relative — pluperfect ἑωράκει — the mountain vision behind the artifact
45
ἣν καὶ εἰσήγαγον διαδεξάμενοι οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν μετὰ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῇ κατασχέσει τῶν ἐθνῶνrelative — μετὰ Ἰησοῦ — 'with Joshua', in Greek the name of Jesus; κατάσχεσις, the promise-word of v. 5 redeemed
ὧν ἐξῶσεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν,relative — God the true conqueror — the fathers only walk in behind him
ἕως τῶν ἡμερῶν Δαυίδ·phrase modifier — the moving tent's whole era in three words — sufficiency without a house
46
ὃς εὗρεν χάριν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦrelative — the chain runs on through David — εὗρεν χάριν, the Joseph-word (v. 10)
καὶ ᾐτήσατοrelative — Ps 132:1–5 — asked, not built: the request God deflected (2 Sam 7:5–7)
εὑρεῖν σκήνωμα τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ.content — crux — τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ kept over the easier variant τῷ θεῷ: a tenting-place (σκήνωμα) for Jacob's house, not yet a house for God
47
Σολομὼν δὲ οἰκοδόμησεν αὐτῷ οἶκον.content — five words and a δέ — σκήνωμα becomes οἶκος; the whole argument tips on this hinge
48
ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὁ ὕψιστος ἐν χειροποιήτοις κατοικεῖ·content — χειροποίητος — the LXX's idol-word (Lev 26:1; Isa 46:6) laid against the temple; ὁ ὕψιστος, the title above all houses
καθὼς ὁ προφήτης λέγει·comparative — Isaiah given the argument's last word — the formula for Isa 66:1–2
49
Ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος,content — verbless — the cosmos as furniture
ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου·content — verbless — footstool imagery about to recur at God's right hand (vv. 55–56)
ποῖον οἶκον οἰκοδομήσετέ μοι, λέγει κύριος,content — οἰκοδομήσετε echoing Solomon's οἰκοδόμησεν (v. 47); the parenthetic λέγει κύριος kept in line
ἢ τίς τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεώς μου;content — verbless — τόπος, the charge-word of 6:13–14 handed back in God's own question
50
οὐχὶ ἡ χείρ μου ἐποίησεν ταῦτα πάντα;content — Isa 66:2 — οὐχί expects 'yes': his hand made all, so no hands can house him; the χειροποίητος argument closed
vv. 51–53 — the indictment: stiff-necked, Spirit-resisting, law-breaking
51
Σκληροτράχηλοι καὶ ἀπερίτμητοι καρδίαις καὶ τοῖς ὠσίν,content — verbless vocative volley — Exod 33:5 and Jer 6:10 fused; circumcision (v. 8) turned against its keepers
ὑμεῖς ἀεὶ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἀντιπίπτετε·content — ἀντιπίπτω — falling against, in pitched battle; ἀεί: the whole recited history universalized
ὡς οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ ὑμεῖς.comparative — verbless comparison — and 'our fathers' (vv. 2–45) has become 'your fathers': Stephen steps out of the family
52
τίνα τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἐδίωξαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν;content — the unanswerable rhetorical question (cf. Luke 11:47–51)
καὶ ἀπέκτειναν τοὺς προκαταγγείλαντας περὶ τῆς ἐλεύσεως τοῦ δικαίου,content — ὁ δίκαιος — the messianic title of 3:14 and 22:14; ἔλευσις, only here in the NT
οὗ νῦν ὑμεῖς προδόται καὶ φονεῖς ἐγένεσθε·relative — νῦν ὑμεῖς — the fathers killed the heralds; you, the Announced One himself: the speech's point of impact
53
οἵτινες ἐλάβετε τὸν νόμον εἰς διαταγὰς ἀγγέλων καὶ οὐκ ἐφυλάξατε.relative — qualitative ὅστις; the angel-mediated law (Gal 3:19; Heb 2:2) — the law-breaking charge of 6:13 returned to the accusers; the speech ends mid-indictment, cut off by the riot
The stoning: the standing Son of Man, the cloaks at Saul's feet, and the two prayers 7:54–60
vv. 54–56 — the gnashing and the vision of the standing Son of Man
54
Ἀκούοντες δὲ ταῦταparticipial — forward-leaning on διεπρίοντο — present participle: the rage rising while he still speaks
διεπρίοντο ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶνindependent — διαπρίομαι (cf. 5:33) — the uncircumcised hearts of v. 51 are cut, but not to repentance (contrast the κατενύγησαν of 2:37)
καὶ ἔβρυχον τοὺς ὀδόντας ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.independent — the psalmists' image of the wicked against the righteous (Ps 35:16; 37:12) — the court plays its own Scriptures' villains
55
ὑπάρχων δὲ πλήρης πνεύματος ἁγίουparticipial — forward-leaning on εἶδεν — the Spirit they resist (v. 51) filling the man they gnash at (6:5)
ἀτενίσας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸνparticipial — forward-leaning, coordinate with ὑπάρχων — ἀτενίζω, Luke's fixed-stare verb (1:10; 6:15): the steady look Moses could not hold (v. 32)
εἶδεν δόξαν θεοῦindependent — the God of glory who opened the speech (v. 2) closes it in vision — above the court, outside the house made with hands
καὶ Ἰησοῦν ἑστῶτα ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ,phrase modifier — second object of εἶδεν, the verb gapped — ἑστῶτα: standing, not seated (Ps 110:1); witness for the defense, advocate, or rising to receive — the crux is left open
56
καὶ εἶπεν·independent — the vision reported to the court — testimony to the last
Ἰδοὺ θεωρῶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς διηνοιγμένους καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ δεξιῶν ἑστῶτα τοῦ θεοῦ.content — the only non-dominical 'Son of Man' in the Gospels and Acts — Dan 7:13 joined to Ps 110:1, Jesus' own trial-answer (Luke 22:69) confirmed, with ἑστῶτα doubled
vv. 57–58 — cast out of the city; the cloaks at the feet of Saul
57
κράξαντες δὲ φωνῇ μεγάλῃparticipial — forward-leaning on συνέσχον — the court's scream against what it hears as blasphemy
συνέσχον τὰ ὦτα αὐτῶνindependent — the uncircumcised ears of v. 51 now plugged by their own hands — the verdict enacted on themselves
καὶ ὥρμησαν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν,independent — ὁμοθυμαδόν — the word for the church's unanimity (1:14; 2:46) turned lynch-law
58
καὶ ἐκβαλόντες ἔξω τῆς πόλεωςparticipial — forward-leaning on ἐλιθοβόλουν — outside the camp, as for blasphemy (Lev 24:14; cf. Heb 13:12–13)
ἐλιθοβόλουν·independent — inceptive imperfect — the stoning opens here and continues under v. 59
καὶ οἱ μάρτυρες ἀπέθεντο τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας νεανίου τινὸς καλουμένου Σαύλου,independent — the witnesses throw first (Deut 17:7) — and Luke plants Saul at the coats: the persecutor's quiet entrance (8:1; 22:20)
vv. 59–60 — the two prayers and the falling asleep
59
καὶ ἐλιθοβόλουν τὸν Στέφανονindependent — the imperfect resumed — Luke keeps the stones falling through the prayer
ἐπικαλούμενον καὶ λέγοντα·participial — ἐπικαλέομαι — the church's defining act (2:21; 9:14) performed under the stones, and its object is Jesus
Κύριε Ἰησοῦ, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου.content — Ps 31:5 as Jesus prayed it (Luke 23:46) — but addressed to Jesus himself: prayer to the standing Son of Man
60
θεὶς δὲ τὰ γόναταparticipial — forward-leaning on ἔκραξεν — τιθέναι τὰ γόνατα, Luke's kneeling idiom (Luke 22:41; Acts 9:40)
ἔκραξεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ·independent — the martyr's φωνὴ μεγάλη answering the mob's (v. 57) — and echoing the cross (Luke 23:46)
Κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην·content — μὴ στήσῃς — do not fix it to their account; Jesus' 'Father, forgive them' (Luke 23:34) in Stephen's mouth, with Saul in earshot
καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼνparticipial — forward-leaning on ἐκοιμήθη — the prayer his last act
ἐκοιμήθη.independent — ἐκοιμήθη — the church's death-verb (1 Thess 4:13) minted in narrative: a lynching that ends in a lying down to sleep
Analysis. Acts 7 is one question, one speech, and a stoning. The high priest's five-word question (v. 1) and Stephen's Ὁ δὲ ἔφη (v. 2) are the only narrative clauses in the first fifty-three verses: after the Ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες address, the entire defence — the longest speech in the NT — runs as a coordinate cnt catena under that single ἔφη at one constant depth, so the page shows what Luke built: an unbroken recital of Israel's history that withholds its verdict until v. 51. Against the fixed column the speech's own grammar indents: God's words to Abraham (vv. 3, 6–7) and to Moses at the bush (vv. 33–34) nest as speech-within-speech under their verbs of saying, as do the people's words (vv. 26–28, 35, 40); the Amos 5:25–27 citation hangs under γέγραπται (vv. 42–43) and Isa 66:1–2 under the prophet's λέγει (vv. 49–50); fronted temporals and participles (vv. 4, 12, 14, 17, 21, 23, 30–31) lean forward anchor-less on their clauses, as in Mark 13; and the mv labels track the history's movements, including Moses' three forties (vv. 23, 30, 36). The cruxes are taken openly: μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν (v. 4) keeps the chronological harmonization of Gen 11:32 with 12:4 known also to Philo; the seventy-five souls (v. 14) follow LXX Gen 46:27; the tomb of v. 16 conflates Machpelah (Gen 23) with Jacob's Shechem plot (Gen 33:19) and is left unharmonized; ἐπέκεινα Βαβυλῶνος (v. 43) follows the LXX's exile-horizon where Amos wrote Damascus; τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ is kept at v. 46 against the easier τῷ θεῷ. The second section sets the martyrdom in narrative indicatives at depth 0 — the only such lines after v. 2 — with the mob's participles leaning forward on their verbs: the doubled ἑστῶτα (vv. 55–56), standing rather than seated at the right hand, is flagged as the open crux it is (witness? advocate? rising to receive?), v. 56 is noted as the only non-dominical 'Son of Man' in the Gospels and Acts, and Stephen's two dying prayers are laid out as the deliberate echo of his Lord's (Luke 23:34, 46) before the verb Luke chose for the first martyr's death: ἐκοιμήθη, he fell asleep.