Acts 6:8

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought wonders and great signs among the people.

Acts 6:8 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 6:8

And Stephen, full of faith and power
The historian proceeds to give a narrative of Stephen particularly, the first of the seven deacons; of his faith and miracles, of his elocution and wisdom, of his courage and intrepidity, of his constancy, and of his suffering martyrdom. He is said to be full of faith, as before, ( Acts 6:5 ) the Alexandrian copy, and four of Beza's copies read, "full of grace"; and so do the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions; the Ethiopic version reads, "full of the grace of God": he had an uncommon share of it; it was exceeding abundant in him; he had a sufficiency of it for the service and sufferings he was called to: and he was full of power to preach the Gospel, and teach it the people, which he did with authority; to defend it, and oppose the adversaries of it; to bear reproach and indignities for it, and even death itself; and to do miraculous works for the confirmation of it, as follows:

did great wonders and miracles among the people;
openly before them, such as speaking with divers tongues, healing diseases, casting out devils

Acts 6:8 In-Context

6 whom they set before the apostles; and, having prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was very greatly multiplied, and a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought wonders and great signs among the people.
9 And there arose up certain of those of the synagogue called of freedmen, and of Cyrenians, and of Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or 'great wonders and signs.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.