Acts 7:54

The Stoning of Stephen

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

Acts 7:54 in Other Translations

54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.

54 At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls and whistles and invective.

54 When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him.

Acts 7:54 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 7:54

When they heard these things
How that Abraham, the father of them, was called before he was circumcised, or the law was given to Moses, or the temple was built, which they were so bigoted to, and charged with speaking blasphemously of; and how that Joseph and Moses were very ill treated by the Jewish fathers, which seemed to resemble the usage Christ and his apostles met with from them; and how their ancestors behaved in the wilderness when they had received the law, and what idolatry they fell into there, and in after times; and how that though there was a temple built by Solomon, yet the Lord was not confined to it, nor would he dwell in it always; and especially when they heard him calling them a stiffnecked people, and uncircumcised in heart and ears; saying, that they persecuted and slew the prophets, and were the betrayers and murderers of an innocent person; and notwithstanding all their zeal for the law, and even though it was ministered to them by angels, yet they did not observe it themselves:

they were cut to the heart;
as if they had been sawn asunder; they were filled with anguish, with great pain and uneasiness; they were full of wrath and madness, and could neither bear themselves nor him:

and they gnashed on him with their teeth:
being enraged at him, and full of fury and indignation against him.

Acts 7:54 In-Context

52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—

53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Cross References

• 1. Acts 5:33