Acts 7 Footnotes

7:2 Some have argued that Stephen’s speech is inauthentic, suggesting it reflects later Judaic thought popular after AD 70 when the temple was destroyed. However, OT prophets often declared that God cannot be confined to a single space (vv. 49-50 citing Is 66:1-2; Paul in chap. 17).

7:51 Stephen used OT language to condemn Jews for resisting God’s Spirit with their uncircumcised hearts and ears (e.g., Lv 26:41; Jr 4:4; 6:10; 9:26; Ezk 44:7,9). Similarly, Paul singled out Jews for relying on outward signs and not having transformed hearts (Rm 2; Gl 5).

7:53 Stephen did not denigrate the law by mentioning angelic mediation (see Gl 3:19; Heb 2:2). It appears he emphasized the law’s particular importance because God entrusted its delivery to angels.

7:56 “Son of Man,” Jesus’s favorite self-designation, interestingly drops from usage in the rest of the NT (suggesting an earlier dating for this book). Jesus considered himself to be the “son of man” found in Dn 7:13-14. Stephen’s claim to see him alongside God in heaven implied Jesus’s divine status and equality with God. It provoked the mob to violence, prematurely ending the trial.

7:58 Saul, whose name was Jewish, did not go by Paul, a Roman name, until 13:9. He supported Stephen’s death and may have been a member of the Sanhedrin—or simply a young, zealous rabbinic student. Roman citizens (22:28) had three names: Paul (Paulus) would have been his last name; his first two are unknown.