And the saying pleased the whole multitude
The speech the apostles made took with them; all things they
proposed were universally approved of; the whole body of the
church came into it at once unanimously; they all judged it
highly reasonable, that the apostles should be eased of the
burden in taking care of the poor, and that it should be
transferred to some other persons, and they fixed on the
following:
and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the
Holy Ghost;
he was a man eminent for his faith in Christ, and his
faithfulness to him, and in everything he was concerned, and for
his courage and boldness in the cause of Christ and for other
gifts and graces of the Spirit, with which he was filled; he was,
it is very likely, the most eminent person of all the seven, and
is therefore named first; he is afterwards taken notice of, and
was the first that suffered martyrdom for Christ, with which he
was crowned, answerable to his name, which signifies a crown:
and Philip;
who was also an evangelist, and had four daughters that
prophesied; and perhaps is the same that went down to Samaria,
and preached Christ there with great success, and after that
baptized the Ethiopian eunuch;
and Prochorus;
of this and the rest, no other mention is made in the sacred
writings. He is said by some to be a nephew of Stephen's, and
first bishop of Nicomedia; but these are things not certain; and
as for the life of the Apostle John, said to be written by him,
it is a spurious and fabulous piece.
And Nicanor;
of this man we have no other certain account; for that he
suffered martyrdom with "Stephen" is not to be depended on. It is
a Grecian name; there is one of this name who was a general in
Demetrius's army, who was sent by him against the Jews,
``Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his honourable princes, a man that bare deadly hate unto Israel, with commandment to destroy the people.'' (1Mac 7:26)and there was a gate of the temple, which was called the gate, of Nicanor:
and Timon;
he is said to be afterwards bishop of Bersea; though others make
him bishop, of Bostra; but with what truth cannot be asserted:
and Parmenus;
of him no other account is given, than in the Roman martyrology,
which is not to be depended upon, that he suffered martyrdom
under Trajan:
and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch;
who was first a Greek or Gentile, and then became a Jew, a
proselyte of righteousness, and then a Christian, and now made a
deacon. Some think, that from this man sprung the sect of the
Nicolaitanes, spoken of in the Revelations; though others think,
that that wicked set of men only covered themselves with his
name, or that they abused some words of his, and perverted the
right meaning of them; though was it certain he did turn out a
wicked man, it is not to be wondered at, that since there was a
devil among the twelve apostles, there should be a hypocrite and
a vicious man among the first seven deacons. It is observable,
that the names of all these deacons are Greek names; from whence,
it seems, that they were of the Grecian or Hellenistic Jews; so
that the church thought fit to chose men out of that part of them
which made the complaint, in order to make them easy; which is an
instance of prudence and condescension, and shows of what
excellent spirits they were of.
