Acts 6:11

Then they suborned men (tote upebalon andra). Second aorist active indicative of upoballw, old verb, but here only in the N.T., to put under like a carpet, to bring men under one's control by suggestion or by money. One recalls the plight of Caiaphas in the trial of Jesus when he sought false witnesses. Subornaverunt. They put these men forward in an underhand way for fraud. Blasphemous words against Moses and God (blasphma ei Mwushn kai ton qeon). The punishment for blasphemy was stoning to death. See Matthew 12:31 for discussion of the word blasphmia, blasphmew, blasphmo, all in the N.T. from blaptw, to harm, and phmh, speech, harmful speech, or blax, stupid, and phmh. But the charge against Stephen was untrue. Please note that Moses is here placed before God and practically on a par with God in the matter of blasphemy. The purpose of this charge is to stir the prejudices of the people in the matter of Jewish rights and privileges. It is the Pharisees who are conducting this attack on Stephen while the Sadducees had led them against Peter and John. The position of Stephen is critical in the extreme for the Sadducees will not help him as Gamaliel did the apostles.