Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’

“This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge, &c.--Here, again, "the stone which the builders refused is made the head of the corner" (Ps 118:22).”

You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

“Molech and Remphan being deities, representing apparently the divine powers ascribed to nature, under different aspects. carry you beyond Babylon--the well-known region of the captivity of Judah; while "Damascus" is used by the prophet (Am 5:27), whither the ten tribes were carried.”

And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,

“But Stephen's object in mentioning David is to hasten from the tabernacle which he set up, to the temple which his son built, in Jerusalem; and this only to show, from their own Scripture (Isa 66:1, 2), that even that temple, magnificent though it was…”

you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

“Who have received the law by the disposition--"at the appointment" or "ordination," that is, by the ministry.”

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

“As the sight was witnessed by Stephen alone, the opened heavens are to be viewed as revealed to his bright beaming spirit. and Jesus standing on the right hand of God--Why "standing," and not sitting, the posture in which the glorified Saviour is elsewhere represented?”

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

“I see . . . the Son of man standing, &c.--This is the only time that our Lord is by human lips called THE SON OF MAN after His ascension (Re 1:13; 14:14 are not instances).”

While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

“Christ being the Person directly invoked and addressed by name (compare Ac 9:14). Even GROTIUS, DE WETTE, MEYER, &c., admit this, adding several other examples of direct prayer to Christ; and PLINY, in his well-known letter to the Emperor Trajan (A.D.”

Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

“Lord--that is, JESUS, beyond doubt, whom he had just before addressed as Lord. lay not this sin to their charge--Comparing this with nearly the same prayer of his dying Lord, it will be seen how very richly this martyr of Jesus had drunk into his…”

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.

“It was the deacon of that name, who comes next after Stephen in the catalogue of the seven, probably as being the next most prominent. The persecution may have been directed especially against Stephen's colleagues [MEYER].”

Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles he observed.

“Then Simon himself believed also--Left without followers, he thinks it best to join the man who had fairly outstripped him, not without a touch of real conviction. and . . . was baptized--What a light does this throw on what is called Baptismal Regeneration!”

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

“In the present case an important object was served by it--"the sudden appearance of a body of baptized disciples in Samaria, by the agency of one who was not an apostle, requiring the presence and power of apostles to perform their special part as the…”

But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

“Thy money perish with thee--that is, "Accursed be thou and thy money with thee." It is the language of mingled horror and indignation, not unlike our Lord's rebuke of Peter himself (Mt 16:23).”

Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

“While this throws great light on Peter's view of his melancholy case, it shows that Christianity, as something divine, still retained its hold of him. (Tradition represents him as turning out a great heresiarch, mingling Oriental or Grecian philosophy with some elements of Christianity.)”

So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.

“Candace--the family name of the queens of Upper Egypt, like Pharaoh, Cæsar, &c. (as appears from classic authors). had come to Jerusalem to worship--that is, to keep the recent feast of Pentecost, as a Gentile proselyte to the Jewish faith.”

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

“The place . . . was this, He was led as a sheep, &c.--One cannot but wonder that this, of all predictions of Messiah's sufferings in the Old Testament the most striking, should have been that which the eunuch was reading before Philip joined him.”

“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

“And the eunuch answered, I pray thee, &c.--The respect with which he here addresses Philip was prompted by his reverence for one whom he perceived to be his superior in divine things; his own worldly position sinking before this.”

As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”

“(Ac 8:37 is wanting in the principal manuscripts and most venerable versions of the New Testament. It seems to have been added from the formularies for baptism which came into current use).”

But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

“Henceforth we lose sight of zealous and honored Philip, as by and by we shall lose sight even of Peter. As the chariot of the Gospel rolls on, other agents are raised up, each suited to his work.”

“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

“I am Jesus whom thou persecutest--The "I" and "thou" here are touchingly emphatic in the original; while the term "JESUS" is purposely chosen, to convey to him the thrilling information that the hated name which he sought to hunt down--"the Nazarene," as it is in…”

“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

“The question, "What shall I do, Lord?" or, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" indicates a state of mind singularly interesting (see on Ac 2:37).”

Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

“Saul arose . . . and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man--after beholding the Lord, since he "could not see for the glory of that light" (Ac 22:11), he had involuntarily closed his eyes to protect them from the glare; and on…”

For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything.

“And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink--that is, according to the Hebrew mode of computation: he took no food during the remainder of that day, the entire day following, and so much of the subsequent day as elapsed before…”

“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.

“It was situated on the river Cydnus, was a "large and populous city" (says XENOPHON, and see Ac 21:39), and under the Romans had the privilege of self-government.”

In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias, &c.--Thus, as in the case of Cornelius and Peter afterwards, there was a mutual preparation of each for each.”

I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

“I will show him--(See Ac 20:23, 24; 21:11). how great things he must suffer for my name--that is, Much he has done against that Name; but now, when I show him what great things he must suffer for that Name, he shall count it his…”