Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“And great fear came upon all the church, &c.--This effect on the Christian community itself was the chief design of so startling a judgment; which had its counterpart, as the sin itself had, in Achan (Jos 7:1-26), while the time--at the commencement of a new…”

“Heb 2:10). to give--dispensing as a "Prince." repentance and remission of sins--as a "Saviour"; "repentance" embracing all that change which issues in the faith which secures "forgiveness" (compare Ac 2:38; How gloriously is Christ here exhibited; not, as i…”

“Stephen, &c.--As this and the following names are all Greek, it is likely they were all of the "Grecian" class, which would effectually restore mutual confidence.”

“And Stephen, &c.--The foregoing narrative seems to be only an introduction to what follows. full of faith--rather, "of grace," as the best manuscripts read.”

“It is the glory of absolutely free grace. appeared unto our father Abraham before he dwelt in Charran, and said, &c.--Though this first call is not expressly recorded in Genesis, it is clearly implied in Ge 15:7 and Ne 9:7; and the Jewish writers speak the …”

“But when--rather, "as." the time of the promise--that is, for its fulfilment. the people grew and multiplied in Egypt--For more than two hundred years they amounted to no more than seventy-five souls; how prodigious, then, must have been their multiplication…”

“In which time--of deepest depression. Moses was born--the destined deliverer. exceeding fair--literally, "fair to God" (Margin), or, perhaps, divinely "fair" (see on Heb 11:23).”

“Moses, grieved at the spectacle, interposes as a mediator; but his interference, as unauthorized, is resented by the party in the wrong, whom Stephen identifies with the mass of the nation (Ac 7:35), just as Messiah's own interposition had been spurned.”

“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).”

“This is that Moses which said . . . A prophet . . . him shall ye hear--This is quoted to remind his Moses-worshipping audience of the grand testimony of their faithful lawgiver, that he himself was not the last and proper object of the Church's faith, but only…”

“This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel . . . and with our fathers--alike near to the Angel of the Covenant, from whom he received all the institutions of the ancient economy, and to the people, to whom he faithfully reported the li…”

“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 th…”

“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, was n…”

“Who have received the law by the disposition--"at the appointment" or "ordination," that is, by the ministry. of angels, and have not kept it--This closing word is designed to shut up those idolizers of the law under the guilt of high disobedience to it, aggr…”

“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 re…”

“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).”

“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. 110 or …”

“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 Master's spi…”

“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]. the city of Samaria--or "a city of S…”

“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! …”

“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 divinely…”

“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).”

“Thou hast neither part nor lot . . . thy heart is not fight, &c.--This is the fidelity of a minister of Christ to one deceiving himself in a very awful manner.”

“Repent . . . pray . . . if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven--this expression of doubt being designed to impress upon him the greatness of his sin, and the need of alarm on his part.”

“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 som…”