Acts 6:11
in Acts 6Then they prompted some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
KJV
Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
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This verse in Acts 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"Then they suborned certain men to say." The disputants do not testify themselves — because they would immediately be exposed as slandering Stephen out of envy — but they bribe others, so that the matter would not be considered unjust — because they did not …
This site's exposition
We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God
on Acts 6:11-12
Unable to win the argument, they suborn men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God, the same tactic of procured false witness used against Jesus himself. The charge stirs up the people, the elders, and the scribes together, a coalition drawn from every level of Jerusalem's leadership, and Stephen is caught and brought to the council by force. The bench reads the escalation from argument to conspiracy as evidence the opposition had no answer left but violence.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words." In the case of the Apostles they were annoyed that they preached the Resurrection, and that much people flowed unto them: but in this case, that they were getting their diseases healed. The things for which they ought to give thanks, they made matter of blame: O the madness! The men who overcame them by works, they expected to overcome by words! It is just what they did in the case of Christ, and always they forced them to words. For they were ashamed to seize them without more ado, having nothing to charge them with. And observe, not the persons themselves who bring them to judgment bear witness against them; for they would have been refuted: but they simply hire others, that it may not seem to be an act of mere violence. It is all of a piece with their proceeding in the case of Christ. And observe the power of the preaching, that, though they are not only scourged but stoned, it still prevails: not only, private individuals as they are, dragged to the bar, but assailed from all quarters: and, their enemies themselves being witnesses, not only were these worsted, but "they were not able" even "to resist," though they were exceeding shameless: so mightily did it overthrow them, for all that they could do with their preposterous figments (as the saying that He had a devil-He that cast out devils!). For the battle was not man's, but God's against men. And there were many combined together; not only they in Jerusalem, but others as well.
For "we have heard him," say they, "speaking blasphemous words against Moses and against God." O ye shameless ones! Ye work blasphemous deeds, and think nothing of it. This is why Moses is added - because the things of God were no great concern to them: and it is ever and always Moses that they make mention of: "This Moses, which brought us out."
In another way: the Libertines and Cyrenians from beyond Alexandria, since they were thought to surpass the Jews in sophistry. Therefore various synagogues were stationed in Jerusalem according to nations. And they had places set apart for the reading of the laws of Moses. For …
He says that their frenzy and momentum rose again and that they were not only roused against themselves but also would soon debate and sophisticate with another crowd, perhaps Libertines, and Alexandrians, and Cyrenaicans, and Cilicians, and Asians. And just as the discussion proceeds through …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then they suborned men,.... Hired false witnesses, which seems to have been commonly done by the Jews; so they did in the case of Christ: which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God; that is, against the law of Moses, and so against God, who gave the law to Moses, as appears from Act 6:13 the blasphemous words seem to be, with respect to the ceremonial law, and the abrogation of it, which Stephen might insist upon, and they charged with blasphemy; see Act 6:14.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then they suborned men - To suborn in law means to procure a person to take such a false oath as constitutes perjury (Webster). It has substantially this sense here. It means that they induced them to declare what was false, or to bring a false accusation against him. This was done, not by declaring a palpable and open falsehood, but by “perverting” his doctrines, and by stating their own “inferences” as what he had actually maintained - the common way in which people oppose doctrines from which they differ.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
blasphemous words against Moses--doubtless referring to the impending disappearance of the whole Mosaic system. and against God--This must refer to the supreme dignity and authority which he claimed for Christ, as the head of that new economy which was so speedily to supersede the old (compare Ac 7:56, 59, 60).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Then they suborned men - Ὑπεβαλον. They made underhand work; got associated to themselves profligate persons, who for money would swear any thing. Blasphemous words against Moses, and against God - This was the most deadly charge they could bring against him. We have already seen, Mat 9:4, that blasphemy, when against God, signifies speaking impiously of his nature, attributes, or works; and, when against men, it signifies speaking injuriously of their character, blasting their reputation, etc. These false witnesses came to prove that he had blasphemed Moses by representing him as an impostor, or the like; and God, by either denying his being, his providence, the justice of his government, etc.
The words behind it
15 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Τότε | tote | Then | G5119 → | 160 times |
| ὑπέβαλον | hupebalon | they suborned | G5260 → | |
| ἄνδρας | andras | men | G435 → | 216 times |
| λέγοντας | legontas | saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἀκηκόαμεν | akekoamen | We have heard | G191 → | 425 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | when he | G846 → | 5565 times |
| λαλοῦντος | lalountos | is speaking | G2980 → | 294 times |
| ῥήματα | rhemata | declarations | G4487 → | 68 times |
| βλάσφημα | blasphema | blasphemous | G989 → | |
| εἰς | eis | against | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| Μωϋσῆν | mousen | Moses | G3475 → | 78 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὸν | ton | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεόν· | theon | God; | G2316 → | 1312 times |
ΤότεThen
toteG5119 →160 times
ὑπέβαλονthey suborned
hupebalonG5260 →
ἄνδραςmen
andrasG435 →216 times
λέγονταςsaying
legontasG3004 →1325 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἀκηκόαμενWe have heard
akekoamenG191 →425 times
αὐτοῦwhen he
autouG846 →5565 times
λαλοῦντοςis speaking
lalountosG2980 →294 times
ῥήματαdeclarations
rhemataG4487 →68 times
βλάσφημαblasphemous
blasphemaG989 →
εἰςagainst
eisG1519 →1755 times
ΜωϋσῆνMoses
mousenG3475 →78 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὸν<the>
tonG3588 →19766 times
θεόν·God;
theonG2316 →1312 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 6:13where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.
it leads to
- Acts 21:28
crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and…
- Acts 25:8
Then Paul made his defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
- Matthew 24:15
So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),
- Psalms 27:12
Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
- Acts 7:58
They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Acts 21:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Acts
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 15; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.