Acts 7:52

Act 7:52. Καὶ ἀπέκτειναν, and they have slain) This is commonly construed with what follows; but it is more suitable to connect it with the verb ἐδίωξαν, persecuted. [The margin of Ed. 2 and the Vers. Germ. more clearly answers to this judgment than the larger Ed.—E. B.] For, Which of the prophets not expresses, with the addition of feeling, the same meaning as, all the prophets; whence the construction should be, [“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted and slain,” i.e.] all the prophets, who announced or showed before, etc. Syllepsis. [Append. Where the sense regulates the construction more than the words; as here the Plural, τοὺς προκαταγγείλαντας, refers to the antecedent plural implied in the singular, τίνα τῶν προφητῶν;]—περὶ τῆς ἐλεύσεως, concerning the coming) Whence He is so often called ὁ ἐρχόμενος, the Comer, He who is to come.—τοῦ δικαίου, of the Just One) A remarkable Antonomasia [substitution of an appellative designation for a proper name]. The true Messiah is the Just Author of justice or righteousness.—νῦν, now) The now answers to the before in who announced or showed before.—προδοται, betrayers) to Pilate. Refer this to the previous, persecuted.—φονεῖς, murderers) Pilate delivering Him up to them. Refer this to the previous, have slain.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_7:52. Proof of the ὡς οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ (also) ὑμεῖς.

καὶ ἀπέκτ.] καί is the climactic even; they have even killed them. Comp. on this reproach, Luk_11:47. The characteristic more special designation of the prophets; τοὺς προκαταγγείλαντας κ.τ.λ., augments the guilt.

τοῦ δικαίου] κατʼ ἐξοχήν of Jesus, the highest messenger of God, the (ideal) Just One, iii. 14, xxii. 14; 1Pe_3:18; 1Jn_2:1. Contrast to the relative clause that follows.

νῦν] in the present time, opposed to the times of the fathers; ὑμεῖς is emphatically placed over against the latter as a parallel.

προδόται] betrayers (Luk_6:16), inasmuch as the Sanhedrists, by false and crafty accusation and condemnation, delivered Jesus over to the Roman tribunal and brought Him to execution.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 7:52 . τίνα τῶν προφ . ἀσυνδέτως , to mark the vehemence of the speech, as above, Act 7:51 : cf. 2Ch 36:16 for the general statement, and for individual cases, Jeremiah, Amos, and probably Isaiah, the prophet just quoted. We may compare the words of our Lord, Mat 5:12 , Luk 13:34 , and also Luk 11:49 , Mat 23:29-37 where the same words ἐδίωξαν and ἀπέκτειναν are used of the treatment of the prophets. καὶ ἀπέκ .: “they even slew” perhaps the force of καί (Wendt), “they slew them also” (Rendall). ἐλεύσεως : only here in the N.T., not in LXX or Apocrypha, or in classical writers, but found in Acta Thomæ 28, and in Iren., i., 10, in plural, of the first and second advent of Christ (see also Dion. Hal., iii., 59). τοῦ δικαίου , see Act 3:14 and note. It has been suggested that it is used here and elsewhere of our Lord from His own employment of the same word in Mat 23:29 , where He speaks of the tombs τῶν δικαίων whom the fathers had slain whilst the children adorned their sepulchres. But it is more probable that the word was applied to our Lord from the LXX use of it, cf. Isa 53:11 . Even those Jews who rejected the idea of an atoning Messiah acknowledged that His personal righteousness was His real claim to the Messianic dignity, Weber, Jüdische Theologie , p. 362; Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers , p. 185, second edition. We cannot forget that one of those present who heard St. Stephen’s burning words was himself to see the Just One and to carry on the martyr’s work, cf. Act 22:14 , ἰδεῖν τὸν δίκαιον κ . τ . λ . νῦν ἐγένεσθε : “of whom ye have now become,” R.V., the spirit of their fathers was still alive, and they had acted as their fathers had done; ὑμεῖς again emphatic.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which of, &c.--Deadly hostility to the messengers of God, whose high office it was to tell of "the Righteous One," that well-known prophetic title of Messiah (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:6, &c.), and this consummated by the betrayal and murder of Messiah Himself, on the part of those now sitting in judgment on the speaker, are the still darker features of the national character depicted in these withering words.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?] Ye have not only resisted the Holy Ghost, but ye have persecuted all those who have spoken to you in his name, and by his influence: thus ye prove your opposition to the Spirit himself, by your opposition to every thing that proceeds from him.

They have slain them, c.] Isaiah, who showed before of the coming of Christ, the Jews report, was sawn asunder at the command of Manasseh.

The coming of the Just One] του δικαιου, Meaning Jesus Christ emphatically called the just or righteous person, not only because of the unspotted integrity of his heart and life, but because of his plenary acquittal, when tried at the tribunal of Pilate: I find no fault at all in him. The mention of this circumstance served greatly to aggravate their guilt. The character of Just One is applied to our Lord in three other places of Scripture: Ac 3:14; Ac 22:14; and Jas 5:6.

The betrayers and murderers] Ye first delivered him up into the hands of the Romans, hoping they would have put him to death; but, when they acquitted him, then, in opposition to the declaration of his innocence, and in outrage to every form of justice, ye took and murdered him. This was a most terrible charge; and one against which they could set up no sort of defense. No wonder, then, that they were instigated by the spirit of the old destroyer, which they never resisted, to add another murder to that of which they had been so recently guilty.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

52. Which of the prophets? Forasmuch as they ought not to bear their fathers’ fault, Stephen seemeth to deal unjustly, in that he reckoneth this amongst their faults unto whom he speaketh; but he had just causes so to do. First, because they did vaunt that they were Abraham’s holy progeny, it was worth the labor to show unto them how great vanity that was, as if Stephen should say, that there is no cause why they should vaunt of their stock, forasmuch as they come of those who were wicked murderers of the prophets. So that he toucheth that glancingly which is more plainly set down by the prophets, that they are not the children of prophets, but a degenerate and bastardly issue, the seed of Canaan, etc. Which thing we may at this day object to the Papists, when as they so highly extol their fathers. Furthermore, this serveth to amplify withal, whereas he saith that it is no new thing for them to resist the truth, but that they have this wickedness, as it were, by inheritance from their fathers. Furthermore, it was requisite for Stephen by this means to pluck from their faces the visor of the Church, wherewith they burdened him. This was an unmeet prejudice against the doctrine of the gospel, in that they boasted that they are the Church of God, and did challenge this title by long succession. Therefore, Stephen preventeth them on the contrary, and proveth that their fathers did, no less than they, rage against the prophets, through wicked contempt and hatred of sound doctrine. Lastly, this is the continual custom of the Scripture to gather the fathers and children together under the same guiltiness, seeing they pollute themselves with the same offenses, and that famous sentence of Christ answereth thereto, “Fulfill the measure of your fathers, until the just blood come upon you, from Abel unto Zacharias.”

Who have foretold. Hereby we gather that this was the drift of all the prophets, to direct their nation unto Christ, as he is the end of the law, (Romans 10:4.) It were too long to gather all the prophecies wherein the coming of Christ was foretold. Let it suffice to know this generally, that it was the common office of all the prophets to promise salvation by the grace of Christ. Christ is called in this place the Just, not only to note his innocency, but of the effect, because it is proper to him to appoint justice in the world. And even in this place doth Stephen prove that the Jews were altogether unworthy of the benefit of redemption, because the fathers did not only refuse that in times past, which was witnessed unto them by the prophets, but they did also cruelly murder the messengers of grace, and their children endeavored to extinguish the author of righteousness and salvation which was offered unto them. By which comparison Christ teacheth that the wicked conspiracy of his enemies was an heap of all iniquities.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(52) Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?—St. Stephen echoes, as it were, our Lord’s own words (Mat_5:12; Luk_13:34). Every witness for the truth had in his day had to suffer. The prophet was not only “without honour,” but was exposed to shame, treated as an enemy, condemned to death. 1Th_2:15, perhaps, reproduces the same fact, but more probably refers to the sufferings of the prophets of the Christian Church who were treated as their predecessors had been.

The coming of the Just One.—The name does not appear to have been one of the received titles of the expected Messiah, but may have been suggested by Isa_11:4-5. It seems to have been accepted by the Church of Jerusalem, and in 1Jn_2:1, and, perhaps, in Jas_5:6, we find examples of its application. The recent use of it by Pilate’s wife (Mat_27:19) may have helped to give prominence to it. He who had been condemned as a malefactor was emphatically, above all the sons of men, the “righteous,” the “Just One.”

The betrayers and murderers.—The two words emphasise, the first the act of the Sanhedrin and the people, and secondly, the persistence with which they urged on Pilate the sentence of death, and which made them not merely accessories, but principals in the deed of blood.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?] Better, did not your fathers persecute? Cp. the history, 2Ch_36:16, “They mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his prophets.” And Christ (Mat_23:37) brought the same charge against Jerusalem, “thou that killest the prophets.”

the Just One] The same epithet is applied to Jesus by St John (1Jn_2:1), and is found so used in the Acts (Act_3:14, Act_22:14).

of whom ye have been [become, even] now the betrayers] Thus proving yourselves true children of those who misused the prophets.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they heard these things,.... How that Abraham, the father of them, was called before he was circumcised, or the law was given to Moses, or the temple was built, which they were so bigoted to, and charged with speaking blasphemously of; and how that Joseph and Moses were very ill treated by the Jewish fathers, which seemed to resemble the usage Christ and his apostles met with from them; and how their ancestors behaved in the wilderness when they had received the law, and what idolatry they fell into there, and in after times; and how that though there was a temple built by Solomon, yet the Lord was not confined to it, nor would he dwell in it always; and especially when they heard him calling them a stiffnecked people, and uncircumcised in heart and ears; saying, that they persecuted and slew the prophets, and were the betrayers and murderers of an innocent person; and notwithstanding all their zeal for the law, and even though it was ministered to them by angels, yet they did not observe it themselves:

they were cut to the heart; as if they had been sawn asunder; they were filled with anguish, with great pain and uneasiness; they were full of wrath and madness, and could neither bear themselves nor him:

and they gnashed on him with their teeth: being enraged at him, and full of fury and indignation against him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Ver. 52. Of whom ye have been now the betrayers, &c.] This was to deal plainly and freely with them; this was Mordaci radere vero, to tell them the naked truth, whatever it cost him. Let those tigers tear him with their teeth which now they were whetting; he hath but a life to lose, and lose it he cannot in a better cause, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which of the prophets ... - The interrogative form here is a strong mode of saying that they had persecuted “all” the prophets. It was “the characteristic of the nation” to persecute the messengers of God. This is not to be taken as literally and universally true; but it was a general truth; it was the national characteristic. See the notes on Mat 21:33-40; Mat 23:29-35.

And they have slain them ... - That is, they have slain the prophets, whose main message was that the Messiah was to come. It was a great aggravation of their offence that they put to death the messengers which foretold the greatest blessing that the nation could receive.

The Just One - The Messiah. See the notes on Act 3:14.

Of whom ye ... - You thus show that you resemble those who rejected and put to death the prophets. You have even gone beyond them in guilt, because you have put the Messiah himself to death.

The betrayers - They are called “betrayers” here because they employed Judas to betray him - agreeable to the maxim in law, “He who does anything by another is held to have done it himself.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? This is the rather said to stain all their glory from succession, and their ancestors, Mat 5:12; 23:31,37.

The Just One; our Saviour deservedly, and by way of eminence, is so called; as not only being himself just, and fulfilling all righteousness, but being The Lord our Righteousness, Jer 23:6, and is of God made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1Co 1:30. This word is used in a forensic sense, and is the same with innocent, and opposite to guilty; whereby St. Stephen vindicates our Saviour, notwithstanding the unjust sentence passed here upon him.

The betrayers, in hiring Judas, and murderers, in that they excited Pilate to condemn him, and abetted the soldiers and others in executing of him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

52. Which of the prophets—This is not equivalent, as some would understand it, to saying that every prophet, without exception, had been persecuted. Being but a question, it allows that some exceptional reply may be made.

Them which showed before—The particular prophets who predicted the Messiah.

The Just One—Same as the Holy One of Peter, Act_2:27; Act_3:14.

Betrayers and murderers—The same charge was repeatedly made by Peter on the day of Pentecost and in chap. 3.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Did not persecute for have not persecuted, A.V.; killed for have slain, A.V.; righteous for just, A.V.; have now become for have been now, A.V.; betrayers for the betrayers, A.V. The close resemblance of Stephen"s words to those of our Lord recorded in Luk_13:33, Luk_13:34; Mat_5:12 Mat_23:30, Mat_23:31, Mat_23:34-37, lend some support to the tradition that he was one of the seventy, and had heard the Lord speak them. But the resemblance may have arisen from the Spirit by which he spake, "the Spirit of Christ which was in" him.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 51

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

52, 53. Which of the prophets, etc.? Their fathers habitually persecuted the prophets and slew some of them who predicted Christ (see lives of Isaiah and Jeremiah). Now they, his hearers, were murderers of the Just One.

Received the law by the disposition of angels. Through the ministration of angels. See Deut. 29:29. Have not kept it. Pretending to be very scrupulous observers of the law, they were wicked law-breakers.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

52. ἐγένεσθε for γεγένησθε with אABCDE.

52. τίνα κ.τ.λ., which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? Cf. the history 2Ch 36:16, ‘they mocked the messengers of God and despised His words and misused His prophets.’ And Christ (Mat 23:37) brought the same charge against Jerusalem, ‘thou that killest the prophets.’

τοῦ δικαίου, of the righteous One. Jesus is so named by St John (1Jn 2:1), and the name also occurs with the same application Act 3:14; Act 22:14, where the same rendering should be given that the passages may be brought into due connexion.

ἐγένεσθε, ye are become. Thus proving yourselves true children of those who misused the prophets of old time.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

52. τίνα τ. προφ.] See Mat 23:31 ff.: 2Ch 36:16: where the same general expressions are used of their persecuting the prophets. Such sayings are not to be pressed to the letter, but represent the uniform attitude of disobedience and hostility which they assumed to the messengers of God. See also the parable, Mat 21:35.

τοὺς προκ.] The office of all the prophets, see ch. 3:18. The assertion is repeated, to connect them, by this title, with Him, whom they announced.

τοῦ δικαίου] Schöttg. vol. ii. p. 18, has shewn from the Rabbinical writings that this name was used by the Jews to designate the Messiah. See reff. and note on Jas 5:6.

προδόται] By Judas’s treachery, of which the Sanhedrists had been the accomplices; Mat 26:14-16:—φονεῖς, by the hands of the Romans; ch. 2:23, note.

ἐγένεσθε is preferable not only on account of its manuscript authority, but as being the historical tense, like the rest. It was probably altered to the perfect, as suiting the time then present, better than the aorist.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.