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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Acts 8:2

God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Burial;   Character;   Church;   Intolerance, Religious;   Jerusalem;   Stephen;   Scofield Reference Index - Churches;   Thompson Chain Reference - Burials;   Dead Bodies;   Joy-Sorrow;   Lamentations;   Stephen;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Character of Saints;   Church, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jerusalem;   Persecution;   Stephen;   Temple;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Burial;   Holy Spirit;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Mourn;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Acts of the Apostles;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Acts;   Paul;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gnosticism;   Mark, Gospel According to;   Peter;   Simon Magus;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Burial;   Mourning;   Quotations;   Tomb, Grave, Sepulchre;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - New Testament;   Preaching;   Samaria ;   Stephen;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Philip;   Samaria;   Stephen;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom or Church of Christ, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Burial;   Fear;   Mark, the Gospel According to;  

Parallel Translations

Simplified Cowboy Version
Some brave men came and got Steve's body and buried it. He was mourned greatly.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.
Legacy Standard Bible
And some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.
Bible in Basic English
And God-fearing men put Stephen's body in its last resting-place, making great weeping over him.
Darby Translation
And pious men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
New King James Version
And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Christian Standard Bible®
Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
World English Bible
Devout men buried Stephen, and lamented greatly over him.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
Weymouth's New Testament
A party of devout men, however, buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.
King James Version (1611)
And deuout men carried Steuen to his buriall, and made great lamentation ouer him.
Literal Translation
And devout men together carried Stephen and made a great lamentation over him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
As for Steuen, men yt feared God dressed him, and made greate lamentacion ouer him.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and some devout men who carried Stephen to his burial, making great lamentation over him.
Amplified Bible
Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly over him [expressing a personal sense of loss].
American Standard Version
And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
Revised Standard Version
Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then devout men dressed Steven aud made great lamentacion over him.
Update Bible Version
And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
Webster's Bible Translation
And devout men carried Stephen [to his burial], and made great lamentation over him.
Young's Literal Translation
and devout men carried away Stephen, and made great lamentation over him;
New Century Version
And some religious people buried Stephen and cried loudly for him.
New English Translation
Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.
Complete Jewish Bible
Some godly men buried Stephen and mourned him deeply.
English Standard Version
Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then certaine men fearing God, caried Steuen amongs them, to be buried, and made great lamentation for him.
George Lamsa Translation
And devout men picked up Stephen and buried him, and they mourned over him in great sorrow.
Hebrew Names Version
Devout men buried Stephen, and lamented greatly over him.
International Standard Version
Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.Genesis 23:2; 50:10; 2 Samuel 3:31;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
And faithful men laid Estephanos in his tomb, and mourned over him greatly.
Murdock Translation
And believing men gathered up and buried Stephen. And they lamented over him greatly.
New Living Translation
(Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.)
New Life Bible
Good men put Stephen in a grave. There was much sorrow because of him.
English Revised Version
And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
New Revised Standard
Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Howbeit reverent men assisted at the burial of Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And devout men took order for Stephen’s funeral and made great mourning over him.
King James Version
And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Lexham English Bible
And devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And deuout men were carefull together touchyng Steuen, and made great lamentation ouer hym.
New American Standard Bible
Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.
Good News Translation
Some devout men buried Stephen, mourning for him with loud cries.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But good men birieden Steuene, and maden greet mornyng on hym.

Contextual Overview

1And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen's death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

devout: Acts 2:5, Acts 10:2, Luke 2:25

made: Genesis 23:2, Genesis 50:10, Genesis 50:11, Numbers 20:29, Deuteronomy 34:8, 1 Samuel 28:3, 2 Samuel 3:31, 2 Chronicles 32:33, 2 Chronicles 35:25, Isaiah 57:1, Isaiah 57:2, Jeremiah 22:10, Jeremiah 22:18, John 11:31-35

Reciprocal: Genesis 50:9 - chariots Leviticus 10:4 - carry 1 Samuel 25:1 - lamented 1 Kings 13:30 - mourned over 2 Kings 2:12 - rent them 2 Kings 13:20 - buried him Matthew 14:12 - took Mark 6:29 - they came Acts 6:5 - Stephen Acts 9:39 - and all Acts 17:17 - devout Acts 22:12 - a devout 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - ye sorrow

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
Genesis 8:11
And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
Genesis 8:13
In Noah's six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the water had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
Job 38:37
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
Proverbs 8:28
when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,
Jonah 2:3
For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me. All Your breakers and waves swept over me.
Matthew 8:9
For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial,.... These men were not Jewish proselytes, but members of the Christian church; who were eminent for their religion and piety, and who had courage enough, amidst this persecution, to show a respect to the dead body of this holy martyr; which they took from under the stones, washed it, and wound it up in linen clothes, and put it into a coffin, or on a bier: they did everything preparatory to the funeral, which, is chiefly designed by the word here used, rather than the carrying of him out to his grave; though this also they did, and buried him: and to bear a corpse and follow it to the grave, and bury it, were with the Jews x reckoned among acts of kindness, mercy, and piety, and which would not fail of a reward; they have a saying y, that

"he that mourns, they shall mourn for him; and he that buries, they shalt bury him and he that lifts up (his voice in weeping lamentation), they shall lift up for him; he that accompanies (a dead corpse), they shall accompany him; he that "carries", they shall carry him;''

as these devout men did, who would not suffer Stephen to be buried in the common burying place of malefactors, but interred him elsewhere, in a more decent manner: but whether they had leave from the sanhedrim so to do, or whether they did this of themselves, is not certain; if the latter, which seems most likely, it is an instance of great boldness and resolution, and especially at this time; for

"they did not bury one that was stoned in the sepulchres of his fathers, but there were two burying places appointed by the sanhedrim, one for those that are stoned and burnt, and another for those that are slain with the sword and strangled z.''

So that, they acted contrary to the Jewish canon, as they also did in what follows:

and made great lamentation over him; though they did not sorrow as those without hope, yet they did not put on a stoical apathy; but as men sensible of the loss the church of Christ had sustained, by the death of a person so eminent for his gifts and grace, they mourned over him in a becoming manner: in this they went contrary to the Jewish rule, which forbids lamentation for those that died as malefactors, and runs thus a

"they do not mourn, but they grieve; for grief is only in the heart;''

their reason for this was, as the commentators say b, because they thought that

"their disgrace was an atonement for their sin:''

but these devout men knew that Stephen needed no such atonement, and that his sins were atoned for another way: otherwise the Jews looked upon mourning for the dead to be to the honour of him; hence they say c, that mourning

"is the glory of the dead--whoever is backward to the mourning of a wise man shall not prolong his days; and whoever is sluggish in mourning for a good man, ought to be buried alive; and whoever causes tears to descend for a good man, lo, his reward is reserved for him with the holy blessed God.''

x Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Peah, c. 1. sect. 1. y T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 72. 1. & Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2. z Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 6. sect. 5. a Misn. Sanhedrin, sect. 6. b Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. c Maimon. Hilch. Ebel, c. 12. sect. 1, 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And devout men - Religious men. The word used here does not imply of necessity that they were Christians. There might have been Jews who did not approve of the popular tumult, and the murder of Stephen, who gave him a decent burial. Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, both Jews, thus gave to the Lord Jesus a decent burial, John 19:38-39.

Carried Stephen - The word translated “carried” means properly to “collect,” as fruits, etc. Then it is applied to all the preparations necessary for fitting a dead body for burial, as “collecting,” or confining it by bandages, with spices, etc.

And made great lamentation - This was usual among the Jews at a funeral. See the notes on Matthew 9:23.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 8:2. Devout men carried Stephen to his burial] The Greek word, συνεκομισαν, signifies not only to carry, or rather to gather up, but also to do every thing necessary for the interment of the dead. Among the Jews, and indeed among most nations of the earth, it was esteemed a work of piety, charity, and mercy, to bury the dead. The Jews did not bury those who were condemned by the Sanhedrin in the burying place of the fathers, as they would not bury the guilty with the innocent; and they had a separate place for those who were stoned, and for those that were burnt. According to the Tract Sanh. fol. 45, 46, the stone wherewith any one was stoned, the post on which he was hanged, the sword by which he was beheaded, and the cord by which he was strangled, were buried in the same place with the bodies of the executed persons. As these persons died under the curse of the law, the instruments by which they were put to death were considered as unclean and accursed, and therefore buried with their bodies. Among the ancients, whatever was grateful or useful to a person in life was ordinarily buried with him; thus the sword, spear, shield, c., of the soldier were put in the same grave the faithful dog of the hunter, c., c. And on this principle the wife of a Brahman burns with the body of her deceased husband.

Made great lamentation over him. — This was never done over any condemned by the Sanhedrin-they only bemoaned such privately this great lamentation over Stephen, if the same custom then prevailed as afterwards, is a proof that Stephen was not condemned by the Sanhedrin he probably fell a sacrifice to the fury of the bigoted incensed mob, the Sanhedrin not interfering to prevent the illegal execution.


 
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