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Bible Dictionaries
Stephen
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or STEPHEN . Early in the history of the Christian Church it was found necessary for the Apostles to devolve some of their duties on others. There is no reason for supposing (with Prof. Ramsay) that presbyters had yet been appointed, though they soon followed; but in Acts 6:1-15 seven persons, commonly (but not in NT) called ‘deacons,’ all but one probably Hellenistic or Greek-speaking Jews (see art. Nicolas), were appointed to manage the distribution of alms to the Hellenist widows. Of the Seven, Stephen was the most prominent. Their duties were not eleemosynary only; Stephen at once undertook evangelistic work and won great success, persuading many, and working miracles. His success resulted in the first persecution of the Church, and false witnesses were brought who accused him of blasphemy, and of speaking against the Temple and the Law. He made a long defence ( Acts 7:2-53 ), which is not easy of interpretation. He summarizes OT history from the call of Abraham to the building of Solomon’s Temple (cf. St. Paul’s sermon in Acts 13:1-52 ), in a manner which shows that he depended partly on tradition, for there are many discrepancies between his speech and OT. He speaks with great respect of the Mosaic Law ( Acts 7:35-38; Acts 7:53 ). Some think that he disparages the Temple as having been built against God’s will ( Acts 13:48 ff.). But this is very improbable. Perhaps the defence was not completed; yet what was delivered gives its drift. The Jews had misunderstood their own Law. God had not confined His presence to the Tabernacle and the Temple; He had appeared to Abraham and others before the Law was given; Isaiah ( Isaiah 66:1 f.) had preached that God’s worship was not confined to one place. But the people had persecuted the prophets as they now had killed Jesus. This defence provoked the Jews so much that they cast Stephen out of the city and stoned him undoubtedly an illegal murder, not sanctioned by the Roman law. Stephen, whose dying prayer for his murderers ( Acts 7:60 ) recalls that of his Master, thus became the first Christian martyr. His death led to a persecution, and to a dispersal of the disciples from Jerusalem. This caused the spread of the gospel to many lands. But the most prominent fruit of the martyrdom, doubtless, was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who was present ( Acts 7:58 , Isaiah 8:1 ), and of whom, as is generally acknowledged, Stephen was in his preaching the forerunner.
A. J. Maclean.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Stephen'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/s/stephen.html. 1909.
