By prof. A. P. Lopukhin
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6. 1 – 6. The first Christian deacons. 7 – 15. St. Archdeacon Stephen.
Acts 6:1. In those days, when the disciples were multiplying, a murmur arose among the Hellenists against the Jews, because their widows were not looked after in the distribution of the daily rations.
“In these days” – an indefinite chronological indication, giving in any case a reason to conclude that the events described were not so distant from their predecessors.
“among the Hellenists…against the Jews…”. i.e. between the Hellenistic Christians and the Jews. The “Hellenists” are Jews living in the various countries of the pagan (Greco-Roman) world, speaking the then widespread Greek language. Many of them were proselytes, i.e. Gentiles who accepted the Jewish faith. Sometimes the Hellenists migrated from heathen countries to live in Palestine and Jerusalem, and in any case they considered it their duty to travel to Jerusalem for the festivals, staying there for a longer or shorter time, and sometimes staying longer. long because of his commercial and other affairs. Many of them also accepted Christianity, being fully prepared for it.
By the name “Jews” here are understood Christians from the original permanent Jews, local inhabitants of Palestine, who spoke the Hebrew language.
“When dividing the daily rations…”. In the Greek original: ἐν τῇ διακονίᾳ τῇ διακονίᾳ, in the Slavic translation: “in everyday service…”. As the text further shows, this was the service of the “tables,” that is, supplying the needy with food and other necessities during the communal meals (Acts 2:46), which were probably arranged in the various parts of the city, in the public places of the meetings of the Christians. It seemed to the Hellenists that their widows were neglected. This neglect, of course, was not due to the apostles themselves, but evidently to their immediate subordinates in charge of this activity. St. John Chrysostom also suggests that “this was not done out of ill will, but out of inattention to the multitude of people… because in such a case there cannot be difficulties.”
It is possible that here a certain spirit of exaltation manifested itself before the Hellenists, who were in closer contact with the impure heathen environment, which spirit of exaltation could not smooth out, as can be seen, even the high spirit of Christianity in the first community in Jerusalem. Whatever the cause, the neglect of the Hellenistic widows was there, and it caused a discontent which was more dangerous than the persecutions from outsiders, and therefore the apostles so wisely rooted it out at the very beginning.
Acts 6:2. Then the twelve apostles, calling together the whole multitude of disciples, said: it is not good for us to leave the word of God and take care of the tables.
“having called together the whole multitude of the disciples…” i.e. as far as possible the whole Christian community of Jerusalem, and not only its representatives or elect. The apostles proposed to the whole society to remove this turmoil, and did not decide to remove it only through their authority (cf. John Chrysostom and blessed Theophylact).
“it is not good that we…” – οὐκ ἀρεστόν ἐστιν ἡμᾶς, that is, “we do not like, we do not like.”
“to leave the word of God,” i.e. preaching the word of God, which is their main duty.
Acts 6:3. Therefore, brethren, take care to choose from among you seven men of good name, filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, whom we will appoint to this office;
“Choose”. The apostles make available to the whole community of believers to choose from among themselves people to place them in this office.
“seven souls…” Seven is a sacred number.
“filled with the Holy Spirit…”. This ministry also requires the special gifts of the Holy Spirit, because the ministry of the poor is not only dedicated to their physical needs, but also to their spiritual needs.
“and with wisdom…”. In the usual sense of the word, to organize all activity wisely, successfully, carefully – that is, a purely practical life virtue is meant.
Acts 6:4. and we will constantly remain in prayer and in the service of the word.
“in the service of the word,” i. of the preaching of the gospel, as opposed to the care of the table and the food.
Acts 6:5. This proposal pleased the whole multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philippa and Prochora, Nicanora and Timon, Parmena and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch,
“full of faith” – this refers to a miraculous faith (1 Cor. 12:9), a man with a special gift of the Holy Spirit, through which Stephen performed great miracles and signs (Acts 6:8).
After Stephen, the most famous of the others is Philip (Acts 8). Of the rest, nothing more is mentioned in the writings of the apostles. But church tradition has preserved important information about them: Prochorus was a companion at first of the Apostle Peter, then a companion or scribe of the Apostle John the Theologian, and subsequently a bishop of Nicomedia (in Bithynia), and died a martyr in Antioch.
“Nicanor” – this deacon was killed by the Jews on the day of the murder of Archdeacon Stephen. “Timon” according to tradition was a bishop of Bostra (in Arabia) who was also martyred.
“Parmenus” died before the eyes of the apostles and was buried by them.
“Nicolaus” – a proselyte, an Antiochian, whose choice shows the wisdom of the electors, for he undoubtedly belonged to the Hellenists, whose widows were neglected and became an occasion for discontent to arise. It is not known whether he remained at the height of his ministry, only that his name is not recorded as a saint.
Acts 6:6. which they placed before the Apostles, and they, having prayed, laid hands on them.
“which they placed before the Apostles” – for their actual placing in this ministry. It is not the society that elected them itself that appoints them, but grants this to the Apostles, who alone had the right and authority to perform the installation of the elect by the laying on of hands.
“having prayed” that God’s grace, which heals the weak and fills up the deficient, would vouch for the elect for this special ministry of God’s Church.
“laid hands on them.” A way, and with it, an outward symbolic sign of the pouring out upon ordinations of the special gifts of the Holy Spirit. This ordination (cf. Num. 27:18) followed the prayer, as a symbolic act distinct from it, and not merely accompanying the prayer. This was precisely the action of consecrating the elect, or the external side of the sacrament.
“Notice,” says St. John Chrysostom here, “how the writer says nothing superfluous; he does not explain in what way, but simply says that they were ordained by prayer, because that is how ordination is done. A hand is laid upon man, but all things are done by God, and His right hand touches the head of the ordination, if the ordination be done as it should be”…
Acts 6:7. And so the word of God grew, and the number of disciples increased exceedingly in Jerusalem; and a great multitude of priests obeyed the faith.
“And so the word of God grew,” a remark which gives reason to conclude that the Christian community was calmed down, and the apostolic preaching became especially successful, owing to their concentrating entirely on this preaching. The success was especially manifested in the fact that many priests even accepted faith in Jesus the Messiah, defeated in their stubbornness by the persuasiveness of the apostolic preaching.
Actions. 6:8. And Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great miracles and omens among the people.
“filled with faith and power” – faith as the cause or source of miraculous power, and power as the particular manifestation and operation of faith. Here, for the first time, it is mentioned about the performance of great omens and miracles not only by the apostles, but also by other believers – for the more successful spread of Christ’s Church.
Acts 6:9. When there arose some of the synagogue, so called the synagogue of the libertines, and of that of Cyrenes, Alexandrians, and those who were from Cilicia and Asia, entered into a dispute with Stephen;
Acts 6:10. but they could not resist the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke.
“some… entered into a dispute”, ἀνέστησαν δέ τινες… δέμαροῦντες τῷ Στεφάνῳ…, in the Slavic translation: “Vozstasha ze netsyi… contending with Stephen”.
Those who entered into dispute with Stephen were Hellenists, as Stephen himself seems to have been, judging by his name and speech (Acts 7), in which the Old Testament passages are brought to him by the translation of the Septuagint. Tradition says that he was even a relative of Saul, who, as is known, was a native of Tarsus of Cilicia.
Those who disputed with Stephen were, moreover, “of the so-called synagogue of Libertines and Cyreneans and Alexandrians” – and “from Cilicia and Asia.” At that time in Jerusalem, according to the calculation of the rabbis, there were about 500 synagogues, including the mentioned five.
“Libertines” are Jews resettled by the Romans (especially under Pompey in 60 BC) as prisoners of war in Rome, but then released and now free returned to their homeland (many of them, however, they voluntarily preferred to stay in Rome). These conquered (libertini) formed their own synagogue after their return – “of the libertines”.
“Cyreneans and Alexandrians” – these are Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria who moved to Jerusalem or temporarily resided there.
In Cyrene (a city in Libya, west of Egypt), according to the testimony of Josephus, a quarter of its inhabitants were Jews, and in Alexandria (in Lower Egypt) of the five parts of the city – two of them were inhabited entirely by Jews ( Jewish Antiquities (XIV, 6, 1; XIX, 5, 2). In both cities they have lived for a long time, settled there as prisoners of war or moved voluntarily. Alexandria was a center of Jewish-Greek scholarship, the imprint of which was probably borne by the synagogue of the Alexandrians in Jerusalem.
“Cilicia and Asia” – two Asia Minor regions where many of the Jews also lived, and the emigrants or temporary residents of them in Jerusalem also had their own special synagogues.
All these five synagogues rebelled against Stephen in the person of some of their members and tried to challenge him, i.e. his teaching and right to influence the people.
“They could not resist wisdom.” Wisdom not in the sense of Judeo-Hellenic education, but in the sense of true Christian wisdom, in the sense of enlightenment with the truths of the Gospel teaching and with the gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:8).
Actions. 6:11 a.m. Then they taught some men to say: We heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.
Actions. 6:12 a.m. And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and, having attacked him, seized him and brought him to the Sanhedrin.
It is remarkable that in the case of Stephen, the enemies of Christianity succeeded in winning over the people who had been on the side of the Christians and the apostles (cf. Acts 5, 13, 26). This is done by accusing Stephen of blasphemy, the most serious crime under the Mosaic Law. As in the judicial accusation of the Lord Himself, the people lightly believed this slander, and were cunningly led to indignation and indignation against the supposed blasphemer and those to whom he belonged.
The deliberateness of the accusation against Stephen, and the indignation of the people against him, is evident from the fact that the Sanhedrin was already fully prepared to try Stephen when they openly seized him and brought him thither.
In this way, the hidden dream of the enemies of Christ was realized – to cause a pogrom in the Christian community by arousing the anger of the people, if not against the apostles personally, then first against one of the newly appointed deacons, and then against the whole community with the apostles at the head .
Acts 6:13. And they presented false witnesses, who said: This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and against the Law,
“They presented false witnesses,” i.e. people who attributed things to Stephen that he did not actually say, twisting his words.
“He, perhaps, spoke very frankly and spoke about the abolition of the law, or, more precisely, he did not speak, but hinted, because if he had spoken clearly, then these “some” would not have needed false witnesses” (blessed Theophylact).
“against this holy place” – κατὰ τοῦ τοπου τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ τοῦ νόμου·, i.e. The Jerusalem temple “and against the law,” i.e. The Mosaic Law, the foundation of all Old Testament life.
Just as during the condemnation of the Lord Jesus, the false witnesses misinterpreted one of His sentences about the destruction of the temple (Matt. 26:61; cf. John 2:19) in order to present Him as a blasphemer, so now the false witnesses against Stephen probably interpreted some his words where he spoke of the transforming action of Christianity in relation to the Old Testament. This became likely in his disputes with the Hellenists, and it happened more than once (“does not cease”).
Acts 6:14. for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.
“we heard him say…”, ἀκηκόαμεν γὰρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος, We heard him say that…- but the further words are not actually Stephen’s, but were put into his mouth by the false witnesses and interpreted by them in their own way.
“Jesus of Nazareth…”, in the Greek and Slavic text with the addition of the contemptuous “He” (οὗτος).
Actions. 6:15. And all who sat in the Sanhedrin looked at him and saw that his face was like the face of an Angel.
“They saw that his face was like the face of an Angel.” This was all the more surprising, all the more unnatural for an ordinary defendant, whom one would have expected to see frightened, despairing, or at least in the hostile mood of a man offended by slander.
Filled with entirely other feelings, Stephen’s pure soul gave his countenance a manly calmness and a triumphant vitality, which contrasted with the atmosphere of the accusers, with their malice and fury, and imparted to his young countenance a truly angelic light and pleasantness. If earlier Stephen was filled with a special power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:8), then at this decisive and solemn moment for him, he was undoubtedly awarded with a special illumination from the Spirit of God, which turned his very appearance into an angel-like one.
Illustrative Photo: Orthodox icon “Martyrdom of St. Stephen”. – The place of St. Archdeacon Stephen’s martyrdom is traditionally identified as being close to the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, where today there is a church dedicated to the martyred deacon. Christians immediately felt a great devotion to St. Stephen, a devotion that only grew when his relics were re-discovered in the early part of the 5th century. His life and martyrdom are portrayed in countless works of art. Stephen is traditionally pictured with the palm of martyrdom, or with stones that show how he died.
Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A. P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.
