The Stoning of Stephen and the Persecution of the Church
Acts 7:54-8:1
Acts.7.54 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Ακουοντες: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- ταυτα: PRON,acc,pl,n
- διεπριοντο: VERB,impf,mid,ind,3,pl
- ταις: ART,dat,pl,f
- καρδιαις: NOUN,dat,pl,f
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- εβρυχον: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,pl
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- οδοντας: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- επ᾽αυτον: PREP+PRON,acc,sg,3,m
Parallels
- Acts 2:37 (thematic): Hearing a bold proclamation produces an intense inner reaction: the crowd is 'cut to the heart' (pricked) — similar language and motif of conviction or strong emotional impact on listeners.
- Psalm 37:12 (verbal): The psalm speaks of the wicked plotting against the righteous and 'gnashing their teeth' — the same hostile image of enemies grinding their teeth at a victim, used here against Stephen.
- Matthew 13:42 (verbal): Uses the phrase 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' to portray extreme hostility and judgment; parallels Acts 7:54's use of 'gnashing teeth' to signal violent enmity toward the speaker.
- John 8:59 (structural): After Jesus' provocative words the crowd takes up stones to stone him — structurally parallels Acts 7, where an enraged audience reacts to Stephen's speech and moves toward stoning.
Alternative generated candidates
- Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
- When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth at him.
Acts.7.55 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- υπαρχων: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- πληρης: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- πνευματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- αγιου: ADJ,gen,sg,n
- ατενισας: VERB,aor,act,ptcp,nom,m,sg
- εις: PREP
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- ουρανον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ειδεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- δοξαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- Ιησουν: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εστωτα: PART,perf,act,masc,acc,pl
- εκ: PREP
- δεξιων: ADJ,gen,pl,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Psalm 110:1 (allusion): The motif of the Messiah at God's right hand (ʼSit at my right hand…ʼ) underlies Stephen's vision of the exalted Lord; Acts repeatedly invokes Psalm 110 for Jesus' vindication and enthronement.
- Daniel 7:13-14 (allusion): Daniel's vision of 'one like a son of man' coming before the Ancient of Days provides the apocalyptic courtroom imagery for someone (heavenly figure) receiving authority—background for Stephen's heavenly sight of the Son of Man with God.
- Acts 2:32-36 (thematic): Peter's Pentecost sermon asserts that God has exalted Jesus and seated him at his right hand; both passages present Jesus' vindication/exaltation following his earthly suffering and resurrection.
- Acts 1:9-11 (structural): The account of Jesus' ascension and the angels' testimony to his return complements Stephenʼs vision of heaven opened and Jesus' presence at God's right hand as the consummation of his exaltation.
- Revelation 5:6 (verbal): John's vision of the Lamb 'standing' before the throne echoes the striking detail that Stephen sees the Son of Man standing—both use the posture of 'standing' to depict the risen/slain Christ in the heavenly court.
Alternative generated candidates
- But he, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
- But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Acts.7.56 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- ειπεν·Ιδου: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- θεωρω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- ουρανους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- διηνοιγμενους: VERB,perf,pass,ptc,acc,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ανθρωπου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εκ: PREP
- δεξιων: ADJ,gen,pl,m
- εστωτα: PART,perf,act,masc,acc,pl
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Daniel 7:13-14 (allusion): Stephen’s vision of the 'Son of Man' coming into the presence of God echoes Daniel’s vision of the 'one like a son of man' who is given dominion and glory.
- Psalm 110:1 (verbal): The image of one at the 'right hand' of God echoes the language of Psalm 110:1 ('The LORD said to my Lord… sit at my right hand'), a foundational OT warrant for exaltation.
- Matthew 26:64 (quotation): Jesus’ own claim that the Sanhedrin will see 'the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven' closely parallels Stephen’s vision and its courtroom context.
- Acts 2:34-35 (quotation): Peter’s Pentecost sermon cites Psalm 110 to argue that God has exalted Jesus and seated him at his right hand—the same exaltation Stephen reports seeing.
- Hebrews 1:3 (thematic): Hebrews describes the exalted Son of God as 'seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high,' reflecting the same theological motif of heavenly enthronement present in Stephen’s vision.
Alternative generated candidates
- He said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
- And he said, 'Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'
Acts.7.57 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- κραξαντες: VERB,aor,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- φωνη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- μεγαλη: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- συνεσχον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- ωτα: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- ωρμησαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- ομοθυμαδον: ADV
- επ᾽αυτον: PREP+PRON,acc,sg,3,m
Parallels
- Leviticus 24:14-16 (structural): Both passages treat an alleged blasphemer brought before the community and result in execution by stoning; Acts echoes the legal/penal context of Leviticus regarding blasphemy and communal killing.
- 1 Kings 21:13 (thematic): The mob execution of Naboth—taken outside and stoned at the instigation of authorities—parallels the unjust, communal stoning of an individual (Stephen) driven by hostile leaders and a manipulated crowd.
- Isaiah 6:10 (allusion): Isaiah speaks of peoples’ ears being made 'heavy' or closed to the word of God; Acts 7:57’s image of the crowd stopping their ears echoes this motif of willful refusal to hear prophetic truth.
- Matthew 27:23-24 (thematic): Like the Jerusalem crowd that loudly demands Jesus’ death, the mob in Acts cries out with a loud voice and calls for execution—both scenes depict vociferous, collective rejection of a prophetic/witnessing figure.
- Acts 7:58 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel within Acts: v.58 continues the same scene—witnesses lay down garments and the assembly stones Stephen—providing the direct continuation and fulfillment of the violent action begun in v.57.
Alternative generated candidates
- But they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and rushed together upon him.
- Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord rushed upon him.
Acts.7.58 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- εκβαλοντες: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,pl,m
- εξω: ADV
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- πολεως: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- ελιθοβολουν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,pl
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- μαρτυρες: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- απεθεντο: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- ιματια: NOUN,nom,pl,n
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- παρα: PREP
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- ποδας: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- νεανιου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- καλουμενου: PART,pres,mid/pass,gen,sg,m
- Σαυλου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Acts 8:1 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: the stoning of Stephen precipitates ‘a great persecution’ and explicitly links Saul to the episode (the community scatters and Saul persecutes the church).
- Acts 22:20 (quotation): Paul’s later autobiographical claim that he ‘stood by and approved’ and participated in Stephen’s stoning directly corroborates and interprets the presence of Saul at the scene in Acts 7:58.
- Deuteronomy 17:7 (thematic): Law concerning capital cases: ‘the hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him’—parallels the role of witnesses in executing the sentence and underscores the communal/legal dimensions of stoning reflected in Acts 7:58.
- 1 Kings 21:13 (thematic): Naboth’s death: he was taken outside the city and stoned at the instigation of others—an Old Testament precedent for extrajudicial or unjust stoning carried out by a community, echoing the wrongful mob execution of Stephen.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- They cast him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Acts.7.59 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- ελιθοβολουν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,pl
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- Στεφανον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- επικαλουμενον: VERB,pres,mid,part,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- λεγοντα·Κυριε: VERB,pres,act,part,acc,sg,m
- Ιησου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- δεξαι: VERB,aor,act,imp,2,sg
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- πνευμα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- μου·: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Ps.31:5 (LXX) (verbal): The wording echoes the LXX of Psalm 31:5 ('Into your hand I commit my spirit'), providing a direct verbal precedent for Stephen's plea 'Lord, receive my spirit.'
- Luke 23:46 (allusion): Jesus' final act on the cross ('Father, into your hands I commit my spirit') is the model behind Stephen's death; Stephen imitates and completes Jesus' pattern of entrusting the spirit at death, here addressed to the risen Lord.
- Luke 23:34 (thematic): Jesus' plea for his executors' forgiveness ('Father, forgive them') parallels Stephen's subsequent plea for his persecutors' pardon (Acts 7:60); both martyrs pray mercy for those who put them to death.
- Acts 7:60 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: after 7:59 Stephen 'kneels and cries out' for his persecutors. 7:59–60 form a single unit depicting Stephen's christlike death (entrusting his spirit and asking forgiveness).
Alternative generated candidates
- While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
- While they were stoning him, he called out, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'
Acts.7.60 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- θεις: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- γονατα: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- εκραξεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- φωνη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- μεγαλη·Κυριε: ADJ,dat,sg,f + NOUN,voc,sg,m
- μη: PART
- στησης: VERB,aor,act,subj,2,sg
- αυτοις: PRO,dat,pl,3
- ταυτην: PRON,acc,sg,f
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- αμαρτιαν·και: NOUN,acc,sg,f + CONJ
- τουτο: PRON,nom,sg,n
- ειπων: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,m,sg
- εκοιμηθη: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- Acts 7:59 (quotation): Immediate preceding petition of Stephen — 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit' — part of the same dying-prayer scene and pairs with his plea for the forgiveness of his executioners.
- Luke 23:34 (verbal): Jesus' prayer on the cross, 'Father, forgive them,' parallels Stephen's request that the Lord not hold this sin against his killers—both invoke divine pardon for persecutors.
- Luke 23:46 (structural): Jesus cries out and then dies ('Having said this he breathed his last'). Stephen likewise cries aloud a prayer and 'fell asleep,' creating a deliberate structural echo of the Lord's death.
- John 11:11-14 (allusion): The New Testament euphemism of death as 'sleep' (Jesus says Lazarus sleeps) is echoed in the description of Stephen 'falling asleep,' linking his death to the familiar Johannine/NT motif for death and resurrection hope.
Alternative generated candidates
- And falling to his knees, he cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And having said this, he fell asleep.
- Then he knelt down and cried aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And having said this, he fell asleep.
Acts.8.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Σαυλος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- ην: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- συνευδοκων: VERB,part,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- αναιρεσει: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- Εγενετο: VERB,aor,mid,ind,3,sg
- δε: CONJ
- εν: PREP
- εκεινη: PRON,dat,sg,f
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- ημερα: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- διωγμος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- μεγας: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- επι: PREP
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- εκκλησιαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- εν: PREP
- Ιεροσολυμοις·παντες: NOUN,dat,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- διεσπαρησαν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,pl
- κατα: PREP
- τας: ART,acc,pl,f
- χωρας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- Ιουδαιας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- Σαμαρειας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- πλην: PREP
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- αποστολων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
Parallels
- Acts 8:3 (verbal): Immediate continuation that specifies Saul's active persecution—'Saul was ravaging the church...'—closely parallels the statement that Saul consented to the killing and that a great persecution arose.
- Acts 7:58-60 (structural): The stoning of Stephen (with Saul consenting) provides the narrative cause for the persecution and dispersion described in Acts 8:1.
- Acts 1:8 (thematic): Jesus' commissioning to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth is programmatically fulfilled when persecution scatters believers to Judea and Samaria.
- Luke 21:12-13 (thematic): Jesus' prediction that his followers will be seized and persecuted and that this will occasion witness parallels the persecution and resulting spread of the church in Acts 8:1.
- 1 Peter 4:12-16 (thematic): Early Christian teaching on suffering for Christ and rejoicing in persecution resonates with the church's experience of a 'great persecution' that scatters believers in Acts 8:1.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Saul approved of his execution. On that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
- Saul approved of his execution. On that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth at him. But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud shout, stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.
Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Saul approved his execution. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria except the apostles.