Acts 6
DODDActs 6:1-12
The choice of the seven deacons. Stephen preaches Christ, and after disputing with some of the Jewish societies, is brought before the Sanhedrim. Acts VI. 1—12.
ACTS VI. 1.
AND in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the He-
ACTS VI. 1.
NOW in those days of which we have been speaking, and some time after the fact last recorded had fallen out, the number of the disciples being multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists or Grecians, that is, of those converts to the gospel who being foreign Jews, and coming from the western countries, used the Greek language in their synagogues and in their conversation, against the Hebrews, who were natives of Judea, and used the Hebrew or the Syriac tongue; because, as they were strangers at Jerusalem, and had not so much interest as
xii. Acts vi. 1
• Grecians, that is, — foreign Jews, &c.] This, for reasons which may be seen at large in Dr. Benson’s History, appears to me by far the most probable of the seven opinions mentioned by Fabricius, (in his Biblioth. Grace. lib. iv. cap. 5, note 9, Vol. III. p. 226) as well as that which is generally allowed by all the best commentators. (See Critic. Magn. in loc.) That of Mons. Fourmont, (Hist. Acad. Roy. Vol. III. p. 105) that they were Syrians, depends on uncertain and improbable conjectures, either that the Acts were written
in Syriac, or SASSIGAS read for SASSIGAS, persons belonging to Helena Queen of the Adiabeni. (See Wolf in loc.) As there were so many Jews who used the Greek translation of the Bible, who might therefore very properly be denoted by this word, it is extremely probable, their united interest should be in question on such an occasion, and not merely that of those who came from Syria. Beza interprets the word, as denoting only circumcised proselytes; but I think, without any reason. See Drus. in loc.
The apostles propose, that some be chosen for this service.
he natives, some of their necessitous widows were in some degree at least neglected, in the daily ministration of the charities that were distributed to the poor members of the church. And as the apostles were concerned, though not alone, in that distribution, (the money raised as above by the sale of estates having been brought to them) they were solicitous to obviate all those reflections which might fall upon them on this occasion, as they might otherwise in some measure have affected their usefulness.
And the twelve apostles having called the multitude of the disciples together, communicated the matter to them, and said, It is by no means proper or agreeable, that we, who have an office to discharge of so much greater weight and consequence, should leave the important care of dispensing the word of God, to attend the tables of the poor, and see who are served there; and yet this we must do, in order to prevent these complaints, unless some further measures be taken by common consent. Therefore, brethren, as you easily see how inconvenient it would be to suffer this care to lie upon us, and how inevitably it would render us incapable of attending to the proper duties of our office, it is our united request to you, that you look out from among yourselves seven men of an attested character, full of the Holy Spirit, and of approved wisdom, whom we may by common consent and approbation set over this affair, and who may make
The apostles undoubtedly acted a very faithful part in the distribution of money raised by the sale of lands (See note on chap. iv. 37, § 10, p. 56.) But, as Lord Barrington well observes, (Miscell. Sacr. Abstract, p. 11) they could not do all things. Perhaps they intrusted some who had been proprietors of the estates sold, who would naturally have some peculiar regard to the necessity of their neighbours, as being best acquainted with them; and, if any suspicions arose as to the sincerity of their character, and the reasonableness of their pretensions, these strangers would (ceteris paribus) be least capable of giving satisfaction.
Having called the multitude of the disciples together.] Dr. Whitby has solidly moved on this head, that by these we are
to understand, not (as Dr. Lightfoot imagined) the rest of the hundred and twenty, but the whole body of Christian converts, they being the persons to whom satisfaction was then due.
Seven men.] Mr. Mede thinks this an allusion to the seven archangels, whom he supposes the great courtiers of heaven: and many other texts, produced in support of that rabbinical opinion, seem almost as little to the purpose as this.
Whom we may set over this affair.] I apprehend, the apostles speak here of what was to be the joint act of themselves and the whole church, as to be sure, after they had exercised the trust for a while, it would have been most indecent to have devolved it on any, but such as they would have approved. It is a maxim with me in this work, to meddle as little as possible with
ven deacons are chosen and ordained.
it their particular business to attend to the management of it. And we, in the mean time, being freed from this great incumbrance, will constantly attend to prayer, and to the ministry of the word, which is our grand business, and which we could be glad to prosecute without interruption.
And the speech the apostles made was pleasing to all the multitude, who were called together upon this occasion; and having deliberated a little upon the choice that was to be made, they elected seven, to be set apart to the office of deacons, whose names were as follows, There was Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, of whose heroic character and glorious end we shall presently have occasion to speak; and Philip, who long continued an ornament and blessing to the church, being at length raised to a yet higher character; and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, who was not a Jew born, but a proselyte of Antioch, whom they were the more willing to fix in this office, as his peculiar relation to the Grecians would make him especially careful to remedy any neglect of them, which might insensibly have prevailed. These were the persons in whom
controversies about church order and government, or any other circumstantial points that have unhappily divided the Protestant world. Yet I hope I shall give no offence by observing, that no just argument can be drawn from the actions of the apostles, with their extraordinary powers and credentials to the rights of succeeding ministers destitute of such powers and credentials. It would however have been happy for the church in every age, had its ordinary ministers taken the same care to act in concert with the people committed to their charge, and to pay all due deference to their natural rights, which the apostles themselves, extraordinary as their commission and office was, did on this and other occasions. The three grand canons, that all things should be done decently, in charity, and to edification, duly attended to, would supersede the necessity of ten thousand which have been made since, and perhaps, if rightly weighed, would be found absolutely to vacate a great part of them.
Stephen, a man full of faith, &c.] Mr. Fleming (in his Christology, Vol. II. p. 166) endeavours to prove, that Stephen was one of the seventy; but it seems quite
a precarious conjecture. The termination of most of these names makes it probable: they were Hellenists; a supposition which also agrees very well with the occasion of their election.
Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.] Some ancient writers tell us, that he fell into error in the decline of life, and became the founder of the sect of the Nicolaitans, mentioned Rev. ii. 6, 15; (See Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. cap. 29; and Iren. lib. i. cap. 26.) But it seems much more probable, that the founder of this sect, considering how common the name was, might be some other person so called, or else (as Mr. L’Enfant conjectures,) that some of his words or actions being misinterpreted might be the occasion of seduction, under the authority of so venerable a name as his. We may observe by the way, that it is evident the word proselyte here signifies, one who by circumcision had entered himself into the body of the Jewish people; for none imagine Nicolas to have been what is commonly called a proselyte of the gate no uncircumcised person being yet admitted into the Christian church.
The church increases, and many of the priests they chose to repose this confidence; and accordingly they presented them before the apostles! And they, having prayed that a divine blessing might attend all their ministrations and care, laid [their] hands upon them, that so they might not only express their solemn designation to the office, but might confer upon them such extraordinary gifts as would qualify them yet more abundantly for the full discharge of it. And the consequence was, that the matter of complaint being thus removed, and the apostles more entirely at leisure to attend to the great and peculiar duties of their office, the word of God grew, and the number of disciples in and about Jerusalem was greatly multiplied; and in particular, what might seem very surprising, a great multitude of priests became obedient to the faith, notwithstanding all those prejudices, which they had imbibed against this new doctrine, from the scorn with which the great and the noble generally treated it, and the loss of those temporal advantages which they might be called to resign out of regard to it. And Stephen, having for some time discharged the office of a deacon with great honour and fidelity, was raised by divine Providence and Grace to the superior honours of an evangelist and a martyr, and was enabled, in a very A great multitude of priests, &c.] We learn from Ezra, chap. iii. 36-39, that four thousand two hundred and eighty nine priests returned from the captivity; the number of which was now probably much increased. I see no foundation in the authority of any ancient copies, for reading with Casaubon, xxii 1000 1000 and explaining it as if it were xxii 1000 1000 1000, and some of the priests. It is indeed wonderful, that a great multitude of them should embrace the gospel, considering what peculiar resentments they must expect from their unbelieving brethren, and the great losses to which they must be exposed in consequence of being cast out of their office; (as it is not to be imagined, that, when Christians were cast out of the synagogues, they would be retained as temple ministers.) But the grace of God was able to animate and support them against all. And it is very probable the miracle of rending the veil of the temple, and the testimony of the guards to the truth of the resurrection, (which some of the chief of that order heard, and might perhaps be whispered to some others,) might contribute considerably toward their conversion, in concurrence with the miraculous gifts and powers of the apostles, the most convincing proofs of which they saw before their eyes in their own temple. Some would render 1000 000, a numerous body, as if it intimated, that, after mutual conferences with each other, they agreed to come over in a body; which might be the case; but, as the original does not determine that positively, I have kept to what seemed a more literal version: For which reason also I cannot, with Heinsius, render 000 000, many priests of the lower rank. The superior honours of an evangelist, &c. It plainl a ars from the
orks miracles, and the ews ispute with him.
extraordinary manner, to confirm the doctrine; he taught; for, being full of grace and of power, and eminently qualified for the performance of wonderful things, he wrought many extraordinary miracles and great signs among the people. But, notwithstanding all the miracles that were done by him, there arose some of the synagogue which is called [that] of the Libertines, as having been the children of freed men, that is, of emancipated captives or slaves, and [some] of the Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them who were natives of Cilicia and Asia, who endeavoured to prevent the success of his preaching, by disputing with Stephen, and arguing with him concerning his doctrine. And though they had an high opinion of their own sufficiency to manage the dispute, yet such was the force of his reasoning, that they were not able to stand against the wisdom and Spirit with which he spake; the divine Spirit itself guiding his thoughts and animating his expressions, which raised him far above the strength of his natural genius, and made him indeed a wonder
oregoing history of the institution of the ofce, that it was not as a deacon that he reached; but the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit he received, eminently qualified him for that work: And no doubt, many Christians, not stately devoted to the ministry, and whose furniture was far inferior to his, would be capable of declaring Christ and his gospel to strangers in an edifying and useful manner, and would not fail accordingly to do it, as Providence gave them a call and opportunity.
Full of grace and of power.] So many valuable copies read xviii, instead of misc, that I thought myself obliged to follow them. See Dr. Mill in loc.
Libertines, as having been the children of freed men, &c.] Grotius, Salmatius, Basnage, Vitringa, and many other illustrious writers generally agree in the interpretation given in the paraphrase; for the illustration of which most of them remind us, that great numbers of Jews, taken captive by Pompey, and carried into Italy, were (as Philo tells us, Oper. p. 1014) set at liberty, and obtained their freedom from their masters. Their children therefore would be libertini in the proper sense of that word: agreeably to this, the Jews banished from Rome by Tiberius
(who are mentioned both by Josephus, Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 3; [al. 5] § 5; and Suetonius, Tiber. cap. 36) are spoken o by Tacitus, Annal. lib. ii. cap. 85, as o the libertine race, who might easily constitute one of the 480 synagogues said to hav been at Jerusalem. (See Mr. Lardner’s Credibility, Part I. Book i. chap. 3; § 4.) When so natural a solution offers, it is hardly worth while to inquire after Altin gius’s Nethinim, or Cademan’s לִבְרָתוֹ, i. e. persons speaking Hebrew, or the libertines, whom Maius (agreeably indeed to the Syriac), supposes to have built this synagogue. But the curious reader may, if he pleases, see a farther account of their opinions, and that of some others, in Wolfius’s notes on this verse. Dr. Hammon and Mr. Biscoe (chap. iv. § 4, p. 103) take them to have been such Jews as were free citizens of Rome: but I do not remember to have seen the word libertini used in that sense.
Disputing with Stephen.] As the most considerable synagogues in Jerusalem had each a kind of academy or college of young students belonging to it, instructed under some celebrated rabbi, it is no wonder such nurseries should afford disputants, like these spoken of here.
He is apprehended and brought before the Sanhedrim.
to all that heard him. (Compare Mat. x. 20. xii. and Luke xxi. 15.)
Acts Then, as they found they were incapable of 11 Then they subvi. 11 defending themselves by fair argument, they orded men which had recourse to a most mean and dishonest said, we have heard fraud; for they suborned men to depose and him speak blasphemous words against say, We heard him, even this very Stephen, Moses, and against speak blasphemous words against Moses, and God. [against] God himself, the great author of that religion which Moses taught us by command from him.
And as the law required that a blasphemer 12 And they stirshould be stoned, (Lev. xxiv. 16) they stirred red up the people, up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and the scribes, and pecially those who were in stations of authori- came upon him, and ty, against him; and setting upon [him,] they vio- caught him, and lently seized and dragged him away with them, brought him to the and brought [him] to the Sanhedrim which was council. then sitting; and there, in presence of their highest court of judicature, they prosecuted the affair to an issue, which will be described in the following sections.
IMPROVEMENT.
We see how difficult it is, even for the wisest and best of 1, 4 men, to manage a great multitude of affairs, without inconvenience and without reflection: It will therefore be our prudence not to engross too much business into our own hands, but to be willing to divide it with our brethren, with our inferiors, allotting to each their proper provinces, that the whole may proceed with harmony and order.
Let us be solicitous that nothing may be done through partiality; especially let those avoid it who are intrusted with the distribution of charities: It is a solemn trust for which their characters at least are to answer to the world now, and they themselves must ere long account for it to God. Let them therefore be willing to be informed of the truth of particular cases, willing to compare a variety of them, and then select such as in their consciences they are persuaded it is the will of God they should in present circumstances regard, and in such or such a proportion prefer to the rest.
In religious societies it may be highly proper, that after the example here given in the apostolic age, deacons, or persons to perform this office, should be elected by the society, in concurrence with their ministers. It is their business to serve tables.
Blasphemous words against Moses, vi. in the beginning of the next secand against God.] See note on chap. tion.
Reflections on the choice of deacons, and the duty of ministers.
Happy those societies who make choice of men of an attested character, and of those who appear by the virtues and graces of the Christian temper to be in that sense full of the Holy Spirit!
While these good men are dealing forth their liberal contributions (by which, while Christ has any poor members remaining, we are still to testify our love to him), let ministers devote themselves with all attention to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Let those, who would administer the word with comfort and success, remember of how great importance it is, that it be watered with prayer, falling upon it as the former and as the latter rain; and especially see to it, that, by the constant exercise of lively devotion in secret, in their families, and on other proper social occasions, they keep their graces vigorous and active; that, living continually in such a state of nearness to God, they may be qualified to speak in his name with that dignity, tenderness, and authority, which nothing but true and elevated devotion can naturally express, or can long retain.
Let us adore that efficacy of divine grace, whereby a multitude of the Jewish priests were made obedient to the faith; and let us heartily pray, that, if there are any who claim a sacred character, and yet, out of regard to worldly honour or interest, oppose the power and purity of the gospel, they may be convinced by the influence of the blessed Spirit, that they can have no interest in contradiction to the truth, and that they are happy in purchasing, at the highest price, that gospel which may enrich them for ever.
In whatsoever station we are fixed, whether in the world or the church, let us always remember our obligation to plead the cause of the gospel, and to render a reason for the hope that is in us. If this engage us in disputation with men of corrupt minds, we must still hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, knowing that he is faithful that has promised. (Heb. x. 23.)
The vilest charge may, as in this instance, be fixed upon the most worthy men; piety may be defamed as blasphemy, and that which is the true love of our country as treason against it: But there is one supreme Lawgiver and Judge, who will not fail, sooner or later, to plead the cause of injured innocence. And when we read of this vile attack that was made by perjury on the character and life of Stephen, we may take occasion to adore that wise and powerful Providence which so remarkably exerts itself to defend our reputation and our lives from those false and venomous tongues which, were it not for that secret invisible restraint, might, like a two edged sword, so quickly destroy both.
VOL. 3.
Stephen is charged with lasphemy e ore t e
Acts 6:13
Stephen, being accused before the Sanhedrim of his vindication of himself from that charge, the end. VII. 1—14.
Acts VI. 13.
IT was observed in the last section, that those Jews who had been confounded by the force and spirit of Stephen’s argument and address, had brought him before the Sanhedrim; and while he stood before them as a prisoner, they set up certain false witnesses, who said, This detestable man is incessantly speaking blasphemous words against this holy place in which we now are, that is, against Jerusalem and the temple, and likewise against the divinely inspired law, as one that has no reverence at all for its authority. For we ourselves have heard him saying, that this same Jesus of Nazareth, whom he celebrates so much upon every occasion as the long expected and desired Messiah, having been rejected and crucified by your authority, in concurrence with that of the whole Jewish people, shall nevertheless destroy this city, and this holy place; and, in consequence of that, shall entirely change the rites and customs which Moses delivered to us, and put an end to the whole authority of his law.
And, at the very instant that this heinous charge was advanced against Stephen, all that were sitting in the Sanhedrim as his judges, fixing their eyes upon him, saw a surprising radiancy upon his countenance, so that it appeared like the countenance of an angel; God being
a Shall change the customs which Moses delivered to us.] I see no reason to believe that Stephen knew the mystery of the abolition of the Mosaic law, which the apostles do not seem immediately to have understood; and it is much less probable, that he openly taught what Paul himself many years after insinuated with so much caution. (Compare Gal. ii. 2.) This therefore seems to have been the inference they drew from what he taught, of the destruction he denounced on the ews, if they
continued in their unbelief. But it was a very precarious inference, as the city and temple had been destroyed before, without any repeal of the law, and therefore they were false witnesses.
b Like the countenance of an angel] Grotius, Brennius, L’Enfant, and some others interpret this as a proverbial expression of the majesty and beauty of his countenance, arising from a transport of inward joy, in the consciousness of innocence and expectation of glory, though
h priest calls upon him to answer the charge. pleased to crown the natural benignity, sweetness, and composure of his aspect, with a refulgent lustre, like what those celestial spirits have sometimes worn, when they have appeared as his messengers to men. Nevertheless the council proceeded against him, and the high priest, without any particular notice of it, said with an affected calmness, as to a common criminal on his trial, Are these things indeed thus, as these witnesses have deposed? Thou art permitted to make thy defence, and this is thy time to speak; if therefore thou hast any thing to offer in thine own vindication from this charge of blasphemy, which the witnesses have so expressly advanced against thee, plead it; and the court will patiently attend to what thou hast to say, before it proceeds to sentence. And upon this Stephen began a large discourse, in which, in the softest and most inoffensive manner, he solemnly declared his firm persuasion of the Divine authority of that law, which he was charged with blaspheming, and proved to them from their own scriptures, that God’s gracious regards to his people were not limited within the boundaries of that land, nor appropriated to those who were subjected to the Mosaic ritual; at the same time reminding them of some instances, in which they had ungratehe had so cruel a sentence and execution in view: (Compare Gen. xxxiii. 10; 1 Sam. xxix. 9; Eccles. viii. 1; and Esth. [Apoc] xv. 13.) And upon this the translation of 1727, takes the strange liberty of rendering it, They saw an air of majesty in his aspect. But with Dr. Hammond and Benson, I rather think, there was a supernatural splendor, as on the countenance of Moses, Exod. xxiv. 29 It was indeed a most astonishing instance of the incorrigible hardness and wickedness of their hearts, that they could murder a man, on whom God put such a visible glory, similar to that of their great legislator: but, perhaps, they might ascribe it to magic; and we know how little they made of other miracles, the truth of which they were compelled to acknowledge. Compare Acts iv. 16. Stephen began a large discourse. Le clerk with a mixture of rashness and weakness, into which he frequently falls in his Reflections on Scripture, not understanding the true scope of this excellent discourse, presumes to censure it, as containing man things not to the purpose, as well as man slips of memory, though it is expressly said, (ver. 55) that Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, when he delivered it. I am persuaded, that it will be admired by all that well understand it, and hope the hints I have given in the paraphrase will lead the reader into the true design of it, and she the propriety of the circumstances introduced. Dr. Benson has illustrated it in large and very judicious manner, in his History, Vol. I. p. 123-125, which I shall leave the curious reader to consult. I only add, that, had not Stephen been interrupted by their fury, it is probable, he would have added some other articles, and have summed up the discourse in such a manner, as to shew, that the main design of it was to humble that haughtiness of spirit, which occasioned their rejecting Jesus and his gospel
Stephen begins his vindication with the call of fully rejected those whom God had appointed for their deliverers, that they might be cautioned against repeating the fault in this instance to their final ruin. He therefore traced the matter to its original, and said, Men, brethren, and fathers, I beseech you all, whether old or young, whether of greater or lower rank, to hearken to me, while I offer these things, which may not only serve for my own vindication from this unjust charge, but may likewise remind you of some important particulars, which it is your highest interest in present circumstances seriously to consider. It is well known to all of you, that long before our law was given, or the place in which we stand had any peculiar sanctity, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, by some resplendent and majestic symbol of his presence, while he was yet with his idolatrous ancestors in Mesopotamia, (Gen. xi. 31) before he dwelt in Charran, which for a while he did, after he had removed his abode from Ur of the Chaldeans, which was the land of his nativity. In this idolatrous land it was, that God appeared and said to him, Depart from this thy native country, and from thy kindred, who are now alienated from my worship, and come away from this land, which for so long a time has been the seat of thy family, into a pleasant and excellent land which I will shew thee, and to which, by my extraordinary interposition, I will guide thee; though thou at present dost not know either its situation or its product. Then Abraham, strange as this command might seem, with all submission readily obeyed it; and departing from Ur in the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt for several years in Charran, having been led by divine conduct thither, and not immediately receiving a signal to proceed any farther: But, by another call from God, he was directed to depart from Charran, and accordingly from thence, after his father died,⁴ he, (that ⁴ After his father died.] Many passages count of what Stephen said: for it seems in Stephen’s speech have been objected to, very unreasonable to suppose, that on so is contradictory to the account given of extraordinary an occasion the Spirit so evenly promised in such circumstances, (even to the seventy as well as to the apostles) he same facts in the Old Testament. I can should leave him to frequent and by no means acquiesce in the answer palpable slips of memory, into which it is which some have given, that Luke’s in- ination only secured to us an exact ac- count of what Stephen said: for it seems very unreasonable to suppose, that on so extraordinary an occasion the Spirit so expressly promised in such circumstances, (even to the seventy as well as to the apostles) should leave him to frequent and palpable slips of memory, into which it is
brought from an idolatrous country to Canaan.
is, God,) by the singular interposition of his providence, caused him to remove his habitation into this land in which you now dwell. And yet upon his coming into Canaan, he gave him no present inheritance in it, not so much as the dimensions of his foot, or a piece of land which he might cover with the sole of it; for the little portion of it that he could call his own, he held by purchase, and not as by any claim of Divine donation: Nevertheless he promised to give it for a lasting possession to him, even to his seed after him, when [as yet,] by the way, he had no child, and humanly speaking it was not likely he ever should have one: but the faith of our pious ancestor triumphed overall these seeming difficulties, and joyfully embraced the Divine revelation and promise.
And when God had brought Abraham into this country, he did not keep him and his posterity here till the time they were to enter upon the possession of it, in consequence of this Divine grant, but, on the contrary, God spake [to him] thus in a vision, (Gen. xv. 13, 14) “that his seed should sojourn and be strangers in a foreign land, and they among whom they sojourn shall enslave and abuse them; and these events, with the circumstances preparatory to them, shall extend themselves to the full period
not probable any intelligent Christian minister would now fall in a like circumstance. It seems therefore much more honourable to Christianity to suppose, that, if there are any passages here which cannot be reconciled with the passages of the Old Testament to which they refer, (which most that have been objected to certainly may,) it is owing to some error of transcribers, from which, as it is plain from various readings, even the copies of the sacred books have not always been secure, as without a continued miracle it is impossible they should. But as for what is here urged, as if it were inconsistent with Gen. xi. 26, 32: xii. 4, from whence it is argued, that, as Terah was but 70 years old when Abraham was born, and Abraham but 75 when he departed from Haran, these make no more than 145 years; but Terah lived to be 205, and so must have lived 60 years after Abraham left Haran, whereas Stephen affirms, that Abraham went not from
thence till after his father died: In answer to this, it is well observed by Mr. Biscoe, (chap. xviii. p. 595-600,) that this objection is built upon an unproved supposition, that Abraham was Terah’s eldest son, or that he was born in his 78th year; not to insist on the solution which is offered to this difficulty by Le Clerc, Knatchbull, Cappellus, and others, that, according to the Samaritan copy, Terah lived but 14 years. Cladenius’s solution, built on the distinction between κλλοκαι, sojourning, and μιλοκαι, fixing his abode there by the purchase of a sepulchre, seems too mean a subterfuge to be particularly discussed.
Even to his seed.] The particle κλλοκαι so often signifies even, that I think it much more natural to render it thus, and to consider this clause as explaining the former, in order to avoid that express contradiction, which seems to arise from translating it as we do.
He was accepted o God be ore his circum
of four hundred years. And the nation to which they shall be enslaved,” said God in the same oracle, “I will assuredly judge, and punish with a righteous and tremendous severity: And afterwards they shall come out of that land, and serve me in this place; inhabiting this land in which thou now dwellest, and erecting a temple for the performance of my worship here.” This was God’s promise to him while he was yet uncircumcised, and in confirmation of it he gave him, as you well know, the covenant of circumcision, a sacred rite, which far from blaspheming, I revere as the solemn seal of this contract between God and Abraham: And so being circumcised himself, as soon as God required it, (Gen. xvii. 23, 24) he quickly after begat Isaac, and circumcised him also on the eighth day, according to the Divine appointment; and Isaac [begat] Jacob, and Jacob [begat] the twelve patriarchs, who were the respective heads of our twelve tribes of Israel.
And in those days the providence of God began to work for the accomplishment of that surprising prediction which I mentioned but now: For the rest of the patriarchs, though their relation to such holy ancestors might have taught them a much better lesson, being moved with envy at the superior regard which Jacob shewed to his favourite son, most
Four hundred years] Many good critics suppose, that this is mentioned here, as well as in the text from which it is quoted, (Gen. xv. 13,) as a round sum, without taking notice of the broken number, the exact time being four hundred and thirty years, as Moses determines it, Exod. xii. 40, with whom the apostle Paul agrees, Gal. iii. 17. For Abraham was 75 years old, when he came into Canaan, (Gen. xii. 4,) which being considered as the beginning of the period, from thence to the birth of Isaac was 25 years; and Isaac was sixty years old when he begat Jacob, who went to Egypt at 130; which numbers added together make 215 years; and from thence to the time of Israel’s departure from Egypt was 215 years more. (See Joseph. Antip. lib. ii. cap. 15, [al. 6.] § 2.) But Moses, in the text quoted from Exodus, refers to the whole period of the sojourning of Abraham and his family in Canaan and Egypt, as strangers in those lands; whereas this promise being made but a little be-
fore Isaac’s birth, and the prediction taking place from that event, must include only 405 years, which might in a round sum be yet more easily and properly called four hundred. See Bishop Patrick on Gen. xv. 13, and Dr. Whitby in loc.
Being moved with envy] From what Stephen mentions of the story of Joseph, it was obvious to infer, (as many good writers have observed,) that the greatest favourites of heaven might suffer by the envy of those who were called the Israel of God, and might be exalted by him after having been rejected by them: A thought worthy of their consideration with respect to Jesus; but it would not have been proper directly to insert such a reference in the paraphrase, as prudence would not allow Stephen in the beginning of this finely adjusted defence, to say expressly what the could not have borne to bear, as appear by the manner in which they resented his application of these premises when he was drawing towards a conclusion.
sold by his brethren, but God advances him.
Inhumanly sold Joseph their brother into Egypt, where he became a slave, and went through a great variety of calamities: Nevertheless God was with him there, though no longer in the promised land, and made that country a scene of very glorious providence towards him. And he there delivered him out of all his afflictions, which his integrity and piety had brought upon him, and gave him favour and high veneration, on account of that distinguished wisdom which appeared to be in him, in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he constituted him ruler over the land of Egypt, and in particular over all his royal house, committing all things in the palace as well as elsewhere, to his direction and management, even to the management of this despised Joseph, whom his brethren (then the whole house of Israel) had most outrageously insulted and abused, and even sold for a slave.
And according to the predictions of Joseph, which had awakened so great an attention, when seven years of plenty were past, a famine came upon all the land of Egypt, and extended itself over Canaan too; and this calamity reduced them to such great affliction and distress, that they knew not how to subsist, and even in this fruitful land our fathers did not find sufficient sustenance to support themselves and their families. But Jacob hearing that there was corn in Egypt, ordered his sons to go and fetch them a supply from thence, and sent our fathers, the ten patriarchs, thither first, keeping Benjamin with him at home. And the second time that they went, when sorely against his good father’s will Benjamin accompanied them, Joseph was made known to his brethren; and as the matter was immediately made public, the family and descent of Joseph was discovered to Pharaoh, of which he had not been particularly informed before.
And upon this, with the full consent of that generous prince, Joseph sent and invited his aged father Jacob, and all his kindred to him into Egypt; who accordingly went down thither in
Jacob and his family remove into Egypt
a company, amounting in the whole, together with their wives, to seventy five souls, without reckoning Jacob himself, and Joseph’s family already there. And thus their sojourning in that land began, during which they were still under the care of divine Providence, till the time of their return to Canaan approached, of which I shall presently speak.
IMPROVEMENT.
THUS loud may the clamour of malice at against innocence and truth. Incessant blasphemy on one of the most pious of men; and we won since it was charged upon Jesus himself; and, master of the house Beelzebub, how much more to hold? (Mat. x. 25.) His disciple learns of evil for evil, but answers in the language of calm meek though powerful conviction.
While Stephen leads back our contemplation markable facts of the Old Testament, let us re with those devout affections which become the I us adore the God of glory that appeared to Abr him forth to be so bright an example of faith a ing his country and kindred, to follow the leading when he knew not in what settlement they shot in imitation of him, whose children, if true beli
h Amounting to seventy five souls.] Of the various solutions which learned men have given of the seeming inconsistency between this account, and that given by Moses, (Gen. xlvi. 27; Exod. i. 5; and Deut. x. 22;) which makes them but seventy, (with which also Josephus agrees, Antiq. lib. ii. cap. 7, [al. 4,] § 4) the most probable seems to be this. Moses expressly leaves out all the wives, (Gen. xlvi. 26) whom he had said before the sons of Israel carried with them, (ver. 5) and only speaks of those that came out of Jacob’s loins, inserting in the catalogue that he gives of his children, two grand children of Judah, (to supply the place of Er and Onan, who had died in Canaan) Hezron and Hamul, though it is probable they were not born till after Jacob’s arrival in Egypt; and, having first computed them at sixty six, he then adds Joseph and his two sons that were before in Egypt, and, reckoning Jacob with them, makes the whole number to amount to seventy. But Stephen speaks of all that went down with him, and so excludes Jacob himself, and the
two afterwards born, and Joseph and his children, which reduces the number thus: The eleven brethren with Dinah their sister, and fifty; two that had descended from them, amount to sixty four; to which adding eleven wives, (some of the patriarchs having probably buried theirs, and but few of their children being yet married) they amount in all to seventy five. See Pool’s Synopsis, and Whitby in loc and Biscot, at B. le’s Lec chap. xviii. p. 602-606. Could the reading of ʒiʒiʒ or ʒiʒiʒe instead of ʒiʒiʒ, (which Beza mentions as a conjecture,) be supported by proper authorities, so that it might be rendered at amounting to seventy souls, it would make the whole matter quite easy. Grotius also supposes, that the original reading here was seventy, and that the Septuagint copy was altered to its present form, to suit with the mistaken reading of seventy five; for, in the two first texts referred to in the beginning of this note, the Septuagint read seventy five, while in Deut. x. 22 they agree with the Hebrew, an read seventy, which is somewhat strange.
Reflections on the remarkable facts mentioned by Stephen.
sit loose to every thing in this world, that we may be ready to leave it when God shall, by one providence or another, give the signal for our remove. If the next step of duty lies plain before us, let us trust our Leader to mark out all that follow, in such an order, and to such an end, as he shall think fit; secure of this, that, while we follow infinite Wisdom, we cannot wander out of the way to true happiness, and that all the divine promises shall certainly be accomplished, whatever cross event may seem to interpose and obstruct.
When God appointed that the seed of Abraham should sojourn, and suffer in a strange land, the pious patriarch acquiesced in it: nor let us be over anxious about the difficulties into which our posterity may be led. Let us adore the Divine Goodness, that he has established his covenant with us, and with our seed after us; and while we, in imitation of Abraham, bring our infant offspring to receive the solemn seal of that covenant, let us remember our engagements to instruct them, as they grow up, in the tenor of it, and labour to the utmost to engage their own personal consent to it; and then they will be truly rich and free, though in the penury of a famished land, or under the rod of an Egyptian tyrant.
The mysterious conduct of divine Providence with regard to the pious Joseph, who became a slave, that he might be made a prince, and who was trained up for the golden chain in the discipline of iron fetters, may surely be sufficient to teach us to judge nothing before the time, and to wait the end of the Lord, before we arraign the seeming severity of a part of his conduct towards those, whom we might imagine the most proper objects of his regard. And surely it will appear none of the least considerable of those rewards, which Providence bestowed on the approved and distinguished virtue of Joseph, that he had an opportunity of nourishing his pious father in his declining days, of spreading a mild and pleasant ray over the evening of a life, which had been so often beclouded with storms, and of sheltering (as it were) under his princely robe, that hoary head, which had once been turned into a fountain of tears over the bloody fragments of the many coloured coat.
VOL. 3.
Jacob and his sons are carried into Canaan to b