Acts 7:57 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.

NIV: At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,

NASB: But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.

CSB: They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him.

NLT: Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him

KJV: Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

NKJV: Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

Stephen's accusers were angry that they couldn't refute his arguments that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah (Acts 6:8–15). They were furious when he defended himself, using Jewish history to show how hypocritical they were. But now, Stephen has claimed that he sees Jesus—the man who was crucified—standing at the right hand of God. This is something they cannot let go unchallenged.

One of the false accusations Stephen is charged with is that he "will change the customs that Moses delivered" to the Jews (Acts 6:14). Stephen's defense pointed out that the Jews were never good at following the Mosaic law, anyway. They much preferred worshiping foreign gods (Acts 7:39–43). Stephen's accusers are now stopping their ears. The phrase is also used in Zechariah 7:11. It literally means "made their ears too heavy to hear." In Zechariah 7, God is accusing the Jews of purposefully ignoring the parts of the Law aimed at protecting the vulnerable. But God also says, "They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets" (Zechariah 7:12). God responds to such resistance by allowing it to continue: "Make the heart of the people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:10).

The last part of Stephen's defense is that the Jews would rather murder God's prophets than listen to them (Acts 7:52), a conviction also held by Jesus (Luke 11:47). Stephen's accusers are about to prove his point.

Acts 7:54–60 finishes the story of the Jesus-follower Stephen. He has been falsely accused of blasphemy against God, Moses, the Mosaic law, and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). He has used the history of the Jews to show how over the years the Jews have come to worship Moses, the Law, and the temple like idols (Acts 7:1–53). His accusers are furious, but when Stephen claims to see Jesus standing next to God, the crowd goes mad, and Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr. His death sparks a great persecution against the church, but as the Jesus-followers flee Jerusalem, they take the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8).

Stephen is a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian and one of the first deacons in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1–7). He's also a skilled apologist and has been debating Jews from outside Judea about the proper place of the Mosaic law and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). His opponents cannot counter his arguments so they resort to lies. They tell the Sanhedrin that Stephen wants to destroy the temple and repeal the Mosaic law. Stephen counters that his accusers don't respect Moses or the Law, and the temple isn't necessary to worship God. This enrages the mob, and Stephen is stoned, becoming the first Christian martyr.

Chapter 7 is one of the pivot points of the book of Acts. Until recently, the early church has seen favor from the people and indifference from the Sanhedrin. Now, the Sanhedrin has beaten the apostles and ordered them not to preach about Jesus (Acts 5:40), and the people are starting to realize how different Christianity is. In Jerusalem, a Hellenist Jewish Jesus-follower named Stephen has been in a debate with other foreign Jews who finally accuse him of wishing to destroy the temple, like Jesus (Acts 6:8–15). This is Stephen's defense, which leads to his death and the introduction of Paul.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.