Acts 8:2 Kommentar

In this chapter we have an account of the persecutions of the Christians, and the propagating of Christianity thereby. It was strange, but very true, that the disciples of Christ the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied. I. Here is the church suffering; upon the occasion of putting Stephen to death a very sharp storm arose, which forced many from Jerusalem (Act 8:1-3). II. Here is the church spreading by the ministry of Philip and others that were dispersed upon that occasion. We have here, 1. The gospel brought to Samaria, preached there (Act 8:4, Act 8:5), embraced there (Act 8:6-8), even by Simon Magus (Act 8:9-13); the gift of the Holy Ghost conferred upon some of the believing Samaritans by the imposition of the hands of Peter and John (Act 8:14-17); and the severe rebuke given by Peter to Simon Magus for offering money for a power to bestow that gift (Act 8:18-25). 2. The gospel sent to Ethiopia, by the eunuch, a person of quality of that country. He is returning home in his chariot from Jerusalem (Act 8:26-28). Philip is sent to him, and in his chariot preaches Christ to him (Act 8:29-35), baptizes him upon his profession of the Christian faith (Act 8:36-38), and the leaves him (Act 8:39-40). Thus in different ways and methods the gospel was dispersed among the nations, and, one way or other, "Have they not all heard?"

And Saul was consenting unto his death,.... This clause, in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions, stands at the close of the preceding chapter, and which seems to be its proper place; and so it does in the Alexandrian copy: that Saul consented to the death of Stephen, and approved of that barbarous action, is evident from his taking care of the clothes of the witnesses that stoned him; but the word here used signifies not a bare consent only, but a consent with pleasure and delight; he was well pleased with it, it rejoiced his very heart; he joined with others in it, with the utmost pleasure and satisfaction; this, and what is before said concerning his having the clothes of the witnesses laid at his feet, as well as what follows, about his persecuting the saints, are, the rather mentioned, because this violent persecutor was afterwards converted, and became an eminent preacher of the Gospel; and these accounts serve to set off and illustrate the grace of God, which was abundant towards him. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem: it began "on that day", as the words may be rendered, on which Stephen was stoned. As soon as they had put him to death, these bloodthirsty wretches were the more greedy after the blood of others; and being now in great numbers, and filled with rage and fury, fell upon the members of the church wherever they met them, and killed them; for that more, besides Stephen, were put to death, seems plain from Act 26:10 and, according to some accounts, though they cannot be depended on, two thousand persons suffered at this time: and if this was the case, it might be called a great persecution: and they were all scattered abroad; not all the members of the church, nor perhaps any of the private ones; for we afterwards read of devout then that carried Stephen to his grave; and of the church being made havoc of by Saul; and of men and women being haled out of their houses, and committed to prison by him; but all the preachers of the word, except the apostles; for they that were scattered, went about preaching the word, Act 8:4 They seem to be the seventy disciples, and other ministers of the word, on whom the Holy Ghost fell at the day of Pentecost, or was since bestowed; among who were Philip, who went to Samaria; and Ananias, who was at Damascus; and others that went as far as Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch: and particularly they are said to be dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria; where their ministry was so greatly blessed, to the conversion of souls, that there were quickly many churches planted and formed in these parts, as appears from Act 9:31 so that this persecution was for the furtherance and spread of the Gospel: that upon this dispersion any of them came into France and England, or into any other parts of Europe, is not probable; since the particular places they went to are mentioned; and since they preached to Jew only: and this scattering by reason of the persecution, was of all the preachers, except the apostles; the twelve apostles, who stayed at Jerusalem to take care of the church; to encourage the members of it to suffer cheerfully for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; and to animate them to abide by him: and this was not only an instance of courage and constancy in them, and of the divine protection and preservation of them, in the midst of their enemies; but also of the timidity of their adversaries, who might be afraid to meddle with them; remembering what miraculous works were performed by them, and how they had been delivered out of prison, and especially the case of Ananias and Sapphira, who were struck dead by Peter. Beza's ancient copy adds, "who remained in Jerusalem".

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial,.... These men were not Jewish proselytes, but members of the Christian church; who were eminent for their religion and piety, and who had courage enough, amidst this persecution, to show a respect to the dead body of this holy martyr; which they took from under the stones, washed it, and wound it up in linen clothes, and put it into a coffin, or on a bier: they did everything preparatory to the funeral, which, is chiefly designed by the word here used, rather than the carrying of him out to his grave; though this also they did, and buried him: and to bear a corpse and follow it to the grave, and bury it, were with the Jews (x) reckoned among acts of kindness, mercy, and piety, and which would not fail of a reward; they have a saying (y), that "he that mourns, they shall mourn for him; and he that buries, they shalt bury him and he that lifts up (his voice in weeping lamentation), they shall lift up for him; he that accompanies (a dead corpse), they shall accompany him; he that "carries", they shall carry him;'' as these devout men did, who would not suffer Stephen to be buried in the common burying place of malefactors, but interred him elsewhere, in a more decent manner: but whether they had leave from the sanhedrim so to do, or whether they did this of themselves, is not certain; if the latter, which seems most likely, it is an instance of great boldness and resolution, and especially at this time; for "they did not bury one that was stoned in the sepulchres of his fathers, but there were two burying places appointed by the sanhedrim, one for those that are stoned and burnt, and another for those that are slain with the sword and strangled (z).'' So that, they acted contrary to the Jewish canon, as they also did in what follows: and made great lamentation over him; though they did not sorrow as those without hope, yet they did not put on a stoical apathy; but as men sensible of the loss the church of Christ had sustained, by the death of a person so eminent for his gifts and grace, they mourned over him in a becoming manner: in this they went contrary to the Jewish rule, which forbids lamentation for those that died as malefactors, and runs thus (a). "they do not mourn, but they grieve; for grief is only in the heart;'' their reason for this was, as the commentators say (b), because they thought that "their disgrace was an atonement for their sin:'' but these devout men knew that Stephen needed no such atonement, and that his sins were atoned for another way: otherwise the Jews looked upon mourning for the dead to be to the honour of him; hence they say (c), that mourning "is the glory of the dead--whoever is backward to the mourning of a wise man shall not prolong his days; and whoever is sluggish in mourning for a good man, ought to be buried alive; and whoever causes tears to descend for a good man, lo, his reward is reserved for him with the holy blessed God.'' (x) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Peah, c. 1. sect. 1. (y) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 72. 1. & Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2. (z) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 6. sect. 5. (a) Misn. Sanhedrin, sect. 6. (b) Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. (c) Maimon. Hilch. Ebel, c. 12. sect. 1, 2.

"And devout men," it says, "carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him." If they were "devout," why did they "make great lamentation over him?" They were not yet perfect. The man was gracious and amiable: this also shows that they were men - not their fear alone, but their grief and lamentation. Who would not have wept to see that mild, that lamb-like person stoned, and lying dead? Fit eulogy to be spoken over his grave has the Evangelist recorded, in this one speech, "Lay not this sin to their charge." "And made," he says, "great lamentation over him."

And yet it was the body only which was deemed proper for burial, while the soul was not buried together with the body; nevertheless the body alone was spoken of by the common name. Similarly the blessed Jacob said to his sons, “Bury me with my fathers.” He did not say, “Bury my body.”

If those who buried Stephen were devout, how did they become despairing? Is it because they were not yet perfect, or because they were deprived of such protection, such teaching, such signs, and because they saw him gentle and kind as dead and crushed by stones?

Godly men cared for Stephen, and made great lamentation over him. This lamentation and the martyrdom of blessed Stephen is well remembered in the book of the revelation of his relics, which we have made mention of before, in which it is recounted that Gamaliel said among other things, in a vision to the presbyter Lucian: "I am Gamaliel, who raised Paul, the apostle of Christ, and taught the law in Jerusalem. Here with me in the eastern part of the tomb lies my lord Stephen, who was stoned by the Jews and the chief priests in Jerusalem for the faith of Christ outside the gate which is to the north, which leads to Cedar; where he lay cast out day and night, so that burial would not be given to him, according to the command of the impious chiefs, that his body should be consumed by wild beasts. But by God's will, not one of them touched him, neither a beast, nor a bird, nor a dog. I, Gamaliel, sympathizing with the ministry of Christ, and hastening to have a reward and part with the holy man of faith, sent by night as many as I knew who were religious and believed in Christ Jesus, living in Jerusalem among the Jews: and I encouraged them, and provided necessary supplies, and persuaded them to secretly go and carry his body with my conveyance to my village, that is, to Caphar Gamala (which means, the village of Gamaliel), twenty miles from the city; and there I made lamentation for him for forty-five days, and placed him in my new tomb in the eastern chamber, and I commanded them to give whatever was necessary for his lamentation from my resources."

"And devout men buried Stephen." If they were "devout," then how did they "make great lamentation?" This is because they were not yet perfect. On the other hand, who would not have wept, being deprived of such teaching, such defense, and such miracles, and seeing this righteous man lying dead and stoned?

A general persecution is raised against the Church, Act 8:1. Stephen's burial, Act 8:2. Saul greatly oppresses the followers of Christ, Act 8:3, Act 8:4. Philip the deacon goes to Samaria, preaches, works many miracles, converts many persons, and baptizes Simon the sorcerer, Act 8:5-13. Peter and John are sent by the apostles to Samaria; they confirm the disciples, and by prayer and imposition of hands they confer the Holy Spirit, Act 8:14-17. Simon the sorcerer, seeing this, offers them money, to enable him to confer the Holy Spirit, Act 8:18, Act 8:19. He is sharply reproved by Peter, and exhorted to repent, Act 8:20-23. He appears to be convinced of his sin, and implores an interest in the apostle's prayers, Act 8:24. Peter and John, having preached the Gospel in the villages of Samaria, return to Jerusalem, Act 8:25. An angel of the Lord commands Philip to go towards Gaza, to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, Act 8:26. He goes, meets, and converses with the eunuch, preaches the Gospel to him, and baptizes him, Act 8:27-38. The Spirit of God carries Philip to Azotus, passing through which, he preaches in all the cities till he comes to Caesarea, Act 8:39, Act 8:40.

Devout men carried Stephen to his burial - The Greek word, συνεκομισαν, signifies not only to carry, or rather to gather up, but also to do every thing necessary for the interment of the dead. Among the Jews, and indeed among most nations of the earth, it was esteemed a work of piety, charity, and mercy, to bury the dead. The Jews did not bury those who were condemned by the Sanhedrin in the burying place of the fathers, as they would not bury the guilty with the innocent; and they had a separate place for those who were stoned, and for those that were burnt. According to the Tract Sanh. fol. 45, 46, the stone wherewith any one was stoned, the post on which he was hanged, the sword by which he was beheaded, and the cord by which he was strangled, were buried in the same place with the bodies of the executed persons. As these persons died under the curse of the law, the instruments by which they were put to death were considered as unclean and accursed, and therefore buried with their bodies. Among the ancients, whatever was grateful or useful to a person in life was ordinarily buried with him; thus the sword, spear, shield, etc., of the soldier were put in the same grave; the faithful dog of the hunter, etc., etc. And on this principle the wife of a Brahman burns with the body of her deceased husband. Made great lamentation over him - This was never done over any condemned by the Sanhedrin - they only bemoaned such privately; this great lamentation over Stephen, if the same custom then prevailed as afterwards, is a proof that Stephen was not condemned by the Sanhedrin; he probably fell a sacrifice to the fury of the bigoted incensed mob, the Sanhedrin not interfering to prevent the illegal execution.

PERSECUTION CONTINUED, IN WHICH SAUL TAKES A PROMINENT PART--HOW OVERRULED FOR GOOD. (Act 8:1-4) Saul was consenting unto his death--The word expresses hearty approval. they were all scattered abroad--all the leading Christians, particularly the preachers, agreeably to their Lord's injunctions (Mat 10:23), though many doubtless remained, and others (as appears by Act 9:26-30) soon returned. except the apostles--who remained, not certainly as being less exposed to danger, but, at whatever risk, to watch over the infant cause where it was most needful to cherish it.

and devout men--pious Jews, probably, impressed with admiration for Stephen and secretly inclined to Christianity, but not yet openly declared.