Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 6:5

"And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus a proselyte of Antioch;" — Acts 6:5 (ASV)

And the saying. The word—the counsel, or command.

And they chose Stephen, and so on. A man who soon showed (Acts 7) that he was in every way qualified for his office, and also fitted to defend the cause of the Lord Jesus. This man had the distinguished honor of being the first Christian martyr (Acts 7).

And Nicolas. From this man, some of the Fathers (Irenaeus, lib. i. 27; Epiphanius, 1; Haeres. 5) say that the sect of the Nicolaitanes, mentioned with so much disapproval (Revelation 2:6, 15), originated. But the evidence for this is not clear.

A proselyte. A proselyte is one who is converted from one religion to another. See Barnes on Matthew 23:15.

The word does not mean here that he was a convert to Christianity—which was true—but that he had been converted at Antioch from paganism to the Jewish religion. Since this is the only proselyte mentioned among the seven deacons, it is evident that the others were native-born Jews, though some of them might have been born outside Palestine and belonged to the group called Grecians, or Hellenists.

Of Antioch. This city, often mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 11:19, 20, 26; Acts 15:22, 35; Galatians 2:11, and so on), was situated in Syria on the river Orontes and was formerly called Riblath. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament but is frequently mentioned in the Apocrypha.

It was built by Seleucus Nicanor in A.D. 301 and was named Antioch in honor of his father Antiochus. It became the seat of empire for the Syrian kings of the Macedonian line and afterward for the Roman governors of the eastern provinces. In this place, the disciples of Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

Josephus says it was the third largest city in the Roman provinces, inferior only to Seleucia and Alexandria. Indeed, it was for a long time the most powerful city of the East. The city was almost square, had many gates, was adorned with fine fountains, and possessed great fertility of soil and commercial wealth.

It was subject to earthquakes and was often almost destroyed by them. In A.D. 588, over sixty thousand people perished in it in this manner. In A.D. 970, an army of one hundred thousand Saracens besieged and captured it. In 1268, it was taken by the Sultan of Egypt, who demolished it and placed it under Turkish dominion.

It is now called Antakia. Until the year 1822, it occupied a remote corner of its ancient walled enclosure, its splendid buildings reduced to hovels, and its population living in Turkish debasement. It now contains about ten thousand inhabitants.—Robinson's Calmet.

This city should be distinguished from Antioch in Pisidia, also mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 13:14).

{*} "saying" – "Words".

{a} full of faith (Acts 11:24).

{+} "Holy Ghost" – "Holy Spirit".

{b} "Philip" (Acts 8:5, 26; Acts 21:6).

{c} "Nicolas" (Revelation 2:6, 15).