Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 6:9

"But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen." — Acts 6:9 (ASV)

Stephen soon began preaching among his Hellenistic compatriots. Many commentators have found this to be a major problem in the narrative because Stephen was appointed to supervise relief for the poor, not to perform the apostolic function of preaching. But if we posit (1) the continuation, to some extent, of old tensions between Hebraic Jews and Hellenistic Jews in the

Jerusalem church and (2) occasional separate meetings for the Aramaic-speaking and Greek-speaking believers (cf. comments on 6:1), several difficulties in the historical reconstruction of this period are partially explained. While not minimizing the importance of the apostles to the whole church, we can say that in some way Stephen, Philip, and perhaps others of the appointed seven may well have been to the Hellenistic Christians what the apostles were to the those born in Palestine. Philip seems to have performed such a function later on at Caesarea. And in the early church, where ministry was a function long before it became an office, such preaching was evidently looked upon with approval.

Opposition to Stephen arose from certain members within the Hellenistic community. Opinion differs widely as to just how many Hellenistic synagogues are in view in v.9. Many have insisted that there are five, though more likely the singular form of “synagogue” in the passage and the epexegetical nature of the last four designations posit only one synagogue, the synagogue of the Freedmen, made up of Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia (cf. NIV text). The word “Freedmen” probably refers to Jewish freedmen and the sons of such freedmen.

Outside this Jerusalem gate (called Stephen’s Gate or Lion’s Gate) is the traditional place where Stephen’s stoning is remembered.

We have no account of the content of Stephen’s preaching that so antagonized his Hellenistic compatriots. Luke labels the accusations against him (vv.11–14) as false—though, to judge by his response of ch. 7, they seem to have been false more in nuance and degree than in kind. From the accusations and from his defense, it is clear that Stephen had begun to apply his Christian convictions regarding the centrality of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah in God’s redemptive program to such issues as the significance of the land, the law, and the temple for Jewish Christians. This, however, was a dangerous path to tread, particularly for Hellenistic Jewish Christians! It was one that the apostles themselves seem to have been unwilling to explore. And it was a path that Jews who had lately returned to Jerusalem from the Diaspora would view with reticence.

Having originally immigrated to their homeland out of a desire to be more faithful Jews, and having come under some suspicion of an inbred liberalism by the native-born populace, the Hellenistic Jewish community in Jerusalem undoubtedly had a vested interest in keeping deviations among its members to a minimum, or else exposing them as outside its own commitments, lest its synagogues fall under further suspicion. Thus the Hellenistic members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen were probably quite eager to bait Stephen in order to root out such a threat from their midst—though it is evident from the record that Stephen welcomed the challenge. But as Luke tells us, “they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke.” This fulfills Jesus’ promise of the gift of “words and wisdom” in the time of persecution (cf. Lk 21:15).