Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 7:50

"Did not my hand make all these things?" — Acts 7:50 (ASV)

Stephen reaches the climax of his antitemple polemic by insisting that “the Most High does not live in houses made by men”—a concept he supports by citing Isa 66:1–2a. Judaism never taught that God actually lived in the temple or was confined to its environs but spoke of his “Name” and presence as being there. In practice, however, this concept was often denied. This would especially appear so to Stephen, when further divine activity in Jesus Christ was refused out-of-hand by the people in their preference for God’s past revelation and redemption as symbolized in the existence of the temple. As a Hellenist, Stephen seems to have had a tendency to view things in a more “spiritual” ’ manner than most Jews (i.e., in more inward and nonmaterial terms)—a tendency with both good and bad features. As a Christian, he could have been aware of the contrast in the early oral instruction of converts between what is “made with hands” and what is “not made with hands” (cf. esp. Mark 14:58; Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:24). But whatever its source, Stephen’s main assertion is that neither the tabernacle nor the temple was intended to be such an institutionalized feature in Israel’s religion as to prohibit God’s further redemptive activity or to halt the advance of God’s plan for his people. The response Stephen wants from his hearers was what God declared as his desire for his people in Isa 66:2b (this text follows the passage Stephen cites): “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” To those who desired to localize God’s presence and confine his working, however, Stephen repeated the denunciation of Isa 66:1–2a, leaving the appeal in Isa 66:2b to be inferred.