Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 7:52

"Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;" — Acts 7:52 (ASV)

Israel’s persecution and killing of her prophets is a recurrent theme in Jewish literature. The OT not only speaks of the sufferings of individual prophets but also has a number of general statements about how the nation had persecuted and killed the prophets of God (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:15–16; Nehemiah 9:26; Jeremiah 2:30). Various writings from this period of Judaism elaborated on this theme, particularly as a result of the idealization of martyrdom that arose in Maccabean times. Even the Talmud speaks frequently about Israel’s persecuting and killing her prophets. All such statements, though, were for the council well-learned lessons from the past. Stephen’s accusation, however, was that they had learned nothing from the past since an even more horrendous crime had been committed in the present—the betrayal and murder of “the Righteous One”—by the very ones who were so smug about Israel’s past failures.