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αὐτόν, καὶ ἤγαγον εἰς τὸ συνέδριον, 13. ἔστησάν τε µάρτυρας ψευδεῖς 1 λέγοντας, Ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος οὗ παύεται ῥήματα βλάσφημα ” λαλῶν κατὰ τοῦ τόπου τοῦ ἁγίου τούτου καὶ τοῦ νόµου" 14. ἀκηκόαμεν γὰρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος, “Ort “Ingots ὁ Ναζωραῖος οὗτος καταλύσει τὸν τόπον
1 ψευδεις; D, Flor. add κατα avrov, so Hilg.; ΝΑΒΟΡ om. 2 Bkacdypa, om. Tisch., W.H., R.V., Weiss, Wendt, Hilg.
Ver. 13. οὗτος: here and in νετ. 14 used contemptuously, iste, so Vulgate; cf. vii. 40, xviii. 18, xix. 26, 6 Παῦλος οὗτος.- οὐ παύεται λαλῶν: the words in themselves are sufficient to indicate the exaggerated and biassed character of the testimony brought against Stephen —‘ invidiam facere conantur,”’ Bengel, βλάσφημα omitted, see above. — pap- τνρας ψενδεῖς, “false,” inasmuch as they perverted the meaning of Stephen’s words, which were no blasphemy against Moses or against God, although no doubt he had taught the transitory nature of the Mosaic law, and that the true worship of God was not confined to the Temple (see Weizsacker, Apos- tolic Age, i., 64, 83, E.T., and Wendt, p. 148 (1899)). So also in the very same manner Christ’s words had been per- verted (John ii. 21, cf. Mark xiv. 56, Matt. xxvii. 63), and it is likely enough that the spirit of His teaching as to the Sabbath, the laws of purifying, the ful- filling of the law, breathed again in the words of His disciples. But such utter- ances were blasphemous in the eyes of the Jewish legalists, and Stephen’sown words, vii. 48, 49, might well seem to them an affirmation rather than a denial of the charges brought against him.—«xatea τοῦ τόπον TOU ἁγίου τούτον: if τούτου is retained (W.H.), phrase could refer not only to the Temple as the holy place, but also to the place of assembly of the Sanhe- drim, where according tover. 15 the charge was brought, which was probably situ- ated on the Temple Mount on the western side of the enclosing wall, Schirer, ¥ewish People, div. ii., νο]. i., Ρ. 190, E.T., so Hilgenfeld and Wendt, and also Blass, who adds "' itaque etiam τούτου (B, cf. 14) recte se habet,” although he omits the word in his own text. Weissthinks that the word dropped out because it could have no reference to a scene in the Sanhedrim.
Ver. 14. 6 Nal. otros: not part of the’ words of Stephen, but of the wit- nesses—see however Blass, in loco.— καὶ καταλύσει: the closest similarity
νου. πι:
to the words in Mark xiv. 58 (ef. Matt. xxvi. 61), and in both passages the same verb καταλύειν is used. It is also found in all three Synoptists in our Lord’s prophecy of the destruction of the Temple, Matt. xxiv. 2, Mark xiii. 2, Luke xxi. 6, and we Πτιά it again in the bitter scorn of the revilers who passed beneath the cross (Mark xv. 29, Matt. xxvii. 40). The prophecy, we cannot doubt, had made its impression not only upon the disciples, but also upon the enemies of Jesus, and if St. Stephen did not employ the actual words, we can easily understand how easily and plau- sibly they might be attributed to him.— ἀλλάξει τὰ ἔθη, cf. Ezra vi. 11, Isaiah xxiv. 5. ἔθος is used by St. Luke seven times in Acts, three times in his Gospel, and it is only found twice elsewhere in the N.T., John xix. 4ο, Heb. x. 25; in the Books of the Maccabees it occurs three or four times, in Wisdom iv. 16 (but see Hatch and Redpath), in Bel and the Dragon v. 15, in the sense of custom, usage, as so often in the classics. Here it would doubtless include the whole system of the Mosaic Jaw, which touched Jewish life at every turn, cf. xv. 1, xxi. 21, xxvl. 3, Xxvill. 17. For the dignity which attached to every word of the Pentateuch, and to Moses to whom the complete book of the law was declared to have been handed by God, see Schirrer, Fewish People, div. Π., vol.i., p. 307, E.T., and Weber, FiidischagTheologie, p. 378 (1897). We have moreover the testi- mony of Jewish literature contemporary with the N.T. books, cf., ¢.g., Book of ¥Fubilees, placed by Edersheim about 5ο A.D., with its ultra-legal spirit, and its glorification of Moses and the Thorah, see too Apocalypse of Baruch, ¢.g., xv., ὁ : AI Mill.) 2257245) ιν 37 UXXKIVa gy 2) 5.