8 And Stephen , full of grace and power , was performing great wonders and signs among the people . 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen , including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians , and some from Cilicia and Asia , rose up and argued with Stephen . 10 But they were unable e to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking . 11 Then they secretly induced men to say , "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God ." 12 And they stirred up the people , the elders and the scribes , and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council . 13 They put forward false witnesses who said , "This man incessantly e speaks against this holy place and the Law ; 14 for we have heard him say that this Nazarene , Jesus , will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us." 15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 6:8-15
Commentary on Acts 6:8-15
(Read Acts 6:8-15)
When they could not answer Stephen's arguments as a disputant, they prosecuted him as a criminal, and brought false witnesses against him. And it is next to a miracle of providence, that no greater number of religious persons have been murdered in the world, by the way of perjury and pretence of law, when so many thousands hate them, who make no conscience of false oaths. Wisdom and holiness make a man's face to shine, yet will not secure men from being treated badly. What shall we say of man, a rational being, yet attempting to uphold a religious system by false witness and murder! And this has been done in numberless instances. But the blame rests not so much upon the understanding, as upon the heart of a fallen creature, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Yet the servant of the Lord, possessing a clear conscience, cheerful hope, and Divine consolations, may smile in the midst of danger and death.