Acts 6 KJV
The Choosing of the Seven
Acts Chapter 6: The Choosing of the Seven
The seven appointees all bear Greek names, a deliberate choice signaling the early church's recognition that ethnic favoritism in widow care required leadership drawn from the aggrieved Hellenistic faction itself.
1nd in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
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Did You Know?
The seven appointees all bear Greek names, a deliberate choice signaling the early church's recognition that ethnic favoritism in widow care required leadership drawn from the aggrieved Hellenistic faction itself.
Stephen's angelic face before the Sanhedrin (v. 15) deliberately echoes Moses' radiant countenance after Sinai, positioning the deacon as a new mediator whose subsequent speech will indict the temple cult as obsolete.
The synagogue of the Libertines mentioned in the dispute likely comprised descendants of Jews enslaved by Pompey in 63 BC and later freed, illustrating how Roman imperial history directly fueled opposition to the nascent Jesus movement.
By refusing to 'leave the word of God and serve tables,' the apostles implicitly create a division between prophetic proclamation and structured charity, yet immediately entrust the latter to men 'full of the Holy Ghost,' showing Spirit-empowerment is not limited to apostles.
The conversion of 'a great company of the priests' (v. 7) is striking because these same temple authorities had orchestrated Jesus' death; their obedience signals an internal fracture within Judaism's power structure triggered by the church's growth.