to stand (transitively or intransitively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
before
ἐνώπιονenōpion
G1799
in the face of (literally or figuratively) · preposition
apostles
ἀποστόλων,apostolōn
G652
a delegate · noun — genitive plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
prayed
προσευξάμενοιproseuxamenoi
G4336
to pray to God · verb — aorist middle deponent participle, nominative plural masculine
laid
ἐπέθηκανepethēkan
G2007
to impose (in a friendly or hostile sense) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
hands
χεῖρας.¶cheiras
G5495
the hand (literally or figuratively (power) · noun — accusative plural feminine
them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 8:10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
2 Timothy 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
Acts 1:24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
Acts 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
1 Timothy 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Acts 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared u…
Acts 13:3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
1 Timothy 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 6:1-7
Having seen the church's struggles with her enemies, and triumphed with her in her victories, we now come to take a view of the administration of her affairs at home; and here we have,
I. An unhappy disagreement among some of the church-members, which might have been of ill consequence, but was prudently accommodated and taken up in time (Act 6:1): When the number of the disciples (for so Christians were at first called, learners of Christ) was multiplied to many thousands in Jerusalem, there arose a murmuring.
1. It does our hearts good to find that the number of the disciples is multiplied, as, no doubt, it vexed the priests and Sadducees to the heart to see it. The opposition that the pre…
when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them--the one proclaiming that all official gifts flowed from the Church's glorified Head, the other symbolizing the communication of these to the chosen office-bearers through the recognized channels.
Adam Clarke on Acts 6:6
And when they had prayed - Instead of και, and, the Codex Bezae reads οἱτινες, who, referring the act of praying to the apostles, which removes a sort of ambiguity. The apostles prayed for these persons, that they might in every respect be qualified for their office, and be made successful in it. And, when they had done this, they laid their hands upon them, and by this rite appointed them to their office. So then, it plainly appears that the choice of the Church was not sufficient: nor did the Church think it sufficient; but, as they knew their own members best, the apostles directed them, Act 6:3, to choose those persons whom they deemed best qualified, according to the criterion laid dow…
Whom they set before the apostles,.... They did not barely nominate and propose them to them, but they brought them into their presence, and placed them before them, as the persons whom they had chosen, in order to be ordained by them.
And when they had prayed; for these seven men set before them, that they might appear to be richly qualified for this office, and might honourably and faithfully discharge it, to the peace of themselves, the advantage of the church, and the glory of God:
they laid their hands on them; that is, they ordained them, they installed them into their office, and invested them with it, using the rite or ceremony of laying on of hands, which was used by the apostles…
The Church Fathers
It is to be noted that the ordination comes by the word of the leaders through their prayer and the imposition of their hands, and that the rank of deacons was given to deacons from the beginning, and that this custom has been observed until now.
They set them before the sight of the apostles, and praying, they laid hands on them. Not those who set them, but the apostles, laid hands on them. For indeed the common dispensation demanded that men be chosen as ministers for widows; but when those were found who seemed worthy for this ministry, gradually, as often happens, the providence of the saving counsel pleased that they themselves should be ordained as ministers of the altar of the sacred and dominical blood, as well as the refection and common table of the multitude of believers: which is proved by the word which said: And praying, they laid hands on them. For this is indeed for those who are promoted from the common number of the faithful to the office of the most holy altar.
"Whom they set before the Apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them." They separated them from the multitude, and it is the people that draw them, not the Apostles that lead them. Observe how he avoids all that is superfluous: he does not tell in what way it was done, but that they were ordained with prayer: for this is the meaning of "laying on of hands," or ordination: the hand of the man is laid upon the person, but the whole work is of God, and it is His hand which toucheth the head of the one ordained, if he be duly ordained. And this business was not simply handed over to them without further ceremony, but the Apostles prayed over them, that power might be given to them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Deacon — Anglicized form of the Greek word diaconos, meaning a “runner,” “messenger,” “servant.” For a long period a feeling of mutual jealousy had existed between the “Hebrews,” or Jews proper, who spoke the…
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
Nicanor — Conqueror, one of the seven deacons appointed in the apostolic Church (Acts 6:1-6). Nothing further is known of him.
Philip The Evangelist — is first mentioned in the account of the dispute between the Hebrew and Hellenistic disciples in Acts 6. He is one of the deacons appointed to superintend the daily distribution of food and alms, and…
Stephen — One of the seven deacons, who became a preacher of the gospel. He was the first Christian martyr. His personal character and history are recorded in Acts 6. “He fell asleep” with a prayer for his…
Timon — Honouring, one of the seven deacons at Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). Nothing further is known of him.
Widow — Under the Mosaic dispensation no legal provision was made for the maintenance of widows. They were left dependent partly on the affection of relations, more especially of the eldest son, whose…
Widows — To be treated with kindness (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12; 27:19, etc.). In the New Testament the same tender regard for them is inculcated (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 5:3-16) and…
Deacon · Selected by the people — Selected by the people
Hands, The · Imposition of, used in: Ordaining ministers — Imposition of, used in: Ordaining ministers
Acts 6:1-6
1. And in those days, when the number of the disciples grew, there arose a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were despised in the daily ministry. 2. Therefore, when the twelve had called unto them the multitude of the disciples, they said, It doth not please [or it is not good] that we should serve tables, having left the word of God. 3. Therefore, brethren, look out seven men of you, of known honesty, full of the Holy Ghost, and of wisdom, whom we will appoint over this business, 4. And we will give ourselves unto prayer, and to the ministration of the word. 5. The speech pleased the whole multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith an…
Wisely, the apostles called a meeting of all the believers to address the dispute. They recognized the seriousness of the problem, as well as their own priority of teaching the word of God. The solution was to select wise and Spirit-filled men to oversee the food distribution. The community accepted the apostles’ solution and chose good leaders from the ranks of the Greek-speaking believers (all of their names are Greek). These seven devoted themselves to this special ministry, allowing the apostles to spend their time in prayer and teaching the word. • These seven men are sometimes called the first deacons because of the similarity of their role to the office of deacon (see 1 Tim 3:8-13). A…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
