Acts 7:48

Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Howbeit	ἀλλ᾽ all᾽	G235	properly · conjunction
High	ὕψιστος hupsistos	G5310	highest · adjective — nominative singular masculine
dwelleth	κατοικεῖ, katoikei	G2730	to house permanently · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
not	οὐχ ouch	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
temples	ναοῖς naois	G3485	a fane · noun — dative plural masculine
hands	χειροποιήτοις cheiropoiētois	G5499	manufactured · adjective — dative plural masculine
as	καθὼς kathōs	G2531	just (or inasmuch) as · conjunction
saith	λέγει· legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
prophet	προφήτης prophētēs	G4396	a foreteller ("prophet") · noun — nominative singular 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

Acts 17:24-25 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the plac…
1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have b…
2 Chronicles 2:5-6 And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.
2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this hous…
Psalms 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 92:8 But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:42-50

Two things we have in these verses: - I. Stephen upbraids them with the idolatry of their fathers, which God gave them up to, as a punishment for their early forsaking him in worshipping the golden calf; and this was the saddest punishment of all for that sin, as it was of the idolatry of the Gentile world that God gave them up to a reprobate mind. When Israel was joined to idols, joined to the golden calf, and not long after to Baal-peor, God said, Let them alone; let them go on (Act 7:42): Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. He particularly cautioned them not to do it, at their peril, and gave them reasons why they should not; but, when they were bent upon it,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 7:45

which . . . our fathers that came after--rather, "having received it by succession" (Margin), that is, the custody of the tabernacle from their ancestors. brought in with Jesus--or Joshua. into the possession--rather, "at the taking possession of [the territory of] the Gentiles." unto the days of David--for till then Jerusalem continued in the hands of the Jebusites. But Stephen's object in mentioning David is to hasten from the tabernacle which he set up, to the temple which his son built, in Jerusalem; and this only to show, from their own Scripture (Isa 66:1-2), that even that temple, magnificent though it was, was not the proper resting-place of Jehovah upon earth; as his audience…

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Adam Clarke on Acts 7:48

The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands - Here St. Stephen evidently refers to Solomon's speech, Kg1 8:27. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have builded? Both Solomon and St. Stephen mean that the majesty of God could not be contained, not even in the whole vortex of nature; much less in any temple which human hands could erect. As saith the prophet - The place referred to is Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2 : Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest, etc., with which the quotatio…

The Church Fathers

"Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool." Nay, not even these are worthy of God, forasmuch as they are made, seeing they are creatures, the works of His hand. See how he leads them on by little and little (showing) that not even these are to be mentioned. And again the prophecy says openly, "What house will ye build Me?" etc.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 17

"Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in (places) made with hands." This was shown indeed already by what had been before said: but it is shown also by the voice of a prophet; "What house will ye build for Me? saith the Lord God. As saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build for me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?"
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 17

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

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…
Court · ACCUSED SPOKE IN HIS OWN — ACCUSED SPOKE IN HIS OWN
God · Is declared to be: Most High — Is declared to be: Most High
Temple, The First · Was but a temple built with hands — Was but a temple built with hands

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).

Acts 7:48

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:42-50

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 7:45

Adam Clarke on Acts 7:48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 7:48

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:42-50

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 7:45

Adam Clarke on Acts 7:48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Acts 7:48

John Calvin on Acts 7:44-50

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 7:48-50