properly · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
a
φωνῇphōnēa
G5456
a tone (articulate · noun — dative singular feminine
loud
μεγάλῃmegalē
G3173
big (literally or figuratively · adjective — dative singular feminine
voice
φωνήphōnḗ
G5456
a tone (articulate
stopped
συνέσχονsuneschon
G4912
to hold together · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
ears
ὦταōta
G3775
the ear (physically or mentally) · noun — accusative plural neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
ran
ὥρμησανhōrmēsan
G3729
to start · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
upon
ἐπ᾽ep᾽
G1909
properly · preposition
him
αὐτόν·auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
accord
ὁμοθυμαδὸνhomothumadon
G3661
unanimously · adverb
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
Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
Psalms 58:4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
Acts 23:27 This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he wa…
Proverbs 21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Acts 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Acts 21:27-31 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 7:54–end
We have here the death of the first martyr of the Christian church, and there is in this story a lively instance of the outrage and fury of the persecutors (such as we may expect to meet with if we are called out to suffer for Christ), and of the courage and comfort of the persecuted, that are thus called out. Here is hell in its fire and darkness, and heaven in its light and brightness; and these serve as foils to set off each other. It is not here said that the votes of the council were taken upon his case, and that by the majority he was found guilty, and then condemned and ordered to be stoned to death, according to the law, as a blasphemer; but, it is likely, so it was, and that it was…
Then they cried out . . . and ran upon him with one accord--To men of their mould and in their temper, Stephen's last seraphic words could but bring matters to extremities, though that only revealed the diabolical spirit which they breathed.
Adam Clarke on Acts 7:57
They - stopped their ears - As a proof that he had uttered blasphemy, because he said, He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This was a fearful proof against them; for if Jesus was at the right hand of God, then they had murdered an innocent person; and they must infer that God's justice must speedily avenge his death. They were determined not to suffer a man to live any longer who could say he saw the heavens opened and Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God.
John Gill on Acts 7:57
Then they cried out with a loud voice,.... These were not the sanhedrim, but the common people; the Ethiopic version reads, "the Jews cried out"; which, they did, in a very clamorous way, either through rage and madness, or in a show of zeal against blasphemy; and cried out, either to God to avenge the blasphemy, or rather to the sanhedrim to pass a sentence on him, or, it may be, to excite one another to rise up at once, and kill him, as they did:
and stopped their ears; with their fingers, pretending they could not bear the blasphemy that was uttered. This was their usual method; hence they say, (o).
"if a man hears anything that is indecent, (or not fit to be heard,) let him put his fin…
The Church Fathers
They continued, who had falsely testified against the saint.
And see, how many signs are wrought! "And cast him out of the city, and stoned him." Here again, "without the city," and even in death, Confession and Preaching. "And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." Observe how particularly he relates what concerns Paul, to show thee that the Power which wrought in him was of God. But after all these things, not only did he not believe, but also aimed at Him with a thousand hands: for this is why it says, "And Saul was consenting unto his death."
Just what they did in Christ's case, the same they do here also. For as He said, "Ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of God" (Matt. xxvi. 64), and they, calling it blasphemy, "ran upon Him;" just so was it here. There, they "rent their garments;" here, they "stopped their ears." ... And yet, if he lied, they ought to have thought him beside himself, and to have let him go.-But he wished to bring them over, "and said, Behold," etc., for, since he had spoken of Christ's death, and had said nothing of His resurrection, he would fain add this doctrine also. "Standing at the right hand of God." And in this manner He appeared to him: that, were it but so, the Jews might receive Him: for since the (idea of His) sitting (at the right hand of God) was offensive to them, for the present he brings forward only what relates to His Resurrection. This is the reason also why his face was glorified. For God, being merciful, desired to make their machinations the means of recalling them unto Himself.
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…
Witness — More than one witness was required in criminal cases (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (Deut. 13:9; 17:7; 1 Kings 21:13; Matt. 27:1; Acts 7:57, 58).…
Intolerance, Religious · .In persecuting Stephen — .In persecuting Stephen
Revenge · .By the chief priests — .By the chief priests
Stephen · Stoned — Stoned
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 7:54-58
54. Furthermore, when they heard these things, they were cut asunder in their hearts, and they gnashed upon him with their teeth. 55. But forasmuch as he was full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56. And he said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. And they cried with a loud voice, and stopped their ears; 57. And with one accord they ran upon him: 58. And having cast him out of the city, they stoned him.
54. When they heard. The beginning of the action had in it some color of judgment; but at length the judges cannot bridle their fury…
