Acts 7:58

And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
cast	ἐκβαλόντες ekbalontes	G1544	to eject (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
out	ἔξω exō	G1854	out(-side · preposition
city	πόλεως poleōs	G4172	a town (properly · noun — genitive singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
stoned	ἐλιθοβόλουν. elithoboloun	G3036	to throw stones · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
and	καί kaí	G2532	and
witnesses	μάρτυρες martures	G3144	a witness (literally (judicially) or figuratively (geni… · noun — nominative plural masculine
down	ἀπέθεντο apethento	G659	to put away (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist middle indicative, 3rd person plural
their	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
clothes	ἱμάτια himatia	G2440	a dress (inner or outer) · noun — accusative plural neuter
at	παρὰ para	G3844	properly · preposition
man’s	νεανίου neaniou	G3494	a youth (up to about forty years) · noun — genitive singular masculine
feet	πόδας podas	G4228	a "foot" (figuratively or literally) · noun — accusative plural masculine
was	καλουμένου kaloumenou	G2564	to "call" (properly · verb — present passive participle, genitive singular masculine
Saul	Σαύλου Saulou	G4569	Saulus (i.e. Shaul) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name

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 22:20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that…
Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they w…
Leviticus 24:14-16 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation st…
Acts 6:13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Deuteronomy 13:9-10 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
Deuteronomy 17:7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evi…
1 Kings 21:13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the…
Luke 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him do…

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 7:58

cast him out of the city--according to Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Kg1 21:13; and see Heb 13:12. and stoned--"proceeded to stone" him. The actual stoning is recorded in Act 7:59. and the witnesses--whose hands were to be first upon the criminal (Deu 17:7). laid down their clothes--their loose outer garments, to have them taken charge of. at a young man's feet whose name was Saul--How thrilling is this our first introduction to one to whom Christianity--whether as developed in the New Testament or as established in the world--owes more perhaps than to all the other apostles together! Here he is, having perhaps already a seat in the Sanhedrim, some thirty years of age, in the thick of this t…

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Adam Clarke on Acts 7:58

Cast him out of the city, and stoned him - They did not however wait for any sentence to be pronounced upon him; it seems they were determined to stone him first, and then prove, after it had been done, that it was done justly. For the manner of stoning among the Jews, see the note on Lev 24:23. The witnesses laid down their clothes - To illustrate this whole transaction, see the observations at the end of this chapter.

John Gill on Acts 7:58

The Church Fathers

Insane, rebellious Judea, you hurl stones against Stephen, you who will always be stony because of your hard crime.
— Arator, ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1

The savage men lay down their garments at the feet of Saul, what the Hebrew calls hell. Both sides now decide to declare what they deserve from this [martyrdom] when the martyr seeks heaven, the executioners "hell." The first circumstance [of martyrdom] reveals and makes as an example what flows from this fountain to one engaged in such a struggle; thus Tartarus quickly comes upon those who commit murder, while heaven lies open for the dying.
— Arator, ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1

Often one who is seen to come after us surpasses us through the swiftness of good work, and tomorrow we scarcely follow him whom today we seemed to precede. Certainly when Stephen was dying for the faith, Saul was guarding the garments of those who were stoning him. Therefore he himself stoned with the hands of all who were stoning, since he rendered them all free to stone, and yet in the holy Church he surpassed in labors that very one whom by persecuting he made a martyr.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 19

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

Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
Martyr — One who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Acts 22:20; Rev. 2:13; 17:6). In this sense Stephen was the first martyr. The Greek word so rendered in all other cases…
Paul — =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy “for use in the Gentile world,” as “Saul” would be…
Punishments — The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, “blood for blood.” Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
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).…
Complicity · .Paul, in the stoning of Stephen — .Paul, in the stoning of Stephen
Courts Of Justice · The judgment of: Witnesses first to execute — The judgment of: Witnesses first to execute
Gates · Punishment of criminals outsi — Punishment of criminals outsi
Intolerance, Religious

Acts 7:58

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:54–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 7:58

Adam Clarke on Acts 7:58

John Gill on Acts 7:58

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 7:58

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:54–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 7:58

Adam Clarke on Acts 7:58

John Gill on Acts 7:58

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 7:58–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 7:58