使徒行传 6
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
拣选七人办理供给之事
6 那时，门徒增多，有说希腊话的犹太人向希伯来人发怨言，因为在天天的供给上忽略了他们的寡妇。 2 十二使徒叫众门徒来，对他们说：“我们撇下神的道去管理饭食，原是不合宜的。 3 所以弟兄们，当从你们中间选出七个有好名声、被圣灵充满、智慧充足的人，我们就派他们管理这事。 4 但我们要专心以祈祷、传道为事。” 5 大众都喜悦这话，就拣选了司提反，乃是大有信心、圣灵充满的人；又拣选腓利、伯罗哥罗、尼迦挪、提门、巴米拿，并进犹太教的安提阿人尼哥拉。 6 叫他们站在使徒面前，使徒祷告了，就按手在他们头上。
7 神的道兴旺起来，在耶路撒冷门徒数目加增的甚多，也有许多祭司信从了这道。
司提反满得智慧和圣灵的能力
8 司提反满得恩惠、能力，在民间行了大奇事和神迹。 9 当时有称“利百地拿”会堂的几个人，并有古利奈、亚历山大、基利家、亚细亚各处会堂的几个人，都起来和司提反辩论。 10 司提反是以智慧和圣灵说话，众人抵挡不住。 11 就买出人来说：“我们听见他说谤讟摩西和神的话。”
被拿到公会
12 他们又耸动了百姓、长老并文士，就忽然来捉拿他，把他带到公会去， 13 设下假见证说：“这个人说话不住地糟践圣所和律法。 14 我们曾听见他说，这拿撒勒人耶稣要毁坏此地，也要改变摩西所交给我们的规条。” 15 在公会里坐着的人都定睛看他，见他的面貌好像天使的面貌。
Acts 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
The Need for Assistants. 1 [a]At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.(A) 2 [b]So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.[c] 3 Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, 4 whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 (B)They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.[d] 7 The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.(C)
Accusation Against Stephen. 8 [e]Now Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, 10 but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.(D) 11 Then they instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”(E) 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They presented false witnesses[f] who testified, “This man never stops saying things against [this] holy place and the law. 14 For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”(F) 15 All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Footnotes
- 6:1–7 The Hellenists…the Hebrews: the Hellenists were not necessarily Jews from the diaspora, but were more probably Palestinian Jews who spoke only Greek. The Hebrews were Palestinian Jews who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and who may also have spoken Greek. Both groups belong to the Jerusalem Jewish Christian community. The conflict between them leads to a restructuring of the community that will better serve the community’s needs. The real purpose of the whole episode, however, is to introduce Stephen as a prominent figure in the community whose long speech and martyrdom will be recounted in Acts 7.
- 6:2–4 The essential function of the Twelve is the “service of the word,” including development of the kerygma by formulation of the teachings of Jesus.
- 6:2 To serve at table: some commentators think that it is not the serving of food that is described here but rather the keeping of the accounts that recorded the distribution of food to the needy members of the community. In any case, after Stephen and the others are chosen, they are never presented carrying out the task for which they were appointed (Acts 6:2–3). Rather, two of their number, Stephen and Philip, are presented as preachers of the Christian message. They, the Hellenist counterpart of the Twelve, are active in the ministry of the word.
- 6:6 They…laid hands on them: the customary Jewish way of designating persons for a task and invoking upon them the divine blessing and power to perform it.
- 6:8–8:1
The summary (Acts 6:7) on the progress of the Jerusalem community, illustrated by the conversion of the priests, is followed by a lengthy narrative regarding Stephen. Stephen’s defense is not a response to the charges made against him but takes the form of a discourse that reviews the fortunes of God’s word to Israel and leads to a prophetic declaration: a plea for the hearing of that word as announced by Christ and now possessed by the Christian community.
The charges that Stephen depreciated the importance of the temple and the Mosaic law and elevated Jesus to a stature above Moses (Acts 6:13–14) were in fact true. Before the Sanhedrin, no defense against them was possible. With Stephen, who thus perceived the fuller implications of the teachings of Jesus, the differences between Judaism and Christianity began to appear. Luke’s account of Stephen’s martyrdom and its aftermath shows how the major impetus behind the Christian movement passed from Jerusalem, where the temple and law prevailed, to Antioch in Syria, where these influences were less pressing.
- 6:13 False witnesses: here, and in his account of Stephen’s execution (Acts 7:54–60), Luke parallels the martyrdom of Stephen with the death of Jesus.
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