7:51 “You stubborn 5 people, with uncircumcised 6 hearts and ears! 7 You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors 8 did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors 9 not persecute? 10 They 11 killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, 12 whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! 13
1 sn This same. The reference to “this one” occurs five times in this speech. It is the way the other speeches in Acts refer to Jesus (e.g., Acts 2:23).
2 sn A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see Acts 7:27). God saw Moses very differently than the people of the nation did. The reference to a ruler and a judge suggests that Stephen set up a comparison between Moses and Jesus, but he never finished his speech to make the point. The reader of Acts, however, knowing the other sermons in the book, recognizes that the rejection of Jesus is the counterpoint.
3 tn Or “liberator.” The meaning “liberator” for λυτρωτήν (lutrwthn) is given in L&N 37.129: “a person who liberates or releases others.”
4 tn Or simply “through the angel.” Here the “hand” could be understood as a figure for the person or the power of the angel himself. The remark about the angel appearing fits the first century Jewish view that God appears to no one (John 1:14-18; Gal 3:19; Deut 33:2 LXX).
5 sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.
6 tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.
7 tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)
8 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
9 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
10 sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.
11 tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
12 sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.
13 sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).