Stephen's speech contains 15 direct Old Testament quotations, making it the most Scripture-dense defense speech in Acts and transforming his trial into Israel's comprehensive historical indictment.
Acts 7
Stephen's Speech
1The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
3and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’
4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land where you are now living.
5He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child.
6God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.
7‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’
8He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him
10and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.
12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.
13On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.
14Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.
15Jacob went down into Egypt and he died, himself and our fathers;
16and they were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.
17“But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18until there arose a different king who didn’t know Joseph.
19The same took advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to abandon their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive.
20At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome to God. He was nourished three months in his father’s house.
21When he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son.
22Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.
23But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
24Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.
25He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.
26“The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’
27But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
30“When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, the voice of the Lord came to him,
32‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled and dared not look.
33The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
34I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
35“This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.
37This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’
38This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us,
39to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
40saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’
41They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
42But God turned away and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship, so I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;
45which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers to the days of David,
46who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
47But Solomon built him a house.
48However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,
49‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is the place of my rest?
50Didn’t my hand make all these things?’
51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
52Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
53You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
The Stoning of Stephen and Persecution of the Church
54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.
58They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
60He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
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Theme
Stephen delivers a lengthy defense speech before the Sanhedrin, recounting Israel's history from Abraham through Moses to demonstrate how God's people have consistently rejected His messengers. His speech traces God's faithfulness despite Israel's repeated disobedience, culminating in an accusation that his hearers have betrayed and murdered the Messiah. The enraged council stones Stephen to death, making him Christianity's first martyr, while Saul of Tarsus watches approvingly and a great persecution against the Jerusalem church begins.
Context
Following Stephen's martyrdom, this chapter transitions from the Jerusalem-centered early church to the broader persecution that will scatter believers and advance the gospel throughout the Roman world.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-8 Abraham and God's Promise Stephen begins his defense by recounting God's call to Abraham and the covenant of circumcision.
- 9-16 Joseph and the Move to Egypt The patriarchs' jealousy leads to Joseph's slavery, but God uses it to preserve the family in Egypt.
- 17-29 Moses' Early Life and Rejection Moses is born during Israel's oppression and flees Egypt after his people reject his leadership.
- 30-43 Moses and the Wilderness God calls Moses at the burning bush, but Israel continues to rebel and worship idols.
- 44-50 The Tabernacle and Temple Stephen traces Israel's worship from the portable tabernacle to Solomon's temple.
- 51-53 Stephen's Accusation Stephen boldly accuses the council of resisting the Holy Spirit and murdering the Messiah.
- 54-60 Stephen's Martyrdom The enraged crowd stones Stephen, who dies praying for his persecutors' forgiveness.
Stephen's Speech
7:1–7:53 narrative speech solemn
Stephen delivers a lengthy speech recounting Israel's history from Abraham through Moses, emphasizing God's faithfulness despite the people's repeated disobedience and rejection of God's messengers. The speech serves as Stephen's defense before the council.
quotation_chain
Stephen's speech contains 15 direct Old Testament quotations, making it the most Scripture-dense defense speech in Acts and transforming his trial into Israel's comprehensive historical indictment.
The Stoning of Stephen and Persecution of the Church
7:54–8:3 narrative narration triumphant
Stephen is stoned to death after seeing a vision of Jesus at God's right hand, becoming the first Christian martyr and praying for his persecutors' forgiveness. His death triggers widespread persecution that scatters believers throughout Judea and Samaria.
person_contrast
Stephen's vision uniquely depicts Jesus "standing" rather than the typical "sitting" at God's right hand, suggesting Christ's active reception of the first Christian martyr.
Insights
Stephen's vision uniquely depicts Jesus "standing" rather than the typical "sitting" at God's right hand, suggesting Christ's active reception of the first Christian martyr.
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
Acts 7:2 4 references
Lexicals 4
Acts 22:1 Lexical
“Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you.”
Acts 2:9 Lexical
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
Acts 10:28 Lexical
He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one…
Acts 13:26 Lexical
“Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to…
Acts 7:3 1 reference
Acts 7:4 1 reference
Acts 7:5 1 reference
Acts 7:6 2 references
Acts 7:8 5 references
Lexicals 5
Luke 1:59 Lexical
On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his fa…
Matthew 1:2 Lexical
Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.
John 7:22 Lexical
Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a boy.
Hebrews 8:10 Lexical
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord: “I will put my law…
Hebrews 10:16 Lexical
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put my laws on their heart, I…
Acts 7:10 1 reference
Acts 7:15 1 reference
Acts 7:16 3 references
Lexicals 3
Matthew 27:9 Lexical
Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, t…
Acts 5:2 Lexical
and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, then brought a certain part and laid it at the apostle…
2 Peter 1:17 Lexical
For he received from God the Father honor and glory when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my belo…
Acts 7:17 2 references
Acts 7:20 3 references
Lexicals 3
Hebrews 11:23 Lexical
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful c…
Luke 1:56 Lexical
Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.
Acts 22:3 Lexical
“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according…
Acts 7:21 1 reference
Acts 7:22 1 reference
Acts 7:23 2 references
Acts 7:25 1 reference
Acts 7:26 1 reference
Acts 7:30 5 references
Lexicals 5
Hebrews 3:17 Lexical
With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Hebrews 1:7 Lexical
Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.”
Revelation 2:18 Lexical
“To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet ar…
Mark 1:13 Lexical
He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving h…
Revelation 8:8 Lexical
The second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea beca…
Acts 7:32 5 references
Lexicals 5
Mark 12:26 Lexical
But about the dead, that they are raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moses about the Bush, how God spoke to him, sa…
Luke 20:37 Lexical
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isa…
Acts 3:13 Lexical
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and…
Matthew 22:32 Lexical
‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living…
Matthew 1:2 Lexical
Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.
Acts 7:33 3 references
Lexicals 3
Acts 13:25 Lexical
As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me,…
Luke 3:16 Lexical
John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandal…
Acts 6:13 Lexical
and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the la…
Acts 7:34 2 references
Acts 7:36 3 references
Lexicals 3
Hebrews 3:17 Lexical
With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Acts 4:22 Lexical
For the man on whom this miracle of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
Hebrews 11:29 Lexical
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
Acts 7:37 5 references
Lexicals 5
Acts 3:22 Lexical
For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. Y…
Luke 16:31 Lexical
“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the d…
2 Corinthians 3:13 Lexical
and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that…
2 Corinthians 3:7 Lexical
But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look…
Matthew 22:24 Lexical
saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offsprin…
Acts 7:38 5 references
Lexicals 5
Hebrews 12:22 Lexical
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes…
Acts 8:26 Lexical
Then an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusa…
Revelation 2:8 Lexical
“To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these th…
Revelation 3:1 Lexical
“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these t…
John 6:31 Lexical
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
Acts 7:39 1 reference
Acts 7:40 2 references
Acts 7:41 1 reference
Acts 7:42 5 references
Lexicals 5
Luke 3:4 Lexical
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready…
John 6:31 Lexical
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
Hebrews 9:9 Lexical
This is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscienc…
Hebrews 3:17 Lexical
With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Acts 1:20 Lexical
For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate. Let no one dwell in it;’ and, ‘Let anothe…
Acts 7:44 5 references
Lexicals 5
Hebrews 8:5 Lexical
who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabern…
Matthew 8:4 Lexical
Jesus said to him, “See that you tell nobody; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses command…
Mark 1:44 Lexical
and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing t…
Luke 5:14 Lexical
He commanded him to tell no one, “But go your way and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing accordin…
Hebrews 3:5 Lexical
Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spok…
Acts 7:48 1 reference
Acts 7:49 4 references
Lexicals 3
Revelation 20:11 Lexical
I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away. There was found no pl…
Matthew 5:35 Lexical
nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Colossians 1:16 Lexical
For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones…
Acts 7:52 2 references
Acts 7:55 5 references
Lexicals 5
Luke 11:13 Lexical
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the…
Acts 13:9 Lexical
But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him
Acts 11:24 Lexical
For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and many people were added to the Lord.
Luke 4:1 Lexical
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
Acts 11:6 Lexical
When I had looked intently at it, I considered, and saw the four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, creeping thi…
Acts 7:56 2 references
Acts 7:57 5 references
Lexicals 5
Matthew 27:50 Lexical
Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.
Revelation 7:2 Lexical
I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four a…
Acts 19:34 Lexical
But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis…
Revelation 14:15 Lexical
Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Send your sickle and reap,…
Revelation 10:3 Lexical
He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
Acts 7:58 4 references
Lexicals 4
Luke 4:29 Lexical
They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they mig…
Matthew 10:14 Lexical
Whoever doesn’t receive you or hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
Acts 22:3 Lexical
“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according…
Hebrews 12:1 Lexical
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin whic…
Acts 7:60 5 references
Lexicals 5
Revelation 19:17 Lexical
I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, “Come! Be g…
Acts 24:21 Lexical
unless it is for this one thing that I cried standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being ju…
Revelation 10:3 Lexical
He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
Revelation 18:2 Lexical
He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a…
Mark 5:7 Lexical
and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure yo…
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Lemma
Morphology
Semantic Range
Theological Significance
Translation Notes
Key Passages
Historical Context
Places and events in this chapter
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Timeline
Exodus
c. 1446 BCIsrael's miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery under Moses' leadership, including the ten plagues and Red Sea crossing. This foundational event established Israel as God's chosen nation.
Stephen recounts the exodus as part of Israel's pattern of rejecting God's messengers.
Stephen's Speech