Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Hellenists - The former were Greek-speaking Jews from Jewish settlements in lands outside Israel (known as the Dispersion, or Diaspora), and the latter were Aramaic-speaking Jews.
"This word [Hellenists] is found again in Act 9:29, and in many manuscripts in Acts 11:20...It denotes the Hellenistic Jews, — the Jews, that is, who had come under the influence of Greek civilization and spoke Greek as their vernacular. They owed their existence as a body to the dispersion of large numbers of Jews in Gentile lands as colonists and traders. They used as their Bible, the Septuagint, or Greek, translation of the Old Testament Scriptures." (Walker)
"The [native] Hebrews [were] Jews, that is born and bred in the Holy Land, who spoke Aramaic as their vernacular, and who used the Hebrew Bible in the original, with the help of Targums or paraphrases. As a body, they looked askance on Gentile civilization and clung tenaciously to the customs and traditions of their fatherland. They were wont to say 'Cursed be he who teacheth his son the learning of the Greeks.'" (Walker)
"It is not strange that these Grecian widows should have been unintentionally neglected and that the murmuring referred to above should have resulted. This, to be sure, would not have happened had Christ Himself been reigning, but the believers were still waiting for Him to return ... Grecians are to be distinguished from Greeks. The Greeks were Gentiles, the Grecians merely Greek-speaking Jews, generally foreign-born Jews of more or less Greek culture. This indicates how wholly the Pentecostal church was still made up of Jews." (Stam)
serve tables - " I.e., tables of food for the widows or of money (as in John 2:15) ... the word deacon is used in an unofficial sense throughout the NT of anyone who serves (cf. Eph 6:21), as well as in an official sense, designating those who occupy the office of deacon (cf. Phil 1:1)." (Ryrie)
"The verb 'serve' (διακονεῖν) is cognate with the noun rendered 'ministration' in v. 1, and, along with that, led to the employment of the word deacon to denote the office of those appointed as ministers for the distribution of alms. The word 'table' probably denotes public messes or united meals, but may also refer to the board or counter at which the alms were distributed, whether in the form of food or money (cf. Matt 21:12). The expression 'serving of tables' has, from this, come to mean the discharge, by ministers, of a routine of secular duties. It is contrasted, in v. 4, with the 'ministry (serving) of the word.'" (Walker)
v 3 - "Their qualifications were (1) males, (2) believers, (3) reputable, (4) spiritual, and (5) wise." (Ryrie)
the word - "The 'Word' from which they ministered was, of course, the Old Testament. None of the New Testament had yet been written, much less one word of the Pauline revelation concerning the Body of Christ. This is another indication that a Jewish, kingdom program still held sway." (Stam)
v 5 - "All seven had Greek, not Jewish, names; two, Stephen and Philip, quickly achieved prominence for their vigorous evangelism." (Ryrie)
"One would suppose that for this board of seven, a majority of Hebrews would naturally have been chosen. Surely these few Grecians could not justly expect to be represented by a majority. Or, as a generous gesture to the Grecians this board might have been made up of three Hebrews, three Grecians would have accepted such an arrangement as more than fair. But it is quite evident — and most significant of the spiritual state of the multitude — that they chose all Grecians, for all seven names are Greek, not Hebrew! One, Nicolas of Antioch, was even a proselyte! How these Spirit-controlled believers loved and trusted each other! The Hebrew Church had put its treasury and its own material welfare entirely into the hands of the Grecians among them! What a foretaste of the Millennial blessing!" (Stam)
laid their hands on them - "The laying on of hands was a formal sign of appointment to this service. The rite indicates a link or association between parties involved. Sometimes it was related to healing (Mk 5:23) or to the impartation of the Spirit (Acts 8:17; 9:17; 19:6) or, as here, was a sign of ordination for special service (Acts 13:3; 1 Tim 4:14)." (Ryrie)
Hellenists - The former were Greek-speaking Jews from Jewish settlements in lands outside Israel (known as the Dispersion, or Diaspora), and the latter were Aramaic-speaking Jews.
"This word [Hellenists] is found again in Act 9:29, and in many manuscripts in Acts 11:20...It denotes the Hellenistic Jews, — the Jews, that is, who had come under the influence of Greek civilization and spoke Greek as their vernacular. They owed their existence as a body to the dispersion of large numbers of Jews in Gentile lands as colonists and traders. They used as their Bible, the Septuagint, or Greek, translation of the Old Testament Scriptures." (Walker)
"The [native] Hebrews [were] Jews, that is born and bred in the Holy Land, who spoke Aramaic as their vernacular, and who used the Hebrew Bible in the original, with the help of Targums or paraphrases. As a body, they looked askance on Gentile civilization and clung tenaciously to the customs and traditions of their fatherland. They were wont to say 'Cursed be he who teacheth his son the learning of the Greeks.'" (Walker)
"It is not strange that these Grecian widows should have been unintentionally neglected and that the murmuring referred to above should have resulted. This, to be sure, would not have happened had Christ Himself been reigning, but the believers were still waiting for Him to return ... Grecians are to be distinguished from Greeks. The Greeks were Gentiles, the Grecians merely Greek-speaking Jews, generally foreign-born Jews of more or less Greek culture. This indicates how wholly the Pentecostal church was still made up of Jews." (Stam)
serve tables - " I.e., tables of food for the widows or of money (as in John 2:15) ... the word deacon is used in an unofficial sense throughout the NT of anyone who serves (cf. Eph 6:21), as well as in an official sense, designating those who occupy the office of deacon (cf. Phil 1:1)." (Ryrie)
"The verb 'serve' (διακονεῖν) is cognate with the noun rendered 'ministration' in v. 1, and, along with that, led to the employment of the word deacon to denote the office of those appointed as ministers for the distribution of alms. The word 'table' probably denotes public messes or united meals, but may also refer to the board or counter at which the alms were distributed, whether in the form of food or money (cf. Matt 21:12). The expression 'serving of tables' has, from this, come to mean the discharge, by ministers, of a routine of secular duties. It is contrasted, in v. 4, with the 'ministry (serving) of the word.'" (Walker)
v 3 - "Their qualifications were (1) males, (2) believers, (3) reputable, (4) spiritual, and (5) wise." (Ryrie)
the word - "The 'Word' from which they ministered was, of course, the Old Testament. None of the New Testament had yet been written, much less one word of the Pauline revelation concerning the Body of Christ. This is another indication that a Jewish, kingdom program still held sway." (Stam)
v 5 - "All seven had Greek, not Jewish, names; two, Stephen and Philip, quickly achieved prominence for their vigorous evangelism." (Ryrie)
"One would suppose that for this board of seven, a majority of Hebrews would naturally have been chosen. Surely these few Grecians could not justly expect to be represented by a majority. Or, as a generous gesture to the Grecians this board might have been made up of three Hebrews, three Grecians would have accepted such an arrangement as more than fair. But it is quite evident — and most significant of the spiritual state of the multitude — that they chose all Grecians, for all seven names are Greek, not Hebrew! One, Nicolas of Antioch, was even a proselyte! How these Spirit-controlled believers loved and trusted each other! The Hebrew Church had put its treasury and its own material welfare entirely into the hands of the Grecians among them! What a foretaste of the Millennial blessing!" (Stam)
laid their hands on them - "The laying on of hands was a formal sign of appointment to this service. The rite indicates a link or association between parties involved. Sometimes it was related to healing (Mk 5:23) or to the impartation of the Spirit (Acts 8:17; 9:17; 19:6) or, as here, was a sign of ordination for special service (Acts 13:3; 1 Tim 4:14)." (Ryrie)
No comments:
Post a Comment