“And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:”
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a proselyte - the seven chosen are all Hellenistic names (Greek, not Hebrew), suggesting they represent the aggrieved population. Stephen is introduced with emphatic description: 'full of faith and of the Holy Spirit' (plērēs pisteōs kai pneumatos hagiou), the same language used of Jesus in Luke 4:14. Nicolas is identified as 'a proselyte' (prosēlutos), a non-Jew converted to Judaism, showing the church's reach beyond ethnic Israel.
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