“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.”
'You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!' - Stephen's direct accusation now comes as the climax of his entire recitation. 'Stiff-necked' (sklērotrachēlos) echoes Exodus 33:3 and 34:9, but Stephen applies it to the contemporary Sanhedrin. 'Uncircumcised in heart and ears' is spiritual language: you are physically circumcised (thus part of the covenant people) but spiritually unreceptive to God's word. The accusation 'You always resist the Holy Spirit' (humeis aei antipiptete tō pneumati tō hagiō) is absolute: this is not a moment of error but a pattern of rebellion.
Church Fathers on Acts 7:51
You do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Acts 7:51 When it was not His will that sacrifices should be, you sacrifice: when it is His will, then again ye do not sacrifice: when He would not give you commandments, you drew them to you: when you got them, you neglected them. Again, when the Temple stood, you worshipped idols: when it is His will to be worshipped without a Temple, you do the opposite. Observe, he says not, You resist God, but, the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!