“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at a loud voice, all rushed at him together - the Sanhedrin's response to Stephen's heavenly vision is earthly mob violence. 'Covered their ears' (kateichon ta ōta, held their ears shut) is a gesture of refusal to hear blasphemy (or so they judge it). 'Yelling at a loud voice' (phonē megale, great voice, screaming) and 'all rushed at him together' (hormal homothymadon ep autō, rushed forward all together with one accord) show coordinated violence. They become the very persecutors Stephen has described in his speech.
Church Fathers on Acts 7:57
stopped their ears. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him. Acts 7:55-58 And yet, if he lied, they ought to have thought him beside…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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