Tŵv iepewv-and a great multitude, and certain of the priests, a reading which rests on no evidence. Elsner and Kuincel would translate the phrase as if it meant priests of the lower orders, sacerdotes ex plebe, as distinguished from the chief priests, apxupeîs,—a meaning which the phrase cannot bear. The words must be taken in their literal sense, that a great many of the priests were converted to Christianity. We would certainly not have expected that numerous priests would have become Christians, considering the bitter resentment to which they would be exposed 'from their unbelieving brethren, and the loss of livelihood they would incur from being expelled from the priestly office. But, on the other hand, they were the better prepared for the reception of Christianity, by their superior acquaintance with the prophecies of the Old Testament.

:

It is a matter of dispute whether we have in the election of the seven an account of the institution of the diaconate; or whether the office here adverted to was merely temporary, to suit a present emergency. Various reasons have been assigned to prove that the diaconate was then instituted :1. The expressions employed, diakovíą kalŋμepivĥ (ver. 1) and διακονεῖν τραπέζαις (ver. 3), are considered to imply that the office is that of deacon. 2. The primitive church generally supposed that we have here the account of the institution of the diaconate (Ignatius, Irenæus, Origen); and for this reason they restricted the number of deacons in their churches to seven. Eusebius informs us that in his time the Church of Rome, whilst it had forty-six presbyters, had only seven deacons (Church History, vi. 43). 3. It is thought that the appointment of a mere temporary office would not be so important as to deserve such a lengthened statement. Equally strong reasons are, however, brought forward on the other side of the question:-1. It is observed that none of the seven is ever called by this name. Philip, when mentioned, is called, not a deacon, but an evangelist (Acts xxi. 8). 2. The office of deacon is never once expressly mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, and is alluded to for the first time in the Epistle to the Philippians (Phil. i. 1),—an epistle

written after the imprisonment of Paul at Rome. 3. There is only a remote resemblance between the duties and qualifications of the seven, and the duties and qualifications of the deacons, as laid down by Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy. 4. When Paul and Barnabas brought the alms of the churches to Jerusalem, they entrusted them not to the deacons, but to the elders (Acts xi. 30). St. Chrysostom supposes that the seven were neither deacons nor presbyters, but appointed for a peculiar emergency: "What sort of rank these bore, and what sort of office they received, this is what we need to learn. Was it that of deacons? And yet this is not the case in the churches. But is it to the presbyters that the management belongs? And yet at present

there was no bishop, but the apostles only. Whence I think it clearly and manifestly follows, that neither deacons nor presbyters is their designation; but it was for this particular purpose that they were ordained."1 Perhaps the truth lies. between these two opinions: that the office of the seven was not that of the diaconate, properly so called, but that this latter office grew out of it. When churches became numerous, men with functions somewhat similar to those of the seven were appointed to watch over the temporal concerns of the church, and to administer its charities. This will account for the early church always regarding the election of the seven as the model on which the diaconate was formed.

The meaning of the word diákovos is, a servant, an attendant. It frequently occurs in the New Testament; but only in four places is it used as an official designation (Phil. i. 1; 1 Tim. iii. 8, 12, iv. 6): in all the other places it signifies either a servant employed for temporal purposes, or a servant of God ministering to the spiritual wants of men. In the passage under consideration, the noun diakovía simply means service, ministration; and the ministration of the word is there contrasted with the ministration of tables-the spiritual service with the temporal.

The seven were appointed to attend to the distribution of 1 Chrysostom's Homilies on the Acts, Hom. xiv. 2 Perhaps also Rom. xvi. 1.

the charities of the church. It was their duty to take the oversight of the daily ministration, and to serve tables. We have no particular information as to the functions of the early deacons either from Scripture or the writings of the Fathers; but the oversight of the wants of the poor was part of their duties. It is a matter of dispute whether the function of preaching belonged to the office of the deacon. Certainly it is evident that, in the case of the seven, the ministry of the word was included; for the two who are elsewhere mentioned in Scripture, Stephen and Philip, both preached: they were διάκονοι τοῦ λογοῦ. Just as the apostles, who devoted themselves to the ministry of the word, did not divest themselves of all care for the poor; so the seven who were specially appointed to take care of the poor, were not thereby excluded from preaching the gospel. Indeed, it would almost appear that at this early period there was no regular ministry, the office of the eldership being not yet instituted; but that those preached who felt themselves influenced by the Holy Spirit: in short, that the ecclesiastical offices grew out of the wants of the church, just as a present emergency led to the election and official consecration of the

seven.

SECTION XII.

STEPHEN BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM.-ACTS VI. 8-15.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But there arose certain of them from the synagogue, which is called that of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. 11 Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes ; and having come upon him, they seized him, and led him to the Sanhedrim; 13 And they set up false witnesses, who said, This man does not cease to speak words against the holy place and the law: 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus, the Nazarene, will destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. 15 And all who sat in the Sanhedrim, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

CRITICAL NOTES.

Ver. 8. Xápiros is found in A, B, D, &, and is to be preferred to TíσTews, the reading of the textus receptus. Ver. 13. Βλάσφημα after ῥήματα is wanting in the most important MSS., A, B, C, D, x, and is rejected by most recent critics.

EXEGETICAL REMARKS.

Ver. 8. 4è-but. No sooner was the internal dissension quieted, than a new trouble arose from without. IIńpns Xápiτos-full of grace: not favour with the multitude (Heinrichs), of which there is no mention, but rather the reverse, in the context (ver. 12); but divine grace, favour with God. Kai Svváμews—and power; power to perform

miracles, or Christian fortitude. 'ETоie Téρатa, etc.—did great wonders and signs among the people. This is the first time that we read of any of the disciples, except the apostles, performing miracles.

Ver. 9. In this verse we are informed that Stephen entered into controversial disputes with the Hellenistic Jews in their synagogues. Hitherto the disciples had confined their public discourses to the temple and its neighbourhood; but now, after the example of their Master, they discourse in the synagogues. The disputes were carried on with the Hellenistic Jews. Stephen was, in all probability, of Hellenistic descent and education, and was therefore brought into direct contact with them. From the accusation brought against him, it would appear that he had freer notions concerning the Jewish law than even Peter and the apostles at this time possessed. No such accusation of an attempt to abolish the Jewish law had been preferred against the apostles so far as it appears, they had as yet made no direct attack upon Jewish legalism. The Hellenists, as a body, were also much less bigoted than the Palestinian Jews, and it is probable that the gospel had more success among them; but we may well imagine that while the more liberal among them had passed over to the Christian church, the more fanatical and bigoted, such as Saul of Tarsus, remained obstinately attached to Judaism.1 The subject of the dispute which Stephen carried on would doubtless be the proof from the prophecies of the Old Testament that Jesus was the Messiah; perhaps also he insisted on the necessity of faith and repentance as the only means of salvation, in opposition to the legalism of the Pharisees; and, as appears from his speech, he was very direct in his denunciations against all who obstinately persevered in unbelief. For these and similar reasons, he excited greater resentment among his hearers than had as yet been called forth against the disciples.

AußeρTivwv-Libertines. The conjectures which have been made concerning the Libertines are numerous. 1. Some 1 Baumgarten's Apostolic History, vol. i. p. 130.