Acts 6 is the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. It records the

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...

of the first seven

deacons A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and the work of one of them,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

and is divided into 15 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(AD 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330–360) *

Papyrus 8 Papyrus 8 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), signed by or α 8 (von Soden), is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles, it contains Acts 4:31–37; 5:2–9; 6:1–6.8–15. The manuscr ...

(4th century; extant verses 1–6, 8–15) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; lacunae: verse 8) *

Codex Laudianus Codex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palae ...

(~550)

Appointment of the Seven (6:1-7)

In this part Luke provides 'a brief glimpse into the inner workings of the church', bracketed with 'two summary verses' (; ). The candidates to perform the care functions in the community are marked out as 'full of the Spirit' (verses 3, 5), and 'the transmission of authority from the apostles' is 'very deliberately assured through prayer and the laying on of hands' (verse 6).

Verse 5

: ''And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose

, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip,

Prochorus Prochorus (Latin form of the gr, Πρόχορος, ''Prochoros'') was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts ). According to later tradition he was also one of the Seventy Disciples se ...

, Nicanor,

Timon Timon is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: People * Timon of Athens (person), 5th-century Athenian and legendary misanthrope * Timon of Phlius (c. 320 BCE – c. 235 BCE), a Pyrrhonist philosopher of Ptolemaic Egypt and He ...

, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a

proselyte The biblical term "proselyte" is an anglicization of the Koine Greek term προσήλυτος (''proselytos''), as used in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the ...

from Antioch,'' All the selected seven men have Greek names (verse 5) suggesting a 'diaspora connection', although many Palestinian Jews at the time also spoke Greek.

Stephen on trial (6:8–7:1)

One of the seven, Stephen, soon gets into dispute, not with the temple hierarchy, but with members of a group of diaspora synagogues in Jerusalem ( 6:9).

Verse 9

:''Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.'' *" Synagogue of the Freedmen" (KJV: "synagogue of the Libertines"): A particular synagogue in Jerusalem which is attended by former slaves, or "freemen", and may include their descendants. The word "Freedmen" or ""libertine" is from a Latin title ''libertini'' indicating "a group of Jews of Italian origin who were now settled in Jerusalem" and this term is also known from Latin sources, such as

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, ''Annals'', 2:85. The Theodotus inscription provides the evidence that 'there was at least one Greek-speaking synagogue in Jerusalem in the first century'.

Verse 14

: Synagogue_of_the_Freedmen_said.html" ;"title="alse witnesses from the Synagogue of the Freedmen said">alse witnesses from the Synagogue of the Freedmen said ''"for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us."'' NKJV *"This

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

of Nazareth shall destroy this place": The words of the accusation may come in part from , partly on the prediction in , which 'Stephen must have known, and may well have reproduced'. Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.
''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers''. Acts 6.
London : Cassell and Company, Limited, 905-1906Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019.

References

Sources

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Acts of the Apostles 06