Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Stephen, pleading his own cause, learnedly and at length perorates in the council, and beginning from afar reviews the histories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the Prophets — who foretold Christ, whom the ancient Jews resisted and many of whom they killed — proclaiming freely that thus their descendants now persecute Christ and His disciples. Whence with great zeal, liberty and spirit, in v. 51, he thunders against them: "Stiff-necked," he says, "and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you also," and he calls them traitors and murderers of Christ. Wherefore they, gnashing and raging, seize him, and overwhelm him with stones: but he, undaunted, with his eyes fixed on heaven, seeing the glory of God and Jesus, says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Vulgate Text: Acts 7:1-60
1. Then said the high priest: Are these things so? 2. And he said: Men, brethren, and fathers, hear: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him: 3. Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4. Then he went out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran. And from thence, after his father was dead, He removed him into this land, wherein you now dwell. 5. And He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not the place of a foot; but He promised to give it to him in possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no son. 6. And God said to him: That his seed should sojourn in a strange country, and that they should bring them under bondage, and treat them evil four hundred years; 7. and the nation which they shall serve will I judge, said the Lord; and after these things they shall go out, and shall serve Me in this place. 8. And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so he begot Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. 9. And the patriarchs, through envy, sold Joseph into Egypt; and God was with him, 10. and delivered him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt; and he appointed him governor over Egypt, and over all his house. 11. Now there came a famine upon all Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation; and our fathers found no sustenance. 12. But when Jacob had heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers first; 13. and at the second time Joseph was known by his brethren, and his kindred was made known to Pharaoh. 14. And Joseph sending, called for his father Jacob, and all his kindred, seventy-five souls. 15. And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, and our fathers. 16. And they were translated into Shechem, and were laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Hemor, the son of Shechem. 17. And when the time of the promise drew near, which God had confessed to Abraham, the people increased and was multiplied in Egypt, 18. till another king arose in Egypt who knew not Joseph. 19. This same dealing craftily with our race, afflicted our fathers, that they should expose their children to the end that they might not be kept alive. 20. At the same time was Moses born, and he was acceptable to God; who was nourished three months in his father's house. 21. And when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and in his deeds. 23. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24. And when he had seen one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that suffered the injury, by killing the Egyptian. 25. And he thought that his brethren understood that God by his hand would save them; but they understood it not. 26. And the day following, he showed himself to them when they were at strife; and he would have reconciled them in peace, saying: Men, you are brethren; why hurt you one another? 27. But he that did the injury to his neighbor thrust him away, saying: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge over us? 28. What, wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday kill the Egyptian? 29. And Moses fled upon this word, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begot two sons. 30. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the desert of mount Sina an angel in a flame of fire in a bush. 31. And Moses, seeing it, wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to consider it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying: 32. I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses, being terrified, durst not behold. 33. And the Lord said to him: Loose the shoes from thy feet; for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground. 34. Seeing I have seen the affliction of My people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, and I will send thee into Egypt. 35. This Moses, whom they refused, saying: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge? — Him God sent to be prince and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36. He brought them out, doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the desert forty years. 37. This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel: A prophet shall God raise up to you of your own brethren, as Myself; Him shall you hear. 38. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on mount Sina, and with our fathers; who received the words of life to give unto us. 39. Whom our fathers would not obey; but thrust him away, and in their hearts turned back into Egypt, 40. saying to Aaron: Make us gods to go before us; for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. 41. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42. And God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the books of the Prophets: Did you offer victims and sacrifices to Me for forty years, in the desert, O house of Israel? 43. And you took unto yourselves the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rempham, figures which you made to adore them. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon. 44. The tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the desert, as God ordained for them, speaking to Moses, that he should make it according to the form which he had seen. 45. Which also our fathers receiving, brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David, 46. who found grace before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47. But Solomon built Him a house. 48. Yet the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands, as the Prophet saith: 49. Heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool. What house will you build Me, saith the Lord? Or what is the place of My resting? 50. Hath not My hand made all these things? 51. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you also. 52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers; 53. who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 54. Now hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him. 55. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. 56. And they crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him. 57. And casting him forth out of the city, they stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul. 58. And they stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 59. And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. And Saul was consenting to his death.
Note: The histories which are for the most part recounted in this chapter by St. Stephen are taken from Genesis and Exodus, where I have explained them: what therefore I have said there I will not repeat here. Furthermore, in many things Stephen seems to contradict Genesis. For seven antilogies of Stephen will occur here, partly resolved in Genesis, partly to be briefly resolved here.
Verse 2: Men, Brethren, and Fathers
2. MEN, BRETHREN, AND FATHERS. — He calls "brethren" those equal in age and contemporary with himself; "fathers," however, the elders, the pontiffs and judges before whom he was pleading his cause in the council. So Lyranus and Hugh.
GOD OF GLORY, — that is, the origin, fount, and cause, that is, the most glorious God, to whom belongs all honor and glory, and that divine and immense; who communicates to angels and to men all the glory which they have. St. Chrysostom notes that St. Stephen says this against the Jews, who supposed the glory of God to be bound to their temple and to their law — as if to say: God before the Law and the Temple was the God of glory, and showed His glory to Abraham and to your fathers, whom He made rich, victorious, happy, glorious: therefore in like manner He can now withdraw His glory from your temple and law, and transfer it to Christ and to the Church. See what I have said concerning the glory and glorification of God in Romans 11:33, and Isaiah 6:3, and Apocalypse 4:8.
HE APPEARED TO OUR FATHER ABRAHAM. — He begins from Abraham, because he was the first father and patriarch of the Jews — that is, of the faithful and of the Synagogue — and the first to receive the explicit promise of Christ to be born from him.
The Jews had accused Stephen of having spoken against their God, Law, Temple, Moses, and the Prophets. Stephen refutes this by speaking honorably of the God of Abraham, calling Him the God of glory; and of Abraham himself, calling him our father; and of the Law, the Temple, Moses, and the Prophets. He shows that it is rather the Jews who gainsay and resist these things, while they persecute Christ — promised by God, Moses, and the Prophets, and prefigured in the Law and in the temple sacrifices — and His disciples. As if to say: "You accuse me as a blasphemer because I prefer Christ to Moses and the Prophets, and assert that He is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world. But Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets believed this same thing, and predicted it. Imitate therefore your father Abraham, the lawgiver Moses, and your Prophets, and believe in Christ now born, just as they believed in Christ to be born; and they predicted and promised Him to you: otherwise it will not be I, but you who will show yourselves degenerate from the faith of Abraham, of Moses, and of the Prophets — opposed and hostile to them." So St. Augustine, Sermon 93 On Diverse Subjects.
IN MESOPOTAMIA. — Here is the first antilogy. For Stephen seems here to contradict Moses in Genesis 12:1 joined with Genesis 11:31, where it is said that Abraham was called and led out from Ur of the Chaldeans.
I answer that S. Stephen here takes "Mesopotamia" in a broad sense, for the whole region beyond the Euphrates; for he opposes it to the land of Canaan promised to the Jews, which extended as far as the Euphrates; for this is set as its boundary by God, Deuteronomy 11:24. Therefore under Mesopotamia he here includes Chaldea. That this is so is clear from v. 4, where he says: "Then he went out of the land of the Chaldeans." Furthermore, how it is said in Genesis 12:4 that Abraham went out from Haran, I have explained in the same place: for it belongs there.
HARAN. — Charan, or Haran, is Charrae, which was a city of the Parthians, situated on the borders of Mesopotamia toward the land of Canaan, near which Marcus Crassus was slain by the Parthians; concerning which Lucan says, in Book I On the Civil War:
"He stained the Assyrian Charrae with Latin blood."
Verse 3: Go Out of Thy Country
3. GO OUT OF THE LAND. — Excellently St. Jerome, who, leaving Stridon and Dalmatia his fatherland, traveled the world for the sake of learning, and at last settled and rested in Bethlehem, in his epistle to Paulinus: "To the believer," he says, "the whole world is the world of riches, and he easily despises all things who always thinks he is about to die." And the Poet:
"Every land is to the brave a fatherland, as the sea is to fishes."
Hence Socrates used to say that he was a cosmopolitan, that is, a citizen of the world. And Plotinus, drawing from Plato, in St. Augustine, Book IX On the City of God, ch. 6: "We must flee," he says, "to the most glorious fatherland; and there is the Father, and there are all things: what fleet then, or what flight? To become like God. If therefore each becomes the more like to God the nearer he draws, there is no distance from Him so great as unlikeness to Him." For from eternity we have been enrolled by Him as fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of God, as it were His sons and heirs, and co-heirs with Christ: heaven therefore is our fatherland, but earth is our exile. And this was the common sentiment of Abraham and of all the Saints, as I have shown at length on Hebrews 11:9.
Verse 4: Then He Removed Him
4. HE REMOVED, — μετοίκισε, that is, He caused to dwell; St. Augustine, Book XVI On the City of God, ch. 16, reads "He placed"; the Syriac, "He changed"; namely, He transferred the house, the seat, and the habitation of Abraham from Haran into Canaan.
IN WHICH YOU NOW DWELL, — not I, because I have left the land and all earthly things with the Apostles, and being near to death I hasten to heaven. So the Gloss.
Verse 5: He Gave Him No Inheritance, Not Even the Place of a Foot
5. AND HE GAVE HIM NO INHERITANCE IN IT, NOT EVEN THE PLACE OF A FOOT. — The Greek βῆμα first signifies a footstep, as the Syriac, Pagninus, and the Tigurine version translate it. Secondly, a pace, as is clear from Plutarch in Demetrius; and a pace is a measure of five feet: for the stretching and parting of one foot from another makes this. As if to say: He gave him not even the smallest measure of land. Here is the second antilogy. For in Genesis 23:9, Abraham bought and possessed in Canaan the double cave for the burial of Sarah and his own. I answer: first, that God did not give it to him, but Abraham acquired it for himself with his own price. So St. Augustine, Question 56 on Genesis. Secondly, he did not possess it as an inheritance, namely as a living man might cultivate it as an estate or inhabit it, but as a burial place in which he might rest when dead. For a sepulchre is not an inheritance, nor a house, nor a field of the living, but rather an underground crypt of the dead. So the Gloss.
WHEN HE HAD NO SON. — This enhances the promise of God and the faith of Abraham. For God promised Canaan to Abraham, that is, to his posterity, although he as yet had no son, and was himself an old man, and his wife Sarah barren; and Abraham believed God who promised, because he believed that God was almighty and able to restore the generative power to the aged and the barren, and to do this here according to His promises — as in fact He did when He gave them the power to beget Isaac, who, with his posterity, would, by God's giving, be the heir of Canaan.
Verse 6: His Seed Shall Sojourn in a Strange Land
6. THAT HIS SEED SHOULD SOJOURN IN A STRANGE LAND. — For "sojourner" the Greek has πάροικος, that is, a stranger, a pilgrim, in a foreign land, not a dweller and citizen in his own, as if to say: Your descendants, O Abraham, will be sojourners in Canaan (as the Septuagint expresses it in Exodus 12:40) and in Egypt, and there the Egyptians will compel them to serve themselves for four hundred years.
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. — Here is the third antilogy. For in Exodus 12:41 and Galatians 3:17 the years are reckoned as 430, and so Rabanus, St. Thomas, Cajetan, and the Gloss think it should be read here. I answer that from the calling of Abraham, which was made in the 75th year of his life, there were 430 years, but here they are reckoned from the birth of Isaac, who was born to Abraham after 25 years, that is, in the 100th year of his life. From thence, indeed, until the Hebrews' going forth from Egyptian slavery, exactly 405 years passed, which are here called four hundred — by a round number and reckoning — leaving out the five which exceed this reckoning. For Scripture often puts whole and round numbers, especially hundreds, even if a few are wanting or in excess. For so we say that we have seen a hundred soldiers, even though two or three are wanting from this number. For the meaning is: I have seen a hundred, that is, about a hundred, more or less a hundred. In a like manner these years are precisely numbered as four hundred below, ch. 13:20, and Genesis 15:13. See what is said there.
Verse 7: I Will Judge
7. I WILL JUDGE, — that is, I will condemn, take vengeance, and punish: so Vatablus. For God killed Pharaoh and the Egyptians, oppressors of the Hebrews, by drowning them in the Red Sea; and the Canaanites He slaughtered in battles through Joshua.
THEY SHALL GO OUT, — from Egypt into Canaan, which I promised them.
Verse 8: He Gave Him the Covenant of Circumcision
8. AND HE GAVE HIM THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. — "Covenant," that is, a treaty or pact: for God willed circumcision to be the condition of the covenant entered into between Himself and Abraham and his descendants, promising that He would be God to Abraham and his descendants, as Provider and Protector, if they were circumcised by His will and law, and in turn worshipped Him, not idols. See what is said on Genesis 17:7 and following.
Verse 9: Through Envy They Sold Joseph
9. THROUGH ENVY, — being envious. So the Tigurine version.
THEY SOLD JOSEPH. — He mentions Joseph, because he was, beyond all others, an express type of Christ sold, captured, and afflicted by the Jews; and this S. Stephen here tacitly insinuates and objects against them.
AND GOD WAS WITH HIM, — leading him out of prison, exalting him to be prince of Egypt, and prospering and seconding all his works, as S. Stephen will soon explain. See Wisdom ch. 10:13 and 14.
Verse 13: At the Second Time
13. AND AT THE SECOND, — namely, at the second coming of Joseph's brethren into Egypt; the Syriac, "at the second time"; the Tigurine and Pagninus, "and when he had sent them again."
SEVENTY-FIVE SOULS. — "Souls," that is, persons, namely, sons and grandsons born from Jacob. For in these consisted his whole kindred, that is, the lineage and posterity of Jacob. It is a synecdoche.
Here is the fourth antilogy. For in Genesis 46:26 only 70 are numbered, and not 75. I answer that there were 70. But the Septuagint, whom S. Stephen follows, numbers 75, because they include also the sons and grandsons of Joseph born in Egypt, as I said on Genesis ch. 46, v. 26.
Verse 16: They Were Translated into Shechem
16. AND THEY WERE TRANSLATED INTO SHECHEM. — "Shechem," or Sichar, was the principal city of Samaria, which afterward was called Mabartha, according to Josephus, Book V On the War, ch. 4, or, as Pliny says, Book V, ch. 13, was named Mamortha; then Flavia Caesarea by Flavius Domitian, who led a colony there; finally it was called Neapolis, and is now called Naplos, in which was born St. Justin the Philosopher and Martyr, an emulator of S. Stephen in defending the faith: whence after his glorious example, he suffered martyrdom for it at about the age of 50, in the year of Christ 168, as the Chronicle of Alexander has it, although Baronius assigns it to the year of Christ 165.
Here is the fifth antilogy. For Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried in Hebron, as is clear from Genesis 25:9 and 50:13. I answer that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried in Hebron, but the twelve Patriarchs, who were sons of Jacob, were buried in Shechem. So St. Jerome, in the Epitaph of St. Paula. Or rather these too were first translated from Egypt and buried in Shechem, and from there in Hebron, as Josephus expressly teaches, Book II Antiquities, ch. 4, where he asserts that all, except Joseph, were buried in Hebron. Josephus — as a knowledgeable and trustworthy historian of his own nation — is followed by the Master in the Historia Scholastica, by Dionysius, and by Gagneius; and Stephen indicates this very thing here, when he adds, "And they were laid in the sepulchre which Abraham bought," namely in Hebron, as is clear from Genesis 23, not in Shechem.
AND THEY WERE LAID IN THE SEPULCHRE WHICH ABRAHAM BOUGHT FOR A SUM OF MONEY FROM THE SONS OF HEMOR, THE SON OF SICHEM. — This is the sixth contradiction, and it is the most intricate and difficult one: for Abraham bought the sepulchre from Ephron, son of Seor (Gen. XXIII, 16), not from the sons of Hemor, son of Sichem. For from them Jacob, not Abraham, bought a portion of the field at Sichem (Gen. ch. XXXIII, v. 19).
First, Bede, Rabanus, and from them Melchior Cano (at the end of book II of De Locis Theologicis) reply that St. Stephen, being wholly intent upon another matter — namely his own cause concerning Christ — slipped here in memory, and named Abraham instead of Jacob: for he confused two purchases and combined them into one, namely the earlier purchase of Abraham (Gen. XXIII, 16), and the other of Jacob (Gen. XXXIII, 19). But who would believe this of St. Stephen, who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit — indeed, in whom the Holy Spirit Himself was speaking — especially when he here publicly preached before the most learned Rabbis, his adversaries, treating the controversy concerning Christ as well as the cause of his religion, faith, life, and death? For he was already a candidate for martyrdom and Heaven, and he saw the glory of God. Less improbable is the view of others, that the name Abraham crept in here in place of Jacob, just as many learned men suppose the name of Jeremiah crept into Matt. XXVII, 9. For if you put Jacob in place of Abraham, or repeat the name Jacob from the point shortly preceding it, the entire sentence flows plainly and raises no scruple. So Eugubinus and Lipomanus in the Catena, Gen. XXXIII; and Andreas Masius on the last chapter of Joshua, v. 32. But all the Greek, Latin, and Syriac copies consistently read Abraham, not Jacob; nor does any of the ancients read Jacob in place of Abraham, nor is there anything compelling such a reading; for there are other ways of reconciling these passages, more probable and expeditious.
Hence, secondly, Vatablus, Sanchez and others reply that Abraham is taken patronymically, so that it means the same as Abrahamides — that is, the son of Abraham, namely Jacob: as if to say, Abraham, who was the first and most famous ancestor of the Israelites and was appointed by God as heir of the promised land, bought this field for his descendants — not through himself, but through his grandson Jacob (Gen. XXXIII). So Christ is called Israel, that is Israelites, or son of Israel, in Isaiah ch. XLIX, v. 3: "Thou art my servant, O Israel." He is likewise called David, that is Davidides or son of David, in Ezekiel ch. XXXIV, v. 23: "I will raise up over them My servant David. And I will be their God, and my servant shall be a prince in the midst of them." He is also called Solomon, in the title of Psalm LXXI, that is Solomonides. So a Trojan is called Tros, after Tros the father, Aeneid VI:
"Tros, son of Anchises, easy is the descent into Avernus."
And in book I:
"A Trojan or a Tyrian shall be dealt with by me with no distinction."
Likewise he is called Dardanus, that is Dardanides — that is, the offspring of Dardanus, Aeneid IV:
"Let the cruel Dardanus drink in this fire with his eyes from on high."
So the Trojans are called Teucrians, from Teucer their progenitor; the Greeks are called Danaans, from Danaus, king of the Argives. So the Romans are called the Romulan race, from Romulus, by Horace in book IV of the Odes. But these expressions are suited to Poets and Prophets, not to Historians, such as St. Stephen is here.
Thirdly, Cajetan and others judge it to be a hyperbaton; for the words are to be arranged thus: "And our fathers, the sons of Jacob, were carried over by the sons of Sichem, and were laid by the sons of Sichem, the son of Hemor, in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a price in money at Hebron." And he gives as the reason, that the Shechemites, mindful of the slaughter inflicted on them by Simeon and Levi, sons of Jacob, did not allow their bodies to remain among them at Sichem, and therefore transferred them to Hebron. But this seems fictitious: for they would rather have cast them out unburied; and that hyperbaton appears harsh and contorted. Add to this, that Cajetan alters the order of the genealogy. For he says, "from the sons of Sichem, the son of Hemor," whereas the text on the contrary has, "from the sons of Hemor, the son of Sichem."
Fourthly, Gagneius answers that the same field at Sichem was earlier bought by Abraham — though this is not narrated in Genesis — and being alienated, was bought again by Jacob 417 years later, when he returned from Mesopotamia into Canaan. But this too is asserted without foundation.
Fifthly — and most probably — St. Gregory, book VII, ep. 55, Lyranus, Lorinus and others here, and at length Pererius on Gen. XXIII, num. 46 and following, hold that the discourse here is about the purchase of the cave made by Abraham (Gen. XXIII), not about the purchase of the field made by Jacob (Gen. XXXIII, 19). This is proved first because all the codices clearly have "Abraham," not "Jacob." Secondly, because St. Stephen is speaking of the purchase of a sepulchre; and this Abraham bought for his deceased wife Sarah, not Jacob: for Jacob bought a field for an altar, not for a sepulchre. Thirdly, because St. Stephen says this sepulchre was bought for a sum of money — namely four hundred shekels of silver — concerning which Ephron the seller of the sepulchre says to Abraham the buyer, "this is the price between me and thee" (Gen. XXIII, 15). But Jacob did not buy the field with money, but with a hundred lambs, as is said in Gen. XXXIII. Finally, Hemor of Jacob is said to have been the father of Sichem; but this Hemor of Abraham is said to have been the son of Sichem. So he was different from him, even if he had the same name. But to this it could be answered that Hemor's father, like his son, was called Sichem: hence in Greek it is τοῦ Συχέμ, which signifies both the father and the son Sichem.
You will say: Abraham bought the sepulchre from Ephron, son of Seor, not from the sons of Hemor, son of Sichem. I answer that Ephron's father had two names: for he was called Seor, and he was also called Hemor. For many of the Hebrews bore two names, as is clear if you compare the names listed at the beginning of book I of Paralipomenon (Chronicles) with those given in Genesis. Moreover Hemor was the son of Sichem — not of the one from whose sons Jacob bought the field, but of one far more ancient. Now Hemor had many sons, among whom the eldest and firstborn seems to have been Ephron, who in the name of his other brothers sold the sepulchre to Abraham.
You will say secondly, how is it true what Stephen says: Jacob and our fathers were carried over to Sichem, and laid in the sepulchre of Abraham? For this was in Hebron, not in Sichem: nor was Jacob transferred from Egypt to Sichem, but to Hebron (Gen. L, 13).
I answered a little before in two ways: First, that Jacob with Isaac and Abraham was buried in Hebron, but the sons of Jacob in Sichem. It is a synecdoche: for these things must be explained partially, since St. Stephen speaks concisely and crowds and condenses many things into few words. So when he says "our Fathers," he means not only Jacob's sons, but also the patriarchs, namely Abraham and Isaac, whom he named in v. 8 where he described their genealogy — not their death or burial. Therefore he here notes both deaths in general, saying they died and were laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought, namely near Hebron. Secondly, the twelve sons of Jacob were first transferred to Sichem, and afterwards to Hebron, as I have asserted from Josephus and others. Nor does St. Jerome deny this in the Epitaph of St. Paula. For he only says there that the sepulchres of the twelve Patriarchs were still in his own time customarily shown at Sichem: because they were first buried there, hence their sepulchres remained there and were religiously kept and frequented by their descendants — even though they themselves were afterwards transferred from Sichem to Hebron, as St. Stephen seems to assert here.
Pererius answers somewhat differently, namely, that when St. Stephen names Jacob and our fathers, he means only Jacob's sons, not the patriarchs: that the sons were buried in Sichem, but Jacob in Hebron — so that there is an enallage of number, "laid" (plural) for "laid" (singular); just as the disciples are said in Matthew ch. XXVI, v. 8 to have murmured against the Magdalene who poured ointment on Christ's head, when Judas alone murmured, as John says in ch. XII, v. 4. But this enallage is here rather harsh, for it is preceded by: "And they were carried over to Sichem," which all agree must be taken in the plural. Therefore what is joined to it, namely "And they were laid in the sepulchre which Abraham bought," seems also to be taken in the plural as it sounds, and not in the singular of Jacob alone.
Verse 17: Which He Had Confessed
17. WHICH HE HAD CONFESSED — that is, professed, as some codices read; that is, He had promised with an oath. The Syriac: which He had promised with an oath. For the Greek now has ὤμοσεν, that is, He had sworn. So the Tigurine. Perhaps our translator read ὡμολόγησεν, that is, He had confessed, professed.
Verse 18: He Did Not Know
18. HE DID NOT KNOW — he was ignorant how great the benefits were which Joseph had conferred upon the Hebrews in Egypt, and therefore being averse to the Hebrews he afflicted them.
Verse 19: This Man Circumventing Our Race
19. THIS MAN CIRCUMVENTING OUR RACE — κατασοφισάμενος, that is, ensnaring with sophistries, capturing with crafty arts as with nets; the Syriac: framing deceits. Exodus I, 10, the Hebrew is נִתְחַכְּמָה (nithchakkemah), that is, let us be wiser than he: which Our translator clearly renders, let us oppress him with wisdom — that is, cunningly. For the Egyptians did not dare, nor were they able, to oppress the Hebrews openly, since they had no cause for it. These deceits and frauds of Pharaoh are narrated in Exodus I, namely: first, that he afflicted them with tributes and brick-making labors; secondly, that he ordered the midwives to secretly kill their male infants at birth; thirdly, that he commanded those already born to be cast into the river.
THAT THEY SHOULD EXPOSE THEIR INFANTS. — As if to say, Pharaoh forced our fathers to expose their infants, while through his ministers he so searched the houses of the Hebrews to seize and drown their infants, that the Hebrews could not hide them at home, but were forced to expose them in fields or on river banks, as Moses was exposed by his mother (Ex. II, 3). The Syriac gives another sense, rendering the Greek αὐτῶν as "of them," not "their own," as Our translator does. For thus it has: "He commanded that their sons should be cast away that they might not live," as if to say: Pharaoh commanded his Egyptians to cast the sons of the Hebrews into the river and there drown and kill them. Both versions are suitable and true. For Pharaoh did both, and the Greek ἔκθετα signifies both exposed and ejected and cast forth — namely into the river.
LEST THEY SHOULD BE KEPT ALIVE. — He refers this to Pharaoh, not to the fathers of the infants, as if to say: Pharaoh forced Our fathers to expose their infants, lest they should be kept alive — that is, preserved alive — but being exposed, they should either die of hunger, or be devoured by wolves and wild beasts, or being found by his ministers be drowned. The Greek is εἰς τὸ μὴ ζωογονεῖσθαι, that is, lest they should be brought to life, lest they should be born or produced alive: because before they were born, they had been condemned by him to death, and were to be killed shortly after birth.
Verse 20: Moses Was Pleasing to God
20. MOSES WAS PLEASING TO GOD. — The Greek ἀστεῖος means elegant, as Our translator renders it (Ex. II, 2), urbane, festive: but since τῷ Θεῷ is added, here it is the same as χαρίεις or εὐχάριστος, that is gracious, pleasing, dear to God; as if to say, Moses as an infant was so elegant, comely and gracious, that he attracted both God and men to love him: for the elegance of body bestowed on Moses by God beyond the ordinary was the effect and indication of the elegance which was given and to be given to his soul by the same. Hence the Syriac renders: he was beloved of God. So also St. Chrysostom and Œcumenius, though the latter secondarily renders ἀστεῖος as "irreprehensible." Thirdly, a more recent author interprets thus: "Moses was elegant to God, that is, remarkably elegant, exceedingly beautiful": for the things that are beautiful to God must needs be exceptional. So in Scripture there are called "cedars of God, mountains of God," that is, the highest cedars and mountains. Hence God, loving Moses, marvelously preserved him from drowning and death in life, and heaped upon him His gifts and graces, and finally made him leader of His people, who by plagues and admirable wonders should bring Israel out of Egypt. Cajetan otherwise, as if to say: "Moses was accepted by God not from his own merits, but from God's goodness, as eternally predestined and pre-ordained by Him to perform very many good works." Stephen here shows that he is not the enemy of Moses, as the Jews objected, but his friend and encomiast.
Allegorically, Moses the elegant was a type of Christ, who was "beautiful in form above the sons of men" (Ps. XLIV, 3), because He had a most perfect body, formed and organized by the Holy Spirit, that it might be an index of His most elegant and most beautiful soul. For the Divinity shone forth like the sun through the humanity of Christ, and breathed its own beauty into it. See Abulensis, Paradox I, and Nicephorus, book I of his History, last chapter, where he describes the form and figure of Christ. Truly the author of the Panegyric to Constantine says: "Nature itself measures out worthy dwellings of bodies for great minds." And St. Ambrose, book II On Virgins: "The appearance of the body is a likeness of the mind and a figure of its probity." Maximus of Tyre gives a similar comparison in serm. 10: "As the sun before it rises sends forth its splendor, which lights up the tops of the mountains with the hope of a richer light, so to a shining soul there shines forth on the surface of the body a beauty bringing hope of one far better." This is plain in Solomon (Wisd. VII, 11); in David (I Sam. XVI, 12); in Joseph (Gen. XXXIX, 6); in Judith (X, 4). Furthermore Pliny's splendid lie (book XXX, ch. 1) — that Moses was a great companion of Jannes (who was Pharaoh's magician, contending against Moses), nay, that he was the founder of magical practice among the Jews — is to be rejected. So also other Gentile historians narrate marvelous fables and calumnies about Moses and the Jews, as being hateful to themselves.
The remaining things which Stephen here recounts about Moses I have explained on Exod. II and following.
Verse 25: But He Supposed
25. BUT HE SUPPOSED. — Stephen tacitly censures the Jews and his judges, as if to say: Your fathers in the figure did not know nor receive Moses, the Savior sent to them by God: so neither do you wish to acknowledge or receive Christ, foreshadowed by Moses and preached by me; and he signifies and inculcates this more clearly in v. 35: "This Moses whom they denied," etc.
Verse 29: At This Word
29. AT THIS WORD, — at that word, because he saw his slaying had been made public, which he had thought to be concealed.
Verse 34: I Have Come Down
34. I HAVE COME DOWN. — "The descent of God," says St. Augustine, book XVI On the City of God, ch. V, "signifies that something happens on earth beyond the usual course of nature." So God is said to descend, not as though He transferred Himself from a higher place to a lower — since He is everywhere — but ἀνθρωποπαθῶς (in human terms), when He works some signal thing on earth, especially concerning the punishment of the impious or the protection of the pious, as here He came down to free the Hebrews from Pharaoh's tyranny, and to destroy Pharaoh with his men. Thus God is said to have come down to the building and builders of the tower of Babel, when He disturbed the work by the confusion of tongues (Gen. XI, 5). So He came down upon Sodom, and immediately followed the conflagration of the city and of the Pentapolis (Gen. XVIII, 21). So He came down upon Mount Sinai when He gave the law to Moses and the Hebrews on it (Ex. XIX, 20).
Verse 35: Whom They Denied
35. WHOM THEY DENIED, — just as you deny Christ, the antitype of Moses; but as God appointed Moses, against their will, "prince and redeemer" — in Greek λυτρωτήν, that is, liberator, namely of His people from Egyptian servitude — so also He now appoints Christ, against your will, as prince and redeemer of the world.
WITH THE HAND OF AN ANGEL, — that is, by the hand, namely by the help, work, and ministry, or guidance, of an angel: for "hand" signifies both power and the mediate executing cause. For the hand is the minister of all arts and works, as Cicero says.
Verse 37: God Will Raise Up a Prophet
37. THIS IS MOSES WHO SAID TO THE SONS OF ISRAEL: GOD WILL RAISE UP A PROPHET TO YOU, — namely Christ, the prince of the Prophets. Behold, this is the aim of what St. Stephen said about Moses — namely to show that Moses prophesied about Christ, and therefore that he himself does not oppose Moses, but rather agrees with him in preaching Christ: that the Jews, opposing Christ, are also opposing Moses, the herald of Christ.
Verse 38: He Who Was in the Church
38. THIS IS HE WHO WAS IN THE CHURCH, — namely in the assembly and congregation of the faithful people, over which he himself presided.
WORDS OF LIFE, — the Decalogue and the other laws of God, by the observance of which we enter into the blessed and eternal life in heaven.
Verse 39: They Turned Back in Their Hearts
39. THEY TURNED AWAY IN THEIR HEARTS TO EGYPT, — namely wishing to return. Vatablus differently, as if to say: They burned with desire of Egypt: it is a Hebraism.
Verse 41: And They Made a Calf
41. AND THEY MADE A CALF. — Rightly: for this is the meaning of the Hebrew reading; but the Syriac, reading the verb in another form, renders it in the singular: "and he made a calf," namely Aaron. That Aaron did this, not the Egyptian magi, as Lippomanus would have it, is clear from Ex. XXXII, 2 and 3. It is therefore certain that Aaron sinned gravely here, because he ought rather to have exposed himself to death, than fashion an idol for the raging people. So Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis II. However, the fear of death, and the "fury" of the people which compelled him to fashion the calf, made this sin of his less grave: for compulsion and fear diminish the voluntariness which is required for guilt and sin. And only this much do St. Ambrose (ep. 32), Theodoret, Lyranus, Abulensis, Hugo and others wish to maintain on Ex. XXXII, when they try to excuse Aaron. Note that God permitted two High Priests — one of the Old, the other of the New Testament — to fall in so grave a matter, namely idolatry and the denial of Christ, namely St. Peter and Aaron, in order to teach them and posterity to have compassion for the falls of their subordinates.
AND THEY REJOICED IN THE WORKS OF THEIR HANDS, — namely in the idol — that is, in the calf which they had fashioned — performing dances and choirs around it as though it were God, singing, feasting, and so forth.
Verse 42: But God Turned
42. BUT GOD TURNED. — ἔστρεψε, which Vatablus renders "God turned Himself away from them"; Pagninus, "He turned Himself"; others, "He withdrew Himself from them." Our translator better renders it actively, "He turned": for στρέφω is the same as bend, turn, incline; as if to say: God, seeing the Jews continually rebellious to Him, turned them and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven — that is, to adore the sun, moon and stars. He turned, I say, and delivered them up — not by positively impelling them, but permissively and occasionally, namely by deserting them with His help and grace, and by setting occasions before them, and that as a punishment for their rebellion and their preceding sins: namely by enriching and prospering all the neighboring nations who worshiped idols and the stars, which thereby provoked the Jews to the worship of idols by the hope of similar prosperity and abundance of things. I have explained this manner more fully in chapters 36 and 37 on the Major Prophets.
IN THE BOOK OF THE PROPHETS. — Amos, ch. 5, v. 22, whose words Stephen here recites I have explained in that very place: here therefore I shall not repeat them, nor do over again what is already done.
Verse 43: Moloch and Rephan
43. MOLOCH. — Meloch, Melech, or Melchom, that is, "their king," is Saturn, or Jupiter, or the sun, which stands out and shines forth in the host of heaven as king. Rephan is Lucifer, or the star of Venus: for the Saracens and Turks still worship this star under the name Cubar; whence as they adore they exclaim: Alla ova Cubar, that is, "God and Venus," which thing the Emperor Constantine [Porphyrogenitus] mentions in his book On the Administration of the Empire, addressed to his son Romanus, ch. XIV. See what is said on Amos ch. V, v. 25.
Verse 44: The Tabernacle of the Testimony
44. THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY, — that is, of the covenant; it is called "of the testimony" because it contained the ark, in which was the law, or the tablets of the law, which is called "the testimony," because it testified to the Jews the will of God — namely what He commanded of them, and what God required of them. For the construction of the tabernacle, see Ex. ch. XXVI, v. 1.
THAT HE SHOULD MAKE IT ACCORDING TO THE FORM WHICH HE HAD SEEN. — God showed Moses the idea of the tabernacle on Sinai, that he should make it according to it. For this is what He says to him: "Look and make it according to the pattern that was shown thee on the mount," Ex. ch. XXV, v. 40.
Verse 45: Which Our Fathers Also Brought In
45. WHICH OUR FATHERS ALSO BROUGHT IN. — As if to say: Our fathers, with Jesus — that is, Joshua — as their leader, brought in the tabernacle with the ark into Canaan, which was the possession of the Gentiles, that is, of the Canaanites whom Joshua expelled from it. For the ark went before the camp, and God, residing as it were in the ark and fighting for the Hebrews, smote the Canaanites (Josh. III, 14).
EVEN UNTO THE DAYS OF DAVID, — that is, as the Greek and Syriac have it, "until the days of David," as if to say: The tabernacle of Moses lasted until the times of David: for David, through Solomon, in place of the small and movable Tabernacle, built a stable and majestic temple. So Lyranus, the Gloss, and others. Hence by way of explanation he adds:
Verse 46: Who Found Favor Before God
46. WHO FOUND FAVOR BEFORE GOD (namely, pleasing, beloved, and chosen as king out of all Israel by God), AND ASKED THAT HE MIGHT FIND A TABERNACLE FOR THE GOD OF JACOB, — when of course "he swore to the Lord, and vowed a vow to the God of Jacob: If I shall enter (that is, I will not enter) into the tabernacle of my house, etc., until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob" — that is, a place where I may erect a temple for God (in which I may enclose the tabernacle of Moses); Ps. CXXXI, v. 2ff. David seems to have vowed this in the plague with which God struck the people through an angel because of the census taken of them by David, II Sam. XXIV, 1. Then therefore, in order to placate God who was offended both with him and with the people, he vowed not to enter his own house until God should reveal to him the place he was seeking — namely the place in which he should build Him a temple for solemn and perpetual worship, supplications, and sacrifices. Whence God then through Gad the prophet revealed to him that He wished to be worshiped on Mount Moriah, over which he had seen the angel brandishing a sword against the people. Wherefore David straightway offered a sacrifice there to God, and bought the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite and procured all the other things suitable for building the temple on it. So the Hebrews relate.
TO THE GOD OF JACOB. — Whom Jacob worshiped, who was called by another name Israel, and all his descendants, namely the Israelites: and who in turn continually showed Himself to Jacob and the Israelites as God — that is, as Father, protector, and outstanding benefactor — whereas many of the descendants of Abraham (namely the Ishmaelites) and of Isaac (namely the Edomites) did not worship God, and were not in turn regarded by Him as His people. For the Church of God, that is, the faithful people, was solely the house of Jacob — that is, the people of Israel.
Verse 47: A House
47. A HOUSE, — a temple. For this is the house of God among men.
Verse 48: The Most High Does Not Dwell in Things Made by Hands
48. BUT THE MOST HIGH DOES NOT DWELL IN THINGS MADE BY HANDS. — As if to say: God properly does not need, nor does He dwell in, houses — that is, temples built and made by the hand of craftsmen; for He Himself is עליון Elion, that is, Excelsus and Most High, who transcends not only the earth but all the heavens by His majesty and glory, as well as by position and immensity; and therefore He is everywhere, and everywhere is to be worshiped with latria. Stephen censures the Jews, who thought God delighted in their temple and was as it were affixed to it, and hence thought themselves invincible: for God would never permit His own house to be captured and possessed by the Chaldeans. Hence to Jeremiah, who in chapter VII foretold the destruction of the temple, they cried out: "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord!" Therefore Stephen says: Do not grow insolent over your temple and its Jewish rites, as though they were going to last forever; nor despise Christ and the Church as though it still lacked a temple. For in His own time it shall have not just one, like you, but very many and most august temples throughout the whole world. For God properly does not dwell in a temple, as you think, but formally dwells in Himself and in His divinity and immensity; while participatively and effectively, by His operation, He dwells in the whole world — especially in the minds of the faithful and the saints, such as Christians now have, not Jews.
AS THE PROPHET SAYS. — Isaiah, ch. LXVI, where I have explained these words of his.
Verse 49: What Is the Place of My Rest
49. WHAT IS THE PLACE OF MY REST? — As if to say: I dwell and rest in Myself, just as before I created the world I dwelt and rested in Myself through the eternal ages: therefore no house or temple can be built for Me by you, O Jews, except only that I may be worshiped by you in it, that I may hear you, that I may be present to you and benefit you — for you, I say, not for Myself.
Verse 51: Stiff-necked and Uncircumcised
51. STIFF-NECKED, — that you may bend it together with your mind to God and to His Christ; as if to say: You are hard, stiff-necked, inflexible, and obstinate in resisting Christ and the Gospel.
You will ask, why Stephen, until now gentle and meek, suddenly becomes sharp and thunders against the Jews? First, Œcumenius answers: because he saw that they were not turning their minds to what was being said, but persisting in their stubbornness and perfidy in persecuting Christ and Christians, and in killing Stephen himself. So he sharply rebukes the hard, according to the Apostle's precept to Tit. I, 13. Perhaps too, looking at them, he saw them more averted from him, and saw their hatred and rages more inflamed in face and gesture, because he had repeatedly censured their fathers as rebels against Moses, and said that God did not need nor dwell in the Jerusalem temple. Rightly therefore he rebukes and smites their hardness, dealing with them as with desperate men.
Secondly, in order to show his zeal for Christ and for Christ's faith, by attacking the Jews' unbelief and perfidy. Whence St. Augustine, serm. 1 On the Saints, teaches that St. Stephen here signifies that he hates with a perfect hatred not the Jews, but the obstinacy of the Jews.
Thirdly, in order to declare the liberty and fortitude of the Evangelical, indeed the Apostolic, spirit.
Fourthly, because he was eagerly seeking and panting after martyrdom, which he saw outwardly being prepared for him by the Jews, and inwardly felt himself being driven and incited toward it by God.
Tropologically, St. Fulgentius, in his sermon On St. Stephen, teaches that St. Stephen here gives a model to preachers and Prelates, that they should sharply attack the vices of their subjects, and yet intercede before God for them — for this is perfect charity: "So that," he says, "for that reason, in the prayer which he afterwards poured forth for them, his gentleness deserved to be heard, because there was no severity in his correction without charity; and he taught the Ecclesiastical dispenser, that for the correcting of the error of any sin, rebuke must not be lacking in the mouth, and supplicating prayer must be poured out to God for him; so that he who has done evil might be confounded by the rebuke of his evil works, and helped before God by prayer." Equally sharp is the rebuke in Isa. I and X; Jer. XXII and XXIII, and the rebukes of Ezekiel and the other Prophets, not only of the people, but also of the princes and kings of Judah. Similar was the freedom, fortitude, zeal, and rebuke of the Maccabees against Antiochus, II Macc. VII, of St. Laurence against Valerian, of St. Vincent against Dacian, of St. Sebastian against Diocletian, and of the other Martyrs against tyrants. Beautifully St. Augustine, serm. 1 On the Saints: "Come, O St. Stephen, say something to the Jews, that you may begin to be stoned and may be crowned; hurl words, and receive stones. Say something about uncircumcised hearts, and you shall die by stones."
AND UNCIRCUMCISED IN HEARTS AND EARS. — As if to say: You are rebellious and obstinate, who have your heart and ears overlaid with a film of unbelief, so that you cannot believe, because you do not wish to circumcise and remove it. Hence the Emperor Constantine ordered the ears of the rebellious Jews to be cut off, as St. Chrysostom relates, hom. 2 Against the Jews. As a symbol of this matter, St. Peter cut off the right ear of Malchus, who was being more insolent against Christ than the others, in order to represent that the Jews would lose their right ear, by which they should grasp the spiritual and heavenly doctrines of Christ, and would perceive the commands of God and Moses only with the left ear — by which, namely, they care only for temporal things, as St. Ambrose says on Luke ch. XXII, until Christ at the end of the world through Elijah shall restore to them the right ear, that all Israel may now be saved.
Verse 52: Of Whom You Have Now Been Betrayers and Murderers
52. OF THE JUST ONE, — of Christ. For He is here called "the Just One" by antonomasia, because He is so eminently just that He justifies all who believe in Him. Whence by Daniel, ch. IX, v. 24, He is called "the Holy of Holies and everlasting righteousness." See Isa. XLV, 8, and Jer. ch. XXIII and following.
OF WHOM YOU HAVE NOW BEEN BETRAYERS AND MURDERERS. — Because through Judas you betrayed Him, and consented to his betrayal — indeed, bought it with money. Again you betrayed Him to Pilate, demanding that He be killed and crucified.
Verse 53: By the Disposition of Angels
53. BY THE DISPOSITION OF ANGELS. — The Greek διαταγή signifies disposition, ordination, precept: for διατάττω signifies to place, to dispose, to arrange in order, to ordain, to command. Hence the Syriac, the Tigurine, and Vatablus render it: "through the precepts and commands of Angels." For an Angel, as it were as God's legate, proclaiming the law from Sinai, ordered it and all its precepts to be observed. But Our translator better renders it "by the disposition of Angels," that is: first, by the ministry of Angels; secondly, properly "in disposition," because the Angels, disposing the law in right order, delivered it to Moses. For first, in Ex. XX, they delivered the natural law, namely the Decalogue; then in ch. XXI, v. 22, they delivered the judicial laws; finally, in ch. XXV ff., they delivered the ceremonial laws. Again, the Angels so disposed the Mosaic law that it was a mean between the law of nature — being more perfect than it — and the law of the Gospel — directing and leading itself and its followers toward it as more perfect.
Thirdly, this disposition embraces all the dispositions (for the Greek is διαταγάς in the plural) and prodigies which — as a sort of pomp — either preceded, accompanied, or followed the law: namely, that the Angels commanded the people to prepare themselves to receive the law through purification and sanctification, that is, by washing of garments and abstinence from their wives; and they commanded Moses to ascend Mount Sinai; that the Angels, about to give the law, came down on Sinai with fire, smoke, and earthquake; that they proclaimed the Decalogue from Sinai with the trumpet's voice — etc., as is narrated in Ex. XIX. For this pomp, most excellently arranged, is here called "disposition": for through it the dignity, terror, power, and magnificence of the law and of the lawgiver were signified to the rude people, that they might religiously observe it, and not dare to violate it.
Fourthly, the disposition signifies the distribution of laws into three classes, which fully and perfectly disposed, formed, and composed the life and morals of the Hebrews on every side. For the first class was that of the Decalogue and the natural law, which rightly composed them in themselves, so that their acts — both internal and external — would be conformed to right reason and the eternal law. The second was that of the ceremonial laws, by which they would worship God duly and holily, and render Him due honor. The third was that of the judicial laws, by which they were disposed to conduct themselves rightly toward their neighbors, and to render to them their rights and debts.
Mystically and anagogically, this disposition signified that those who would observe the law were thereby disposing themselves to the life and state of the Angels, so that among the heavenly Angels they might live angelically as it were earthly Angels and serve God; and after this life they should be disposed and arranged among their orders and hierarchies according to their merits and be referred to those orders. So Œcumenius: "He calls them," he says, "betrayers and slayers of Christ, because they were partakers of those who crucified Him, and that even though they had received a law containing ordinances which would make those who fulfilled it in deed observe a polity like that of the Angels."
OF THE ANGELS. — St. Chrysostom, Ambrosiaster, Euthymius, Theophylactus, St. Thomas, and others commenting on Gal. III, 19, take by "angels" the messengers of God, namely Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. But more simply they themselves, and others everywhere, take it as true angels. The same is taught by St. Paul, Gal. III, 19, and Heb. II, 2. For the Angels are ministering spirits sent by God for service, as the Apostle says, Heb. I. Moreover he says "angels" in the plural, because, though there was one primary angel — for example St. Michael, who in the name of God proclaimed the Decalogue on Sinai — yet for the sake of honor he had many other lesser angels as companions, who, the work being divided among themselves, brought about the fire, the smoke, the earthquake, the thunders, and the other prodigies.
Furthermore, St. Stephen calls the old law the law "of the Angels," not of Moses: First, in order to show how greatly he esteems it, and to refute the calumny of the Jews who accused him as a despiser and enemy of the Mosaic law. Secondly, in order to censure the ingratitude and disobedience of the Jews, who did not keep the angelic law — given as it was by God through angels — nor receive Christ, foreshadowed and predicted in the law. So he turns back upon themselves the blasphemy of contempt of the law which his adversaries had charged against him.
Tropologically: more truly might one censure Christians, who do not observe the Evangelical law, which was given not through angels but through the very Son of God Himself, who was incarnated for that very purpose; and who therefore will themselves pay grave penalties, as the Apostle threatens, Heb. II, 2, and XII, 25.
Verse 54: They Were Cut to the Heart
54. THEY WERE CUT TO THE HEART, — διεπρίοντο, that is, they were sawn through, namely with the saw of anger, anguish, and indignation. See what is said on ch. V, 33. St. Chrysostom notes that the cause of the Jews' anguish was that they wished to kill Stephen, and yet could not find a just cause for it. For Stephen had praised the law, but had accused them as violators of the law: so they rage and gnash and grind their teeth at him, because he had spoken the truth and sharply censured them, and yet they were not able to seize hold of any honorable title to take vengeance on him. For though they could calumniate him as a slanderer of their own, and cast him out, or scourge him, yet they could not kill him, which is what they wanted.
Beautifully St. Augustine, serm. 6 On the Saints: "Over the martyr Stephen," he says, "they gnashed with serpentine teeth — they whom he held in his heart as a serpent."
Verse 55: Full of the Holy Spirit, He Saw the Glory of God
55. BUT WHEN HE WAS FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (the Syriac: full of faith and of the Spirit of holiness), GAZING INTO HEAVEN. — A new fullness is here signified, namely a new infusion and impulse of the Holy Spirit strengthening Stephen against the fury of the Jews, that he might bear it constantly and even desire it, and that he might exult in it, with great love and longing for Christ.
Morally: Peter Damian, serm. On S. Stephen, notes that the Holy Spirit teaches us to direct the eyes toward heaven: "Because," he says, "whoever is breathed upon by the Spirit of divinity, having trampled earthly things, longs for the heavenly and eternal": for where the eye is, there also is the heart and love. On the contrary, worldly men gaze upon the earth, because they cling to earthly things: he who is of the earth speaks of the earth. Again, the godly in their tribulations look up to heaven and say with David: "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence cometh help to me," Psal. cxx, 4. Worldly men look to human aids and seek them out: and therefore by God's just judgment they do not find them. See what was said at chap. I, vers. 9 and 11. The cause of fortitude is intention toward heaven. Whence Plato, in the Cratylus: "ἀνδρεία," he says, "that is, fortitude, is so called as if ἄνω ῥοή, i.e., an upward flow: because it belongs to fortitude to resist opposing evils and to be borne upward." He who does this is ἀνήρ, that is, a man, and ἄρρην, that is, male, not female. Whence the same author in the Apology of Socrates introduces him, when unjustly condemned to death because he denied many gods and asserted there was only one, consoling himself thus and dying with cheerful mind, saying: "Nothing evil can ever happen to a good man, neither alive nor dead; nor are his affairs ever neglected by the gods. Nor truly have these things of mine come about by chance, but this is certain and clear to me — that for me both to die and to be freed from troubles is better and more profitable. There I shall converse with Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod, Homer, with Minos, Rhadamanthus, with Ajax and others unjustly condemned, as I am being unjustly condemned."
HE SAW THE GLORY OF GOD. — First, some judge that Stephen saw the essence of God. So some in Lyra. Gregory of Nyssa favors this, orat. On S. Stephen, when he says "that he saw the very light in the light of God, with full comprehension of mind, and God and the Trinity." And Hilary of Arles, hom. On S. Stephen, asserts that he had already then received his reward, and saw God; and that what was hoped for in desires was shown to his eyes, and his hope was perfected in reality, his spirit still warring within the flesh. And S. Augustine, serm. 96, affirms "that he saw with face revealed the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." And serm. 99: "That he saw God, and the Trinity itself and divinity." But at Exod. xxxiii, 11, and II Cor. xii, I have shown that neither Moses nor Paul in his rapture, nor any other in this life saw the essence of God. Second, others judge that Stephen saw God and God's glory, not in Himself, but in some image — namely in a phantasm formed by God in his imagination, in the way that Isaiah, chap. VI, saw the Deity and the Trinity through a certain bodily figure, as I have said in that place. Whence Bede, Retract. on Acts, says that Stephen, while still in this life, when he was divinely uplifted, beheld the joys of the future life in the same manner as Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven.
Third, Dionysius the Carthusian judges that this vision of Stephen was not imaginary, but purely intellectual in the apex of the mind, such as is wont to be that of contemplatives and ecstatics, through a certain most splendid irradiation of the uncreated eternal light.
Fourth and more simply, Cajetan and others judge that Stephen saw the glory of God — that is, a certain bodily clarity, exceptional and majestic, such that he might bear witness to and openly display God's presence: for this Stephen saw with his bodily eyes when he raised them to heaven; and with the same eyes he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the power of God. For there is no quality which represents to us the Majesty and glory of God more than light, clarity and unusual brilliance. And thus Moses and the Hebrews are often said to have seen the glory of God, because they saw a certain heavenly light and splendor that represented God's Majesty. So in Exod. xxiv, 17 it is said: "Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a burning fire." Similar passages are found in Num. xiv, 10; and III Kings viii, 10, and elsewhere. And so the Apostles at the Transfiguration saw the glory of Christ, because His face shone like the sun, Matth. xvii.
Furthermore, when the bodily eyes of S. Stephen were elevated, the eyes of his imagination and mind were likewise raised by God, so that, as already a candidate of it, he might more sublimely contemplate the empyrean heaven and the glory of God — as the authors of the second and third opinions said. Whence Peter Damian, serm. On S. Stephen: "If," he says, "he saw with bodily eyes, it is certain that he flew past every kind of man by the disparity of glory, and on the incorporeal wings of faith and virtues, even if he did not comprehend, yet apprehended Him with his lights." And this much only S. Augustine, Hilary and Nyssen — cited for the first opinion — seem to have meant: for when they say Stephen saw God, understand it not in His essence, but in His image or appearance, partly bodily — such as light and clarity — partly incorporeal, such as the phantasm and mental vision.
AND JESUS STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. — So I read with the Roman and Greek copies: therefore delete the "of power" which some insert. "Of God," i.e., of glory, or of the august light which represented God, as I said a little before. Furthermore Christ is said to stand at the right hand of God the Father, not as though He were not consubstantial with Him in that He is God, but in that, as man, He is united to the Word, in the sense which I gave at Coloss. iii, 1. Where I also added that Christ is said to sit at the right hand of God to signify His royal Majesty, dominion and judicial power: but to stand, first, because this is the natural posture of a strong and glorified body. So S. Chrysostom, Œcumenius, Bede and S. Gregory, hom. 29 on the Gospels, and S. Augustine, Quaest. LXXXVIII among the Questions on the New Testament. Second, He stands as a soldier and leader, about to fight with and for Stephen against the Jews. Whence Peter Damian, orat. On S. Stephen: "Christ," he says, "stood with the Father standing, and warred with him as he warred, nor was He less than he," that He might help and defend His athlete. And S. Ambrose, on Psal. lxi, says that Stephen stood undismayed amid enemies and stones, because immovable in faith he saw the immovable Christ, and fixed himself wholly upon Him in mind and gaze. S. Augustine adds, serm. 98 On Divers Subjects, that Stephen also saw angels, as soldiers following Christ their leader and contending on his behalf as for a fellow-soldier. They say that Alexander the Great was accustomed to dine to the sound of pipes, and when the pipers, changing from a delicate tune, sounded a war strain, he would suddenly leap up and unconsciously seize a lance; which was a clear indication of his warlike spirit and imperial valor. Far more truly does Christ, abounding in delights in the empyrean heaven, attend so closely to the affairs and struggles of His faithful, that as soon as the cry of the contestants resounds, He at once rises from delights to arms. Therefore He stands here armed with His omnipotence, to render Stephen invincible to the Jews. So He stood and assisted S. Antony as he fought against demons, as S. Athanasius writes in his Life.
Third, Christ stands as advocate and as priest, about to offer Stephen in martyrdom as a victim and most pleasing holocaust to the Father, says S. Ambrose, bk. III On the Faith, last chap. Fourth, He stands as president of the contest (agonothete), to receive the soul of the victorious Stephen with triumph, to consign to him the prize of victory, and according to his name, to crown him with the crown of glory. So S. Ambrose, epist. 82.
Furthermore, Stephen by the natural keenness of his eyes could not reach the empyrean heaven and there see Jesus in His form and quantity, since we cannot see many of the stars which are in the firmament — far lower than the empyrean heaven — though they are far greater not only than the body of Jesus, but than the whole globe of the earth. Therefore his eye and sight were strengthened and elevated by divine power, so that he might clearly, distinctly and perfectly see Jesus whole, in His appearance and figure, standing in heaven, indeed above the empyrean heaven.
Symbolically: S. Augustine, Quaest. LXXXVIII on the New Testament, teaches that Christ stands so that — as Stephen stands, suffers and is accused — He Himself, also standing, may suffer with him as one suffering and accused. For Augustine asks why before triumphs Christ was seen by Isaiah, chap. vi, sitting, but by Stephen after triumphs standing? And he answers: "Because then," he says, "the cause of His divinity was at peace; but in Stephen the cause of the Saviour was suffering violence; therefore, while God the judge sat, He appeared standing, as one pleading a cause. For every one who pleads a cause must necessarily stand. But because his cause was good, He stood at the right hand of the judge." Thus Augustine. He alluded to the ancient Roman custom, by which not only the accused stood while pleading their cause, but their parents, kinsmen and friends stood with them, ungirded, with unkempt beard and hair, as if they themselves were accused with the accused: for they took his lot upon themselves. Just so does Christ here suffer with Stephen pleading his cause, assist him, and as it were stand as accused with the accused, that He might prosecute and complete his suit. So God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Exod. iii, to signify that He grieved with him and with the Hebrews afflicted in Egypt and as it were placed in a burning bush, and truly suffered with them, undergoing the same lot and condition with them, that He might console, help and deliver them.
BEHOLD I SEE THE HEAVENS OPENED. — Stephen was the first after Christ to see the heavens opened; he saw and entered, as the Church sings: but before him, at Christ's baptism, the heavens were opened, and not Christ alone but the whole crowd of bystanders saw them opened, as well as the dove descending thence upon Christ, which was the sign of the Holy Spirit; and they heard a voice from there falling upon Him from the Father: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." All these things were not imaginary, but sensible, and really happened — first, that the voice falling from heaven might signify Christ's dignity to be greater than that of John who baptized Him; second, that it might be shown that heaven was opened to Christ, and through Christ to all, says S. Chrysostom in the same place; third, that the power of heavenly baptism might be indicated — namely, that through it heavenly grace is given which opens the heavens to us and leads us into them, and so through baptism we are called to heavenly life and to heavenly gifts and goods. So S. Thomas, III part., Quaest. XXXIX, art. 5.
You will ask: How could the solid heavens be opened? I answer: Some imagine that they were truly opened, as if their solidity were really divided and split. But this is the rough and gross imagination of the common people: for it is naturally impossible, and supernaturally superfluous.
Second, others judge that through lightnings and flashes frequently sent by God, it appeared to men that the air was being divided and opened; whence the voice burst forth like thunder: "This is My Son, etc." Psal. xxviii, 3 and 6 favors this in the allegorical sense: and the purpose was that, by these terrible signs, the people might be roused to behold this opening of heaven, and to hear the voice that descended upon Christ, according to that of Psal. lxxvi: "Thy lightnings shone upon the world." So says Silius Italicus: "With the pole rent open, the fiery aether flashes," that is, lightens. And Statius: "The torn lightnings tremble, and with sudden flame the rubbed aether bursts." So Prado on Ezechiel I, 1.
Third, others judge that the heavens were not really opened, but through an intellectual or imaginary vision granted to S. Stephen and the others — as in Ezech. I, 4, the heavens were opened by vision. So the Author of the Imperfect Work on Matth. chap. iii, and S. Thomas in the place cited. But because at Christ's baptism the voice was real, as was the dove; and Stephen really, with bodily eyes, saw Christ in the opened heavens: hence —
Fourth, others judge better that at Christ's baptism a true sort of chasm appeared — that is, an appearance of a sensible opening in the upper region of the air, from which that voice seemed to descend from heaven with the dove. Now this chasm was made in this way: God made the outermost and highest parts of the air denser and brighter, so that the sight of beholders might be terminated at them; but He made the air in between remain rarer, so that, as usual, it was not seen: for in this way it appeared to men that there was a chasm, void and opening in the air. So Suarez, III part., Quaest. XXXIX, art. 5; Euthymius, Jansenius and others on Matth. chap. III. Such chasms often appear like apparitions in the air, of which Aristotle and the Philosophers speak in the Meteorology. But because Stephen here saw not only the air, but all the heavens opened, even up to the convex surface of the empyrean heaven where he saw Jesus: hence —
Fifth and genuinely, I say that here the heavens are said and were not cut open, but opened — that is, made transparent; because, namely, his eye, by God's supernatural concurrence elevated, penetrated all the heavens as if transparent, and was extended even up to the empyrean heaven, that in it he might clearly behold God's glory and Jesus at the right hand of God. For just as we see distant things — the sun, moon, stars — through the open air, so Stephen saw the glory of God and of Christ through the heavens opened, that is, transparent and clear: for to this end alone were the heavens opened to him. Furthermore this was an indication of Stephen's great purity and fervor. For he says: "I see the heavens opened," as if to say: I do not fear your threats, O Jews, nor death; because I see heaven opened, that it may receive me as its citizen to eternal glory. Second, by these words he invited them to repentance, as if to say: The heaven of eternal joy, salvation and happiness is opened; look, that you may run and enter before it is closed, according to that: "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light," John xii. And: "While we have time, let us work good," Galat. vi. But if you neglect the time of repentance, know that God looks down from heaven upon your crimes, and that He will be judge and avenger, that He may cast you down from heaven into Gehenna and Tartarus and hurl you headlong. Thus Moneta, the celebrated Doctor of Bologna, was moved to take up the institute of S. Dominic by a certain Dominican preacher who was expounding aloud these words of S. Stephen and saying: "Behold, now the heavens are opened to those willing to enter; but soon they will be closed forever to those who neglect this time of life and of well-doing," as the Chronicles of the Order of S. Dominic relate, part. I, bk. II, chap. xxxvii.
AND THE SON OF MAN, — that is, Christ, who is by antonomasia called "man," because He is Man-God. S. Augustine asks, serm. 3 On the Saints, why S. Stephen called Christ "Son of Man," and not rather Son of God, which is the worthier title? And he answers: Because the Jews confessed the Son of God, but denied the Son of Man — that is, the Incarnation of the Word: "That," he says, "to refute the unbelief of the Jews, He might be shown to the martyr in heaven who was denied by the perfidious in the world; and that the heavenly truth might bear witness to Him to whom earthly impiety denied faith." Furthermore, that only Stephen saw Jesus and the glory of God S. Augustine teaches, serm. 92 On Divers Subjects: "To him alone," he says, "He appeared, and the others did not see, but envied;" and he hints that the Jews saw on Stephen's brow a cross, as if signed with it as with the sign of tau, Ezech. ix. For the cross is the sign of Christ and of Christians. Some judge that Christ leaped down from heaven and came nearer, that He might conveniently present Himself to Stephen's sight. But the contrary seems truer — namely, that He remained in His place in the empyrean heaven, and was there seen by Stephen: First, because Stephen saw Jesus standing beside the glory of God, that is, beside God the Father; and the Father shows His glory to the Blessed in the empyrean heaven. Second, because he saw not the heaven, but the heavens opened — all of them, says Peter Damian, serm. On S. Stephen: therefore the empyrean too, namely, that he might there see Christ standing. Third, because Stephen saw the place of the Blessed, into which he was now being called by martyrdom, in which Jesus presides.
You will say: Naturally the eye of a man cannot extend its sight so high and far. I have already answered and said that Stephen's keenness of sight was supernaturally elevated by God and extended that far.
You will ask: Why did Stephen say this to the Jews, who did not see Jesus and did not believe He was seen by Stephen? I answer: He said it partly out of ardent love for Jesus and desire to enjoy Him, as if to say: I see Jesus my love inviting me: I pant and hasten to Him; therefore I do not care, indeed I desire your stones, that through them I may pass and fly across to my Jesus. So S. Augustine, serm. 94 On Divers Subjects: "Stephen did not keep silent about Whom he saw, that he might come to Him whom he saw; indeed he hastened to die for Him, that he might live with Him," says the same, serm. 95. Second, he says it out of great confidence, zeal and fortitude, as if to say: It is not against me, a mortal, that you fight, O Jews, but against Jesus and the immortal God, who from the heavens beholds you and your crimes, and there stands to judge and punish you if you persist in crime. So S. Augustine, serm. 98 On Divers Subjects. Third, he says it to invite them to repentance, as if to say: Jesus stands at the right hand of God as advocate of sinners and penitents: do penance therefore, that through Him you may obtain pardon and mercy. Fourth, that he might show himself an eye-witness as well as ear-witness of Christ's resurrection, which the Jews utterly denied, knowing that many afterward would believe who had seen his patience, sanctity, angelic countenance and martyrdom.
Verse 56: They Crying Out with a Loud Voice, Stopped Their Ears
56. BUT THEY, CRYING OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, STOPPED THEIR EARS. — In Greek, κράξαντες, that is, croaking with a horrible voice in the manner of crows, says Peter Damian, orat. On S. Stephen. For, as Ecclesiasticus xxvii, 15 says: "Speech that swears much (much more, blasphemes) shall make the hair of the head stand on end; and its irreverence shall stop the ears." Horribly therefore they cry out, as having heard the horrible blasphemy of Stephen — namely, that he saw the heavens opened, and the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, whom they themselves held as a malefactor and had crucified as a malefactor. Whence they stop their ears, lest they hear the blasphemy. "They closed their ears and ran for stones," says S. Augustine, serm. 1 On the Saints. Therefore they cry out as if calling on God to avenge so great a blasphemy and to strike with thunderbolt from heaven. So the Gloss. S. Augustine adds, serm. 98 On Divers Subjects, that they cried out against Jesus, whom Stephen was exalting, and blasphemed Him. Whence also, having omitted the order of law, while Stephen had not yet been condemned by the Council, raging they hurry him to death: although Cajetan asserts they did this with the consent of Pilate the governor.
Verse 57: Casting Him Forth Out of the City
57. CASTING HIM FORTH OUT OF THE CITY. — Lest he should contaminate it with his blasphemy, according to the edict of the Lord, Num. xxiv, 14. So the Jews judged; but in reality he was cast outside the city for three reasons: as a stranger to the world and not having here an abiding city — for he sought a future one with his whole mind. Second, because impious Jerusalem was not worthy of so holy a martyr, just as the world is not worthy of the life and death of the just. Third, that he might be like Christ in this, as in other things — Christ who suffered outside Jerusalem, that He might choose and call us from the world to heaven: "Let us therefore go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach," Hebr. xiii, 12 and 13. See what was said there.
THEY STONED HIM, as a blasphemer: So a blasphemer in the time of Moses, by God's command, was stoned outside the camp by the whole people, in execration of the crime, Num. xxiv, 14. Hence also the Jews say to Christ: "For a good work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy," namely because He said He was God and the Son of God, John x, 33. Furthermore S. Stephen was stoned in the valley of Josaphat, which lies between Mount Olivet and Jerusalem, by the brook Cedron; because near great waters there is usually an abundance of stones: where even now the place consecrated by the blood of S. Stephen is venerated with great devotion. Whence pilgrims and Christians dwelling at Jerusalem call the gate of Jerusalem which faces and leads to this valley "the gate of S. Stephen." Lucian in his Description of the Finding of S. Stephen says he received this from the revelation of Gamaliel. The same is reported by Bede, Borchardus, Ceverius, Ausingus, Adrichomius, Zwallardus, and others in their Descriptions of the Holy Land (and from these our Villalpando, tom. II on Ezech., part. I, bk. III, chap. vii, p. 161), among whom our Lorinus adds (what pilgrims also assert, and what was asserted to me at Rome by R. P. Melchior of Helmont of Antwerp, a Franciscan who made four pilgrimages to Jerusalem and dwelt there a long time, who also added that the marks and likeness of S. Stephen's head and shoulders, impressed on the stone when, expiring, he fell backward, are still shown on it, and that he himself had seen them) — that there is also shown the stone on which the Blessed Virgin with S. John poured forth prayers for Stephen during the whole time of the stoning. Therefore S. Stephen owes his crown of martyrdom to the Blessed Virgin, just as S. Paul owes his conversion — which the dying S. Stephen likewise obtained for him. Moreover in the same place where S. Stephen was stoned, the Empress Eudoxia built a vast basilica, as Evagrius testifies, bk. I Hist., chap. xii, and Nicephorus bk. XIV, chap. lvi. Bede adds, bk. On Holy Places, chap. iii, that Christians at Jerusalem religiously preserved the rock upon which the Jews stoned S. Stephen.
S. Augustine excellently says, serm. 2 On the Saints: "In the very flower of his youth he empurpled the beauty of his age with his blood"; for he seems to have been about 34 years old: for so old was his kinsman, contemporary and fellow-student Saul, as I shall say presently. So Saul, like Stephen, was Christ's contemporary. "Stephen in Greek, in Latin is called 'crown.' He already had the name of crown and therefore in his name bore the palm of martyrdom in advance." The same, serm. 5: "Since," he says, "S. Stephen the Deacon was ordained by the Apostles, he went before the Apostles themselves by a blessed and triumphal death; and so he who was inferior in order was the first in passion; and he who was a disciple in degree began to be a master in martyrdom, fulfilling that of the Psalmist: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered to me? For Stephen the Martyr first wished to render to the Lord what he had received with the whole human race from the Lord. For the death which the Saviour deigned to suffer for all, he was the first to render back to the Saviour." For in the same year 34, in which Christ suffered on March 25, Stephen was created Deacon after Pentecost, and a few months later met martyrdom. S. Antoninus, I part. Hist., title VI, chap. ii, § 4, and Adrichomius in his Description of the Holy Land, p. 273, judge that he died on August 3, on a Wednesday. But they err, exchanging the day of the finding (of the relics) with the day of death: for his body was found on August 3. Whence Baronius and others everywhere judge that he died on December 26: for then the Church celebrates his birthday into eternal felicity, namely on the day after Christ's nativity. The same is testified by all the Martyrologies, and the Fathers in their homilies On S. Stephen. For Christ was born on earth so that Stephen might be born and crowned in heaven, as S. Fulgentius teaches, serm. On S. Stephen. Bede in his Martyrology adds, and from him Baronius, that on the day after the death and triumph of S. Stephen — namely December 27, the same year of Christ 34 — S. James, the Lord's brother, was made Bishop of Jerusalem and sat there 29 years; therefore an error has crept into the Chronicle of Glycas, who in bk. III of his Annals, from Hippolytus, and into Nicephorus bk. II, chap. iii, who from Evodius writes that S. Stephen died in the seventh year after Christ: for instead of "seventh year" "seventh month" should be put.
Tropologically: Gregory of Nyssa, tract. On the Beatitudes, teaches that S. Stephen inaugurated that beatitude of Christ: "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Therefore," he says, "that great Stephen rejoices when assailed on every side by stones, and as though it were some sweet dew, eagerly receives in his body the frequent strokes of stones falling like flakes of snow; and with blessings he pursues the wicked murderers, etc.; as he runs by confession, what was hoped for is shown to him — heaven opened." The same, orat. On S. Stephen: "In every way," he says, "he excelled by greatness of soul and disposition — opposing gentleness to anger, contempt to threats, scorn of life to the terror of death, love to hatred, benevolence to malevolence, the preaching of truth to calumny." And below: "For girt as with a crown by the circle of those throwing stones from every side, he so received what was being done as if the crown — the prize of victory — were being woven in the hands of his adversaries." Hence in place of a crown of striking stones, he received a crown of precious stones, according to that: "Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stone," Psal. xx, 4; and S. Augustine, serm. 94 On Divers Subjects: "When," he says, "B. Stephen first shed his blood for Christ, as a crown it issued from heaven, that those who followed might take it as a reward, who imitated the piety of him who went before in the contest. Afterward martyrdoms filled the earth in great numbers. Whoever afterward shed blood for the confession of Christ placed that crown on his own head, and preserved it whole for those to come."
Symbolically in the same place S. Augustine, and serm. 92: "But the stones," he says, "ran, hard against the hard; and he was stoned with rocks, who was dying for the Rock who is Christ; and by stony men, who had received the law on stony tablets."
Finally S. Augustine, serm. 31 and 32 On Divers Subjects, writes that the stone which had struck S. Stephen's elbow was carried by a certain pious man, who had been present at his stoning, to Ancona, an Italian city, and shone with many miracles: for it was fitting that the elbow-stone should be placed in an "elbow-city" and protect it; for Ancona is named from ἀγκών, i.e. elbow, "because it is situated on the very elbow of the bending shore," says Pliny, bk. III, chap. xiii. From ancient times they celebrate the festival of receiving this stone on August 3, on which day later fell the finding of S. Stephen, which therefore the Church commemorates on the same day.
AND THE WITNESSES LAID DOWN THEIR GARMENTS — their own, not Stephen's, as S. Bernardine says, serm. On S. Stephen, saying that by the contact of S. Stephen's garments, as well as by his prayers, Saul was converted; "garments," namely the outer ones, such as cloaks, that they might more easily hurl stones: for this is what the Greek word ἱμάτια means.
AT THE FEET OF A YOUNG MAN, WHOSE NAME WAS SAUL. — Saul was the leader and chief manager of the stoning, because he could not bear that Stephen, his kinsman and fellow-student, had defected from him and from his law and school; moreover he was envious that Stephen, now Christian, surpassed him in eloquence, wisdom and miracles. Therefore he was the instigator of the stoning, and so, not content to stone him alone, he stoned him through all by keeping the garments of all those stoning him. "By him," says S. Augustine, serm. 1 On the Saints, "the garments of all who were stoning were kept, so that he himself might seem to be stoning as it were in the hands of all." The same Saul, now made Paul, confesses, chap. xxii, vers. 20: "And when the blood of Stephen Thy witness was shed, I stood by (in Greek, ἐφεστώς, that is, I stood over, i.e., presided) and consented, and kept the garments of those who killed him." Whence S. Fulgentius, serm. On S. Stephen, says he was slain by the stones of Paul.
Furthermore Saul is called adolescens — in Greek νεανίας, that is, a young man, or a man endowed with youthful boldness and strength — because he was 34 years old. For after just as many years he was slain by Nero in the 13th year of his reign, when he was in all 68 years old, as S. Chrysostom relates, hom. On the Princes of the Apostles, tom. V. So Pythagoras extended adolescence from the twentieth year of age to the fortieth. Whence Cicero too, in the book On Old Age, extends adolescence even to old age: "For who," he says, "sees old age creep upon adolescence sooner than adolescence upon boyhood?" The same, orat. 23, calls Isocrates now a man, now an adolescent: "Even now, O Phaedrus, Isocrates is an adolescent; but what I divine concerning him, I would gladly say." And a little after: "For there is in this man's mind a certain natural disposition for philosophy." These things Socrates in Cicero divines concerning the adolescent. Otherwise by physicians one is properly called "adolescent" from the end of boyhood — namely from the 12th year to the 25th — that is, as long as a man is growing in length: for when he has fully grown, he is called adult.
Verse 59: Lord Jesus, Receive My Spirit
59. LORD JESUS, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT, — that as president of the contest You may set him as victor before God the Father, to be adorned with the crown of glory; as if (says S. Augustine, serm. 93): "For Thee I have lived, for Thee I die: because Thou hast helped me, He whom Thou receivest has conquered: receive my spirit from the hands of those who hate Thine." And serm. 51: "Thou hast made me victor, receive me in triumph: they persecute, do Thou receive; they cast out, do Thou bring in: say to my spirit, Enter into the joy of Thy Lord." Hence many judge that Christ receives the souls of His servants and handmaids immediately after death, and offers them as the fruits of His labors to God the Father. Note here the best form of dying. First, he is concerned not with the body but with the spirit: the impious do the opposite. Second, he professes faith, calling Jesus "Lord" — that is, his own Creator, Redeemer and Saviour, and of the whole world. Third, fixing his hope on Him, distrustful of his own merits, he calls upon Him: hence he calls Him Jesus, who namely both wills and is able to save him. Fourth, through love he resigns soul and spirit to Him.
Wherefore Christ receives the spirit resigned to Him by His own: and as man He carries out the particular judgment of him, in which He adjudges him to heaven and beatifies him, and leads him with triumph into heaven; but if he still has something to purge, He sends him to Purgatory to be expiated. Furthermore He does this either by Himself or rather through angels. For if He did it by Himself, since at every hour, and often at every moment, very many throughout the world die, Christ would have to descend from the heavens to each dying person at every moment — indeed, since at the same moment many die in various places, He would have to descend to various places at the same time, and replicate Himself many times over. Wherefore Bartholomew Sibylla, in his Mirror of the Pilgrim, Quaest. decade I, chap. ii, Quaest. IX, judges that Christ commits this particular judgment of each person to that person's guardian angel, who then conducts him according to his merits either to heaven, or to Purgatory, or to hell, or hands him over to the demon to be conducted. For this seems to pertain to the office of the guardian angel, and to be its end and conclusion. Others judge that this judgment is made by Christ Himself, remaining in the empyrean heaven, through Christ's mental speech; just as angel speaks mentally to angel, even most remote, as I said at Zechar. xii, 10. But the universal judgment at the end of the world Christ will perform by Himself; whence for it He will descend gloriously from heaven, accompanied by all Angels and Saints, Matth. chap. xxv, vers. 31. To some more illustrious Saints, however, Christ appeared in person at their dying, and received their souls. Hear some chosen examples.
S. Pantaleon the Martyr, hung on a tree, torn with iron claws, scorched with torches, praying with eyes fixed on heaven, saw Christ in the dress of his teacher Hermolaus, who animated him to martyrdom: "For I am with thee in all things which thou sufferest for Me," as his Life has it in Surius for July 27.
When the eyes of S. Menas the Martyr were dug out, his tongue plucked out, and his flesh torn, Christ appeared and restored and healed all his members; and exhorted him to constancy, promising him His present aid and help, as his Life in Surius has it for November 11.
To S. Barbara in prison Christ appeared, illumined the prison with His splendor, healed her wounds, animating her for the imminent martyrdom, promising His present aid.
S. Elizabeth, daughter of the King of Hungary, with eyes fixed on heaven saw Christ, and heard from Him: "Be of good cheer, daughter, I am with thee." To whom she: "So, Lord, Thou with me, and I with Thee." To her also, after a life religiously spent for many years, Christ appeared, and said: "Come, bride, enjoy the heavenly bridal-chamber."
S. Tarsilla, aunt of S. Gregory — as he himself relates, bk. IV of the Dialogues, chap. xvi — when dying, "looking upward saw Jesus coming, and with great earnestness began to cry out to those standing by, saying: Withdraw, withdraw, Jesus comes. And when she fixed her gaze on Him whom she saw, that holy soul departed from the body. And so great a fragrance of wondrous odor was suddenly scattered abroad that even the very sweetness showed that the Author of sweetness had come thither."
So to S. Dionysius the Areopagite, when crucified, in the prison Christ appeared sparkling with unwonted light, and animated him to undergo the last agony of martyrdom with constancy.
S. Anthony of Padua, as he was giving up his soul, sang: "O glorious Lady, exalted above the stars," etc.; then with eyes lifted up he fixed them intently on heaven. When asked what he was looking at: "I see," he said, "my Lord"; and soon happily fell asleep in the Lord in the year of Christ 1231.
S. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, dying with eyes fixed on heaven: "Now Thou dost dismiss," he said, "Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit. Thou knowest that my hope was always in Thy mercy, and my faith remained in Thy faithfulness. And now too, in the confession of Thy holy name, I shall breathe out my last gasp for Christ. Receive me therefore according to Thy great mercy."
When S. Arnulph, Bishop of Soissons, was passing from the living, his cell trembled: as Everolph the presbyter trembled with it, he said: "Do not fear, beloved brother; for all these are signs of the divine majesty." And soon, with the earthquake repeated: "At the first shaking," he said, "B. Peter the Apostle came to me, signifying that my sins were remitted and the gate of life was open. There was present a frequent assembly of the Blessed continually modulating divine praises. At the second shaking S. Michael, with many angelic spirits, visited me, promising that with him as guide I would enter the blessed life."
Verse 60: Lord, Lay Not This Sin to Their Charge
60. AND HAVING BENT HIS KNEES, — that by genuflection he might show the utmost concern, sorrow, compassion, and compunction, so that by these he might obtain pardon for the raging Saul and the obstinate Jews, says St. Chrysostom, oration 2 On the Parasceve. Note: St. Stephen prayed for himself standing, but for his enemies he bent his knee. St. Augustine gives the reason, answering in the person of Stephen, sermon 2 On the Saints: "For myself I prayed standing, because for myself, who rightly served God, I did not labor in praying and obtaining: for he who prays for the just does not labor, therefore for himself he prayed standing. The time came when he was to pray for the Jews, for the killers of Christ, for the killers of the Saints, for his own stoners; he saw their impiety to be so great and many, which could hardly be forgiven, that he bent his knee and said: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."
HE CRIED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, — as much as his failing strength at that moment could bear: for with this voice he expired; otherwise it bears the appearance of a miracle that anyone should cry out at the moment of death, as it was a miracle in Christ that He cried out as He was dying: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." St. Augustine, sermon 99 On Diverse Subjects, adds that Stephen mingled tears with his cry, and therefore his prayer was efficacious.
LORD, LAY NOT THIS SIN TO THEIR CHARGE. — Stephen does not pray that God should not consider sin, namely the homicide of the Jews, to be sin or homicide; for this is impossible and injurious to God, since it ascribes to Him a perverse judgment about sin, namely that He should judge sin not to be sin: but "lay not," that is, do not behold it with fixed and firm eyes, as if to say: I beg, let not this crime remain firmly and perpetually before Thee; but quickly turn Thine eyes from it and pardon it, by converting my stoners to repentance. Secondly, do not establish their guilt for punishment, that is, do not punish them with hardening and eternal death, which they deserve; but remit the penalty along with the guilt. For sins stand fixed before God, as if seeking vengeance: they are set up as marble statues of crimes, when the sinner is hardened, obstinate, and dies in them; so that they remain unremitted, to be punished with eternal fire. On the contrary, concerning the good works of Cornelius it is said in chapter x, verse 4: "Thy prayers and thine alms are ascended for a memorial before God." The Greek text signifies many things, namely to stand still, to set up, to confirm, to finish, to erect, to suspend, to weigh; and in all these ways it can here be taken, as if to say: Do not stop, do not confirm, do not finish this sin of theirs, that is, do not allow them to finish life in it and be damned; do not raise up their malice and vengeance into a statue and monument, do not weigh, do not ponder this crime in the rigid scale of Thy justice, but excuse it as committed through passion and ignorance, that Thou mayest mercifully grant them pardon.
Stephen imitates Christ, whom he beheld standing in the heavens, says Nyssen, who on the cross prayed for His crucifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." "Do you think," says St. Augustine, sermon 94 On Diverse Subjects, "that Paul heard those words? He heard them mockingly, but laughed at them." Hilary of Arles, in his sermon On St. Stephen, says, "Stephen knew not how to be angry with those through whom he saw the hall of the heavenly kingdom opened to him, through whom he understood himself to be consecrated for eternal ages; and thus a new branch began to be grafted from the wild olive, that he might not wish the old olive to be cut off."
St. Fulgentius notes, in his sermon On St. Stephen, that the weapons with which Stephen fought against the Jews and conquered were charity, especially toward his own enemies and stoners: "Through charity for God," he says, "he did not yield to the raging Jews; through charity for his neighbor, he interceded for those who stoned him. Through charity he reproved those who erred, that they might be corrected; through charity he prayed for those who stoned him, that they might not be punished. Supported by the virtue of charity, he conquered Saul who was cruelly raging, and the persecutor whom he had on earth, he merited to have as a companion in heaven." Truly most ardent was this charity of Stephen, which conquered and overcame the most ardent fury of Saul and of the Jews. For God willed in Stephen, as in the Protomartyr, to give to all other martyrs who would follow an illustrious model of fortitude, patience, innocence, and the other virtues, and especially of charity, by which they would convert their tormentors, as did St. Paul, St. James, and many other Martyrs throughout.
He notes secondly, St. Augustine, sermon 1 On the Saints, the efficacy of St. Stephen's prayer: "If St. Stephen," he says, "had not prayed, the Church would not have Paul: but Paul was raised up because Stephen, bowed down on the earth, was heard." And in sermon 5, he teaches that Stephen lamented the crime of his enemies far more than his own sufferings, and therefore prayed for them so earnestly and fervently: "He grieved more," he says, "over their sins than over his own wounds; more over their impiety than over his own death: And rightly more: for in their impiety there were many things that could be lamented; but in his death there was nothing that should have been mourned. Eternal death followed their impiety, but perpetual life followed his death."
Note thirdly, that the most efficacious prayer is the ardent prayer poured forth for enemies, such as was this prayer of Stephen: both because it itself is an act of the most difficult and most eminent charity; and because God has counseled it for us, indeed commanded it, Matt. v, 44; and because this injury properly affects man. If therefore he who is harmed remits his right and action against the one who harms him, indeed prays that God also remit it, he as it were compels God to remit: for God is far more clement than man, and wishes to be seen so. Wherefore this prayer of Stephen obtained and as it were gave birth to Paul, and made him the doctor of the Apostles and of the world.
Wherefore Cardinal de Vitry, in the Life of St. Mary of Oignies, book II, chapter xi, writes that she in ecstasy knew that St. Stephen received the soul of the beheaded St. Paul and offered it to God: "She used to say," says de Vitry, "when she sang of Blessed Stephen the Protomartyr, whom she called the rose-garden of paradise, that to him praying at his death, the Lord gave St. Paul as a gift: and that when St. Paul, his martyrdom completed, was leaving the body, St. Stephen was present, and offered his spirit to the Lord, and said: Lord, with this immense and singular gift Thou hast given me; but I render it back to Thee multiplied with abundant fruit."
Prayer therefore for enemies is most powerful with God, and almost compels Him to spare the enemy; because it is purely directed to the glory of God, and so proceeds from mere and pure charity: for here no self-love or love of nature mingles itself; because contrary to nature one's benevolence and beneficence reaches out to the enemies of nature, for whom one desires and prays that they be forgiven by God and treated well, that God may be glorified through this; as indeed this is the greatest glory of God, namely divine clemency, by which He makes from His and our enemies friends, indeed sons and heirs of His own; which therefore God grants to the one asking, who is more zealous for the divine glory than we are, as is fitting, just and holy.
Probably Œcumenius opines that not only Saul, but also many other stoners of Stephen, obtained pardon, grace, and salvation through these his prayers. Hence finally St. Stephen is a singular and powerful patron and advocate of those who strive to convert their enemies as well as wicked and hardened men, such as the Jews, as is established by many experiences; for he himself merited this by his zeal, example, and martyrdom: therefore let them invoke him.
Baronius narrates, in the year of Christ 418, from Severus, Bishop of the island of Majorca, that when the relics of St. Stephen were brought to Magon (which is a city in Majorca), all the Jews, whose number was 340, were converted through a miracle; for they saw that with their stones, which they daily threw against the Christians who carried and accompanied the relics, no one was harmed; and that by God's vengeance fire was sent down from heaven into their synagogue. Similar is what St. Augustine writes, book XXII On the City of God, chapter viii, that Martialis, an honored man, was converted from paganism to Christianity, which he had always before resisted, by his son-in-law and daughter through the invocation of St. Stephen, and through flowers taken from the altar of St. Stephen and placed under the head of Martialis, when he lay sick; so that thereafter he had continually on his lips the last words of St. Stephen: "Christ, receive my spirit."
AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THIS, HE FELL ASLEEP IN THE LORD. — As though he could neither die nor rest unless he had first prayed well for his enemies and obtained pardon from God. Note: St. Paul calls dying Christians sleepers, I Cor. xv, and I Thess. v, because their death is not so much a death as a sleep, due to the hope of resurrection coming shortly, while the soul passes to rest and eternal glory, that it may rest happy and blessed in the vision and enjoyment of God, and say with the Psalmist, Psalm iv: "In peace in the selfsame I will sleep and I will rest." Where St. Augustine: "O in peace!" he says, "O in the selfsame! O may I sleep and rest!" Hence it is the pious custom of the faithful, when one of their own dies, not to say: Such a one is dead, but: He has fallen asleep in the Lord. "Happy sleep," says Peter Damian, oration On St. Stephen, "with rest, rest with delight, delight with eternity." For as it is said in Psalm cxxvi, 2: "When He shall give sleep to His beloved, behold the inheritance of the Lord." And in Apocalypse chap. xiv, verse 13: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," that is, in the faith, grace, and bosom of the Lord, as His living members. See what is said there.
This was the end, this the triumph, this the crowning and crown of the first athlete of Christ, St. Stephen, whom St. Augustine, Nyssen, Fulgentius, Emissenus, Chrysologus, Bernard, Nicetas and others, having pursued with their homilies, celebrated with wondrous encomiums. The great and many miracles wrought after his death through his sacred remains and relics are recounted by St. Augustine, book XXII On the City of God, chapter viii, and homily 7 On the Saints, and Prosper, book On the Prediction of the half-time, chapter vi; Gregory of Tours, book I of the History, chapter xxxi; Gennadius, Nicetas and many others.
Furthermore, from the time of his death, he was held in such honor and veneration among all the faithful, that St. Clement, book VIII of the Constitutions, chapter xxxiii, writes that the Apostles decreed that every year the day of his martyrdom should be publicly celebrated as a feast. Whence Saint Martialis, a disciple of the Apostles, dedicated an altar to St. Stephen in Gaul, as he himself testifies in his epistle to the people of Bordeaux; and many other Gallican Churches, following his example, erected magnificent temples and basilicas in the name and title of St. Stephen. The first King and Martyr of the Hungarians, St. Stephen, obtained from St. Stephen both his name and his kingdom and the laurel of martyrdom, as his Life on August 25 records.
Finally, St. Dorotheus, in the Synopsis, asserts that on the same day with Stephen there was killed by the Jews Nicanor the Deacon, and moreover two thousand Christians. Concerning Nicanor, the same is handed down by St. Hippolytus, in the book On the 72 Disciples. But the Roman Martyrology on January 10 asserts that Nicanor was killed in Cyprus. The same is held by the Menology of the Greeks on July 28, which also adds that this happened under Vespasian.
Go now, St. Stephen, go champion of Christ, go to thy Jesus, for whose faith and love thou hast undergone so great a contest. Jesus awaits thee to crown thee, who watched that thou mightest conquer. Thou hast fought the good fight, thou hast finished the course, thou hast kept the faith, receive the crown of glory. Go, most valiant Martyr, into the house of the strong of God. Go, most chaste Virgin, into the heavenly mount Sion; follow with the choirs of the Holy Virgins the Lamb wheresoever He goeth, sing with them the New Song, indeed lead it before the others. Go, Evangelist and herald of Christ, into the heavenly hall of Christ. He will receive thy victorious and happy spirit. He will turn thy stones into gems; for a crown of stones He will place upon thy head a crown of carbuncles, diamonds, emeralds. He will wipe away from thine eyes all tears, from thy face all sweat, from thy body all blood: He will present thee victorious to God the Father, that for a brief time of contest thou mayest receive the diadem of the eternal kingdom. Go, Protomartyr, lead the way to heaven before the others, prepare the way to triumph; innumerable hosts of Martyrs will follow thee as their leader throughout the whole world for all ages to come. By bravely struggling for a few hours, thou hast filled and adorned thyself with merits, the Apostles with joy, the faithful with example, the Church with glory, the world with fame, the angels with exultation, heaven with citizens, paradise with Martyrs. Come now! look down upon us from on high, that we may merit to follow bravely the footsteps of thy contest, and so to obtain the prize of thy glory. Amen.