Acts 22:20

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) When the blood of thy martyr Stephen . . . .—Better, thy witness. The English word is, perhaps, a little too definite and technical, and fails to remind us, as the Greek does, that the same word had been used in Acts 22:15 as expressing the office to which St. Paul himself was called. He probably used the Aramaic word Edh, of which the Greek martus (witness, and, in ecclesiastical Greek, martyr) was the natural equivalent.

Consenting unto his death.—The self-same word is used as in Acts 8:1, not, we may believe, without the feeling which the speaker had lately expressed in Romans 1:32, that that state of mind involved a greater guilt than those who had been acting blindly,—almost in what John Huss called the sancta simplicitas of devout ignorance—in the passionate heat of fanaticism. The words “unto his death” are wanting in the best MSS., but are obviously implied.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:12-21 The apostle goes on to relate how he was confirmed in the change he had made. The Lord having chosen the sinner, that he should know his will, he is humbled, enlightened, and brought to the knowledge of Christ and his blessed gospel. Christ is here called that Just One; for he is Jesus Christ the righteous. Those whom God has chosen to know his will, must look to Jesus, for by him God has made known his good-will to us. The great gospel privilege, sealed to us by baptism, is the pardon of sins. Be baptized, and wash away thy sins; that is, receive the comfort of the pardon of thy sins in and through Jesus Christ, and lay hold on his righteousness for that purpose; and receive power against sin, for the mortifying of thy corruptions. Be baptized, and rest not in the sign, but make sure of the thing signified, the putting away of the filth of sin. The great gospel duty, to which by our baptism we are bound, is, to seek for the pardon of our sins in Christ's name, and in dependence on him and his righteousness. God appoints his labourers their day and their place, and it is fit they should follow his appointment, though it may cross their own will. Providence contrives better for us than we do for ourselves; we must refer ourselves to God's guidance. If Christ send any one, his Spirit shall go along with him, and give him to see the fruit of his labours. But nothing can reconcile man's heart to the gospel, except the special grace of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed - See Acts 7:58; Acts 8:1.

I also was standing by - Acts 7:58.

And consenting unto his death - Acts 8:1.

And kept the raiment - The outer robes or garments, which were usually laid aside when they engaged in running or labor. See Acts 7:58. All this showed that, though Paul was not engaged in stoning Stephen, yet he was with them in spirit, and fully accorded with what they did. These circumstances are mentioned here by him as reasons why he knew that he would not be received by Christians as one of their number, and why it was necessary, therefore, for him to turn to the Gentile world.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. get … quickly out of Jerusalem—compare Ac 9:29.

for they will not receive thy testimony … And I said, Lord, they know, &c.—"Can it be, Lord, that they will resist the testimony of one whom they knew so well as among the bitterest of all against Thy disciples, and whom nothing short of resistless evidence could have turned to Thee?"

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Martyr is a Greek word, that signifies a witness; and is here, and since by the ecclesiastical writers, appropriated unto such as suffer death for the testimony they give to the truths of God, or doctrine of the gospel.

Consenting unto his death; as Acts 8:1.

Of them that slew him; that is, of the witnesses against Stephen, as Acts 7:58. For the witnesses did slay him not only by the testimony which they gave against him, but they were to be the first who stoned him.

Slew him; or murdered him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed,.... Stephen was a martyr for Christ, both by confession with his mouth, and by the effusion of his blood; he was the proto-martyr, or "the first martyr" that suffered for Christ; and there are copies, as one of Stephens's, and the Complutensian edition, which so read in this place; his blood was shed by stoning:

I also was standing by; to see the inhuman action performed; nor was he an idle and indifferent spectator:

and consenting unto his death; being pleased and delighted with it, and rejoicing at it; see Acts 8:1.

and kept the raiment of them that slew him; the accusers of him, and witnesses against him, whose hands were first on him, and cast the first stones at him, and continued to stone him, until they killed him: these laid their garments at the feet of Saul, who looked after them, that nobody stole them, and run away with them, whilst they were stoning Stephen; which shows how disposed he was to that fact, and how much he approved of it: and these things he mentions to suggest that surely the Jews would receive his testimony, since they knew what a bitter enemy he had been to this way: and therefore might conclude, that he must have some very good and strong reasons, which had prevailed upon him to embrace this religion against all his prejudices, and so might be willing to hear them; and it also shows what an affection the apostle had for the Jews, and how much he desired their spiritual welfare, for which reason he chose to have stayed, and preached among them.

Geneva Study Bible

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that {b} slew him.

(b) This is properly spoken, for Steven was murdered by a bunch of cutthroats, not by order of justice, but by open force: for at that time the Jews could not put any man to death by law.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 22:20. τοῦ μ. σου: he identifies himself with Stephen, his testimony like that of the martyr is borne to Christ; on the word see p. 67; the term is here in a transition stage from “witness” to “martyr,” cf. also Revelation 17:6 : Hackett quotes the Christians of Lyons, towards the close of the second century, refusing to be called “martyrs” because such an honourable name only belonged to the true and faithful Witness, or to those who had sealed their testimony by constancy to the end, and they feared lest they should waver: Euseb., Hist., v., 2.—καὶ αὐτὸς, cf. Acts 8:13, Acts 15:32, Acts 21:24, Acts 24:15-16, Acts 25:22, Acts 27:36, here it is placed in sharp contrast to the preceding words about Stephen (with whose witness he was now identified). On καὶ αὐτὸς as characteristic of Luke in his Gospel and Acts see Hawkins, Horæ Synopticæ, p. 33, as compared with its employment by the other Synoptists, sometimes it is inserted with emphasis, Plummer on Luke 1:16.—συνευδ., see note on Acts 8:1.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. thy martyr Stephen] Better, “Stephen, thy witness.” The Greek word had not yet come to be applied as it afterwards was to those Christians who bore witness to the truth by their death.

and consenting unto his death] The oldest authorities omit the last three words, which are added to bring the phrase into exact accord with Acts 8:1.

kept the raiment] cp. Acts 7:58.

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 22:20. Καὶ αὐτὸς, even I myself) The converted man retains the humble remembrance of his sins, and always confesses them.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Stephen thy witness for thy martyr Stephen, A.V.; consenting for consenting unto his death, A.V. and T.R.; keeping the garments for kept the raiment, A.V. Consenting; συνευδοκῶν (above, Acts 8:1; Luke 11:48; Romans 1:32; 1 Corinthians 7:12, 13). It is also found in 1 Macc. 1:60; 2 Macc. 11:34, 35. Of them that slew him (τῶν ἀναιρούν των αὐτόν). Ἀναιρέω, in the sense of "to kill," is a favorite word of St. Luke's (Luke 22:2; Luke 23:32; Acts 2:23; Acts 5:33, 36; Acts 7:28; Acts 9:23, 24, 29; Acts 10:39; Acts 12:2; Acts 13:28; Acts 16:27; Acts 22:20; Acts 23:15, 21, 27; Acts 25:3; Acts 26:10); but elsewhere in the New Testament only Matthew 2:16 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8, R.T. It is frequent in the LXX. and also in medical writers in the sense of "taking away" or "removing." Acts 22:20

Vincent's Word Studies

Martyr

Better, as Rev., witness. The special sense of the word was probably not in use at this time. See on Acts 1:22. It occurs, however, in Revelation 2:13; Revelation 17:6.

Standing by

See on Acts 22:13.

Consenting (συνευδοκῶν)

See on allow, Luke 11:48; and compare Acts 8:1.

Slew

See on Luke 23:32.