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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_7:51-53
51"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."
Act_7:51 "You men" Stephen turns from the rebellion of Jewish leaders and people in the past to the current leaders and people in the temple hearing his message. They were and they are rebels against YHWH!
▣ "a stiff-necked" Stephens alludes to Moses' characterization of the children of Jacob/Israel (cf. Exo_32:9; Exo_33:3; Exo_33:5; Exo_34:9; Deu_9:6).
▣ "uncircumcised in heart" This Hebrew idiom means unfaithful, disloyal, and untrustworthy (cf. Lev_26:41; Jer_9:25-26; Eze_44:7). This is the opposite of Deu_10:16; Jer_4:4!
▣ "and ears" This idiom refers to their unwillingness to hear and respond to God's messengers (cf. Jer_6:10).
▣ "are always resisting the Holy Spirit" This is very similar to Isa_63:10. God's love and faithfulness were extolled in Isa_63:9; Isa_63:11-14, but the people's reaction was faithlessness!
Act_7:51-52 This is the strong condemnation of the current Jewish leadership, just like the ancient Israelite leadership! The ancient people of God had killed God's messengers and now they have killed the Messiah (cf. Act_3:14; Act_5:28).
Act_7:52 "Righteous One" This is used as a title for Jesus in Act_3:14; Act_22:14. See fuller note at Act_3:14 and Special Topic: Righteousness at Act_3:14.
Act_7:53 "as ordained by angels" This refers to the rabbinical interpretation of Deu_33:2 from the Septuagint in which God gave the law to Moses through angelic mediation which seems to be confirmed by Gal_3:19 and Heb_2:2.
▣ "yet did not keep it" Stephen opened his defense with "hear" (BDB 1033) which may reflect the Hebrew Shema, "hear so as to heed" (cf. Deu_6:4). Stephen and later James (Jesus' half brother ) both assert "be doers of the word not merely hearers" (cf. Jas_1:22-23 following Jesus, Mat_7:24-27; Luk_11:48; Joh_13:17; as did Paul, Rom_2:13).