Acts 6:9

Arose. See on ch. 5:17.

Synagogue. See Vol. V, pp. 56, 57. A synagogue could be founded by ten adults. At a later time there were 12 synagogues in Tiberias, and tradition, with great exaggeration, assigned 480 to Jerusalem. Unreliable as this last figure may be, it at least suggests the great number in the capital city.

Libertines. The present passage is ambiguous in regard to the origin of the Jews who made up “the synagogue of the Libertines.” The passage may be translated: “the synagogue called [the synagogue] of the Libertines and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians.” This may imply that there was only one synagogue, some of whose worshipers were freedmen, the others from Cyrene and Alexandria. However, this translation may be understood to mean that the synagogue was composed only of Libertines, and that the others mentioned were groups of Jews not organized as synagogues but classified by their places of origin. If either interpretation of this translation is correct, the Libertines may have been the children of Jews who had been carried captive from Palestine to Rome by Pompey in 63 B.C., and who had later been made freedmen (libertmi) by their captors.

However, another translation of this passage is possible: “the synagogue called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, both of Cyrenians and of Alexandrians.” This would identify the Libertines who made up this synagogue as coming from Cyrene and Alexandria, both localities in which there was an unusually large Jewish population.

Archeological evidence indicates that there was at least one synagogue in Jerusalem before A.D. 70 that was specifically for the use of Hellenistic Jews. A Greek inscription has been discovered in Jerusalem telling of the construction of a synagogue by a certain Theodotus, which was intended particularly for the use of Jews from the Dispersion. The inscription reads as follows:

“Theodotus, [son of] Vettenus, priest and ruler of the synagogue, son of a ruler of the synagogue, grandson of a ruler of the synagogue, built the synagogue for reading of the Law and for teaching of the commandments, and the guest-chamber, and the rooms, and the water supplies, for a lodging for those who have need from foreign lands, which [synagogue] his fathers and the elders and Simonides founded” (see Adolf Deissmann, Light From the Ancient East, pp. 439-441).

Although it cannot be proved, it is possible that this synagogue was that of the Libertines mentioned in the present passage. Whether this is true or not, the inscription witnesses to the existence of such a Hellenistic synagogue in Jerusalem as the one with whose members Stephen came into conflict.

Cyrenians. Rather, “of the Cyrenians.” There was a large Jewish population at Cyrene, on the north coast of Africa, between Egypt and Carthage. Josephus (Antiquities xiv. 7.2 [115]) quotes Strabo, the classical geographer, as stating that there were four classes of citizens in the state of Cyrene, of which the Jews were one. The Cyrenian Jews had been noted for the generous gifts they sent to the Temple in Jerusalem, and had appealed to Augustus Caesar for protection against irregularities in the taxes imposed by governors of the province who had tried to intercept their gifts (ibid. xvi. 6.5). Simon of Cyrene, who carried Christ’s cross, apparently was such a Jew (see on Matt. 27:32). Cyrenian Jews were present at Pentecost (Acts 2:10), and such Jews are mentioned as preaching the gospel to Gentiles in Antioch in Syria (ch. 11:20).

Alexandrians. Rather, “of the Alexandrians.” Probably in no city of the empire, except Jerusalem and perhaps Rome, were the Jews more numerous and influential than in the city of Alexandria (see Vol. V, p. 59). The Jewish population there at the time of the apostles is estimated at 100,000. They had their own quarter, made up of one of the five districts into which the city of Alexandria was divided. They were governed by an ethnarch of their own (Josephus Antiquities xiv. 7.2 [117]), as though they constituted an autonomous republic. Their Roman rulers recognized them as citizens (ibid. 10.1 [188]). It was in Alexandria that the OT had been translated into the Greek language (see Vol. I, p. 39). Philo, the Jewish philosopher and writer, lived there during the first Christian century, and the city was also the birthplace of Apollos (ch 18:24).

Cilicia. At the southeast corner of Asia Minor, with Tarsus as one of its principal towns, Cilicia was the land of Paul’s birth. Here lived many Jews, descendants of 2,000 families whom Antiochus the Great had brought into Asia Minor (Josephus Antiquities xii. 3.4 [149, 150]) to secure the allegiance of the province for him, and perhaps to aid in its defense. It is obvious from ch. 7:58-60 that Saul of Tarsus was in Jerusalem at this time, and he seems to have been one of those who disputed with Stephen. Doubtless the strong arguments of Stephen led Saul to bitter opposition, although there is evidence that he was unconsciously drawn by them (AA 101).

Asia. In the NT this refers to the Roman province located in what is now Asia Minor. It included areas that had formerly been known as Lydia and Ionia, with Ephesus as the chief city. Jews of Asia had been present at Pentecost (ch. 2:9). These Jews later demonstrated their zeal in defense of the sacredness of the Temple (ch. 21:27).

Disputing. Literally, “seeking together,” “questioning,” “disputing.” The dispute was initiated by the Jews of the Dispersion. These were men who had come to Jerusalem in an intense spirit of devotion, for the farther men are from the center of their devotion, the more zealous they sometimes are. There must have been something in the teachings of Stephen that made them feel that he was lessening, if not supplanting, the singular spiritual importance of the Temple in Jerusalem (see on ch. 6:13; 7:1). The disputants, coming from their synagogues, would be well equipped to discuss theological matters with the Christians.