Acts 7:48

Howbeit. That is, but, on the other hand. This points the contrast between the immediately preceding verses, which speak of the tabernacle and Temple as God’s meeting places with men, and verses 48, 49, which emphasize that God does not dwell in man-made buildings.

The most High. Since, apart from the article, the title is but one word in Greek, the word “most” should be capitalized. For comment on the title see on Gen. 14:18.

Dwelleth not. The clause may be translated, “does not dwell in handmade things” (cf. on Heb. 9:11,24), for there is no word for “temple” in the original. The Jews should not have needed this reminder about the omnipresence of God, for they had been well instructed concerning this aspect of His nature (see on 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:7-13). But they had concentrated on the truth that He had promised to grace the Temple with His presence until their thought confined Him to its precincts. Even worse, they came to have a greater reverence for the building than for the One for whom the building was erected. In so doing they unfitted themselves to recognize and receive God “manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16) when He became incarnate and lived among them.

Paul, who had heard Stephen’s defense, used a similar argument in talking to the philosophers of Athens (Acts 17:24, 25).

Saith the prophet. The quotation is from the gospel prophet, Isaiah (ch. 66:1, 2), who saw God in His heavenly temple (ch. 6:1-7).