Étude 1 sur 3 · La comparution d’Etienne devant le Sanhédrin

  1. Study 1: Stephen's appearance before the Sanhedrin
  2. Étude 2 : Saul et le martyre d'Étienne
  3. Étude 3 : La persécution
  • ADA027 Stephen's appearance before the Sanhedrin

    The appearance of Stephen before the Sanhedrin (Acts 6.12-15), around AD 34-35, is initiated by Hellenistic opponents from the synagogue of the Freedmen. Unable to refute his wisdom, they resort to false witnesses. The accusations concern the Temple and the Law, recalling the trial of Jesus. Luke thus draws an intentional parallel between the Master and his disciple.

    Acts 6.8-15 (King James Version) :
    And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • ADA030 Saul and the martyrdom of Stephen

    Article ADA030 examines Acts 8.1-3: the first appearance of Saul of Tarsus, who approves of Stephen’s martyrdom, and the beginning of a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. The scattering of believers throughout Judea and Samaria, far from being a defeat, providentially becomes the driving force behind the spread of the Gospel, fulfilling Jesus’ promise in Acts 1.8.

    Acts 4.1-3 (King James Version) :
    And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • ADA031 The persecution

    Article ADA031 examines the great persecution of the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 8.1-3), around AD 34-35. After Stephen’s martyrdom, the repression extends to all believers, women included. Saul of Tarsus is its chief architect, driven by a sincere but misdirected zeal for the Jewish traditions. This text illustrates the fulfillment of Jesus’ warnings about persecution and foreshadows Paul’s future conversion.

    Numbers 25.7-13 (King James Version) :
    And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,Notefor…: Heb. with my zealNotechief…: Heb. house of a fatherPhinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate