Acts 6:1

This very short chapter narrates the preliminaries of Stephen's martyrdom, noting that it occurred following a period of great growth and prosperity for the new faith (Acts 6:1), that Stephen's rise to prominence was a result of his appointment as one of the seven chosen to administer the distribution of food to the needy, an appointment brought about by complaints of neglecting the Grecian widows (Acts 6:2-7), and that his popularity, ability in debate, and fearless proclamation of the truth resulted in a Pharisaical plot against him, leading to his arrest (Acts 6:8-15). Many things of very great significance come to view in this little chapter: there was the first instance of the laying on of the hands of the apostles; there appeared the first violent opposition of the Pharisees; there occurred the first expansion of the church's organization beyond that of the governing apostles; there was a second threat to the unity of the disciples, deriving from the allegations of neglect of a certain class receiving charity; and there was the exceedingly significant record of "a great company of the priests" accepting the faith in Jesus Christ.

Now in these days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. (Acts 6:1)

In these days ... indicates a considerable time-lapse after the establishment of the church in A.D. 30, probably a period of six or eight years.

Murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews ... Both classes of these "Jews" were Christians, but there was a language barrier. The Jews of Palestine spoke Aramaic, and those of the Diaspora spoke Greek; many of the latter were living in Jerusalem at that time but were natives of the provinces. "In the Jewish world as a whole there was some tension, and this survived between the two groups,"[1] even after they became Christians.

Murmuring ... Most scholars assume that there was justification for this action, basing their opinion upon the assumption that the Grecian widows were actually "neglected." However, it is not clear from this verse that Luke intended any admission to that effect; but neither is it denied. It is this word "murmuring" which casts some doubt on the extent of that "neglect," for "murmuring" almost invariably carries with it an imputation of guilt in the persons doing the murmuring; and it rarely implies any guilt in those murmured against. "How long shall I bear with this evil generation which murmur against me?" (Numbers 14:27). As Spurgeon said of the murmuring of Israel in the wilderness:

The tendency of human nature is to murmur, complain, find fault, a very easy thing to do, the very word "murmur" being made of two infantile sounds - MUR MUR! There is no sense in it, no wit in it, no thought in it, being the cry rather of a brute than of a man, just a double groan![2]

The vice of murmuring is specifically condemned in Philippians 2:14,1 Corinthians 10:10; and this student of God's word refuses to see in the incident before us any justification whatever for the murmuring that took place regarding the daily distribution of food to the needy. In the very nature of such distributions, it was inevitable that some should receive less, others more, and that almost any person desiring to find fault could easily have "discovered" some basis for alleging it. Significantly, the apostles spoke not a word of blame regarding either those who murmured or those who had done the distributing. They simply changed the administration of the charities with a view to eliminating all further excuses for any murmuring.

Their Widows ... As McGarvey noted:

The fact that this distribution was made daily, and that the widows were the principal recipients, confirms our former conclusion that there was no general equalization of property, but only a provision for the needy.[3]

Elam made a deduction based upon this episode, as follows:

There may be only two classes in the church, namely, the givers and the receivers. Each one belongs to one of these classes. If one is unable to give, that one is in the class of receivers and needs to be given to.[4]

[1] F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1954), p. 128.

[2] Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermons (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company), Vol. IX, p. 389.

[3] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on Acts (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1892), p. 103.

[4] E. A. Elam, Elam's Notes on Bible School Lessons (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1931), p. 191.