Acts 7:53 - Exposition

Ye who received for who have received, A.V. ; as it was ordained by angels for by the disposition of angels, A.V.; kept it not for hove not kept it, A.V. Ordained by angels . This phrase, thus differently rendered ( εἰς διαταγὰς ἀγγέλων ), is one of extreme difficulty: διαταγή means properly appointment," or "ordinance," as in Romans 13:2 ; and εἰς , which has a great variety of uses in the Greek of the New Testament, means "at," or "upon," or "on the occasion of," as Matthew 12:41 , "At the preaching of Jonah." So here they received the Law "at" or "on the occasion of," the "ordering" or "appointing" of angels. When the angels, who were commissioned by God and spoke in his Name, gave the Law, the Israelites so received it. The A.V., "by the disposition of angels" very nearly expresses the true sense. Another sense of εἰς —"in view of"—comes to nearly the same thing. St. Paul speaks of the part taken by the angels in the giving of the Law, and in language strikingly resembling the text. He says of it, that it was "ordained through ['by,' A V] angels" God ordained or appointed the Law, but the angels were the instruments or ministers of its promulgation. And it is also distinctly referred to in Deuteronomy 33:2 , where the LXX . read, "On his right hand the angels were with him." In the foregoing verses the application which Stephen had all through been contemplating is hurled with accumulated force at the consciences of his hearers, and cuts them to the heart, but does not bring them to repentance.