Acts 8:2 - Exposition

Buried for carried to his burial (the last three words in italics), A.V. Devout men ; ἀνδρες αὐλαβεῖς . This word is applied to Simeon ( Luke 2:25 ), and to the Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:5 ), and, according to the R.T., to Ananias ( Acts 22:12 ); but occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is not certain, therefore, that these men were Christians, though they might be. If not, they were pious Jews, men who feared God, and still loved Stephen as being himself a devout Jew though he was a disciple. Buried . συγκομίζω occurs only here in the New Testament; but its common use for carrying corn to a barn or granary seems to indicate that "carrying to his burial" of the A.V. is the most exact rendering. The word is said also to be applied to the acts preparatory to burial—closing the eyes, washing, anointing the body, and so on; but this meaning is less certain than that of "carrying."