The Fictional Martyrdom of Stephen

[Michael BG]

In the recent past I thought that the author of Acts had source documents or traditions that he redacted in the same way he redacted the gospel of Mark and Q in Luke. I recognised that he created the Council of Jerusalem, but I accepted that he had a source or tradition about some meeting of apostles that didn’t include Paul that lay behind his creation.

In the same way I assumed that there was a story about the martyrdom of Stephen (c 36 CE) that Luke developed into Acts 6:8-8:8. For those who still believe this they need to come up with criteria on how to decide the difference between Luke’s creative work and his source.

It has been suggested that the death of Stephen was created out of the death of Jesus because of its many parallels.

He is killed by being stoned to death and I imagine many of us are familiar with the story not in John’s gospel 7:53-8:11 where the adulteress is not stoned because no one picks up the first stone to throw at her. There is huge doubt that in the first century CE the Sanhedrin had the power to sentence anyone to death. Also in the Talmud there is a tradition that instead of everyone throwing stones at a person that person was pushed from a height to their death and if they didn’t die one person would throw a large stone on the chest of the condemned person. There is a hit of this practice in Lk 4:29c-d

“led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong.”

Denis MacDonald believes that Luke was aware of the adulteress story (Jn 7:53-8:11) because there are hits in Luke’s anointing of Jesus by the woman sinner (Lk 7:36-50). If this is so, then the stoning method of that story has been used in his Stephen story.

Shelley Matthews in Perfect Martyr: The Stoning of Stephen and the Construction of Christian states that the Jews killing Stephen divides the Jews from the Gentile Christians in Acts and because of it Christianity moves out from Jerusalem to “the ends of the earth”. Also that thereafter Luke has changed the status of the Jews from being the people of God to being the Jews.

The first Christian writer apart from Luke to refer to the death of Stephen is Irenaeus of Lyon c 180 and this is evidence that the Stephen story was not known until created by Luke in the early second century.

[Secret Alias]

Luke only edited a pre-existent Hebrew Acts known to Epiphanius. The Stephen story is certainly older than Luke's redaction of Acts. Stephen exhibits typical Samaritan sectatian interests. His speech has been often noted to exhibit Samaritan traits

[Michael BG]

Luke only edited a pre-existent Hebrew Acts known to Epiphanius. The Stephen story is certainly older than Luke's redaction of Acts. Stephen exhibits typical Samaritan sectatian interests. His speech has been often noted to exhibit Samaritan traits

Do you mean Epiphanius of Salamis born c 315? Is there a scholarly discussion of this Hebrew Acts on the internet and if it was just a copy of Acts translated into Hebrew?

I know that some scholars often write about the Aramaic which they see behind some of the early speeches in Acts. I think someone has made a case that Stephen’s speech is continued in one of Paul’s in Acts. Are there any scholarly discussions of the Samaritan interests behind the Stephen story on the internet?

[outhouse]

Do you mean Epiphanius of Salamis

No

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphanes_(gnostic)

[I stand corrected.]

[outhouse]

There is huge doubt that in the first century CE the Sanhedrin had the power to sentence anyone to death.


.

You need sources for this.

The temple authorities under Roman authority could arrest and punish people, it was the national treasury.

Fiction may be claiming the Sanhedrin were even involved.

The Jews wanting to stone the women, is a separate traditions from Stephens accounts. It lends historicity to some extent to each account.


Now if you had some church father complaining about this not being a tradition, you might have something beyond the guesses your providing.

[outhouse]

. I recognised that he created the Council of Jerusalem

.

Does anyone with credibility make this claim? Provide sources please.

I believe the Council is mythology that may have a unknown historical core to said geographic location.


But as far as I know this was a pre existing tradition the community compiled into the text.

[Ben C. Smith]

Luke only edited a pre-existent Hebrew Acts known to Epiphanius. The Stephen story is certainly older than Luke's redaction of Acts. Stephen exhibits typical Samaritan sectatian interests. His speech has been often noted to exhibit Samaritan traits

Do you mean Epiphanius of Salamis born c 315?

I feel pretty certain that Epiphanius of Salamis is indeed the author in question; in book 30 of the Panarion he writes:

3:8 But some may already have replied that the Gospel of John too, translated from Greek to Hebrew, is in the Jewish treasuries, I mean the treasuries at Tiberias, and is stored there secretly, as certain Jewish converts have described to me in detail.
3:9 And not only that, but it is said that the book of the Acts of the Apostles, also translated from Greek to Hebrew, is there in the treasuries [οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων τὴν βίβλον ὡσαύτως ἀπὸ Ἑλλάδος γλώσσης εἰς Ἑβραΐδα μεταληφθεῖσαν λόγος ἔχει ἐκεῖσε κεῖσθαι ἐν τοῖς γαζοφυλακίοις], so that the Jews who have read it, the ones who told me about it, have been converted to Christ from this.

Ben.

[DCHindley]

Luke only edited a pre-existent Hebrew Acts known to Epiphanius. The Stephen story is certainly older than Luke's redaction of Acts. Stephen exhibits typical Samaritan sectatian interests. His speech has been often noted to exhibit Samaritan traits

Do you mean Epiphanius of Salamis born c 315?

I feel pretty certain that Epiphanius of Salamis is indeed the author in question; in book 30 of the Panarion he writes:

3:8 But some may already have replied that the Gospel of John too, translated from Greek to Hebrew, is in the Jewish treasuries, I mean the treasuries at Tiberias, and is stored there secretly, as certain Jewish converts have described to me in detail.
3:9 And not only that, but it is said that the book of the Acts of the Apostles, also translated from Greek to Hebrew, is there in the treasuries [οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων τὴν βίβλον ὡσαύτως ἀπὸ Ἑλλάδος γλώσσης εἰς Ἑβραΐδα μεταληφθεῖσαν λόγος ἔχει ἐκεῖσε κεῖσθαι ἐν τοῖς γαζοφυλακίοις], so that the Jews who have read it, the ones who told me about it, have been converted to Christ from this.

Ben.

The same Epiphanius who makes fun of the Jewish ἀποστολή by referencing the antics of one, named Joseph of Tiberias, with whom he had associated and who later embraced Christianity (per the Jewish Encyclopedia)? Epiphanius knew the man before he became a Christian, if I understand the gist of things, so that whatever this man may have subsequently communicated to Ep. may have been in the form of gossip or rumor passed on to him by intermediaries.

I also heard from similarly reliable sources that Stalin confessed his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior on his deathbed, as Lenin had done before him.

DCH

[Ben C. Smith]

The same Epiphanius who makes fun of the Jewish ἀποστολή by referencing the antics of one, named Joseph of Tiberias, with whom he had associated and who later embraced Christianity (per the Jewish Encyclopedia)? Epiphanius knew the man before he became a Christian, if I understand the gist of things, so that whatever this man may have subsequently communicated to Ep. may have been in the form of gossip or rumor passed on to him by intermediaries.

I also heard from similarly reliable sources that Stalin confessed his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior on his deathbed, as Lenin had done before him.

Whoa there, tiger. I am not vouching for the veracity of the information itself; I have no horse in that race. I am merely giving the passage I believe was being referred to, since somebody else had suggested a completely different author.

[DCHindley]

...I think someone has made a case that Stephen’s speech is continued in one of Paul’s in Acts. Are there any scholarly discussions of the Samaritan interests behind the Stephen story on the internet?

I do not recall any, although SA will correct me if I am wrong about that (obviously he thinks that Stephen's speech does). About the only thing "Samaritan" about it might be the statement that the temple in Jerusalem is not necessary to the Judean cultus, but built much later than the time when the tabernacle with the Ark of the Covenant was carried about and otherwise set up in a tent.

But didn't Samaritans claim that the true cultic "temple" belongs on Mt. Gerizim? Stephen is made to say that a temple structure was an abomination. Now at this time the Samaritan temple had long ago been laid waste by the Judeans, so this could be a Samaritan rationalization just as much as a Judean one.

While SA might prefer to see this as an indication of Samaritan polemics against the Judean temple, I tend to think that the part from Acts 7:2 up to 7:50 is some sort of Judean work rationalizing the value of an already destroyed temple in Jerusalem for the continuation of Judean worship of God. It also dates Acts to after the war, long enough after for Judean author of the source to have thoroughly rationalized away the significance of the temple's destruction. That this section of the speech has the appearance of being thoroughly Judean in POV seems obvious from the details given, but since Samaritans shared the same history as the period described, its Judean origin is not a "slam dunk" conclusion.*

In 7:51 the speech suddenly turns into vitriolic polemic against the Judeans:

"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 7:52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 7:53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

This sounds a little "Paulish" (the law delivered by angels, Galatians 3:19c "and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary [i.e., Moses, see Exodus 19:6-9]). There is also a superficial similarity of theme with Stephen's speech in a speech placed in the mouth of Paul in Acts 13:16-23,** but since the author of Acts probably made up all the speeches, except where he might be reproducing a source such as 7:2-50, I would expect all the speeches to resemble on another in theme. See the attached file and judge for yourself.

DCH

*

Acts 7:2 And Stephen said: "Brethren and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 7:3 and said to him, 'Depart from your land and from your kindred and go into the land which I will show you.' 7:4 Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living; 7:5 yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him in possession and to his posterity after him, though he had no child. 7:6 And God spoke to this effect, that his posterity would be aliens in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and ill-treat them four hundred years. 7:7 'But I will judge the nation which they serve,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.' 7:8a And he gave him the covenant of circumcision.

Acts 7:8b And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 7:9 "And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, 7:10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and over all his household. 7:11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time. 7:13 And at the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 7:14 And Joseph sent and called to him Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five souls; 7:15 and Jacob went down into Egypt. And he died, himself and our fathers, 7:16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Acts 7:17 "But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 7:18 till there arose over Egypt another king who had not known Joseph. 7:19 He dealt craftily with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, that they might not be kept alive. 7:20 At this time Moses was born, and was beautiful before God. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house; 7:21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 7:22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 7:23 "When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. 7:24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking the Egyptian. 7:25 He supposed that his brethren understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand. 7:26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and would have reconciled them, saying, 'Men, you are brethren, why do you wrong each other?' 7:27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 7:28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' 7:29 At this retort Moses fled, and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 7:30 "Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 7:31 When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to look, the voice of the Lord came, 7:32 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 7:33 And the Lord said to him, 'Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 7:34 I have surely seen the ill-treatment of my people that are in Egypt and heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.' 7:35 "This Moses whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' God sent as both ruler and deliverer by the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush. 7:36 He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

Acts 7:37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 'God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up.' 7:38 This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living oracles to give to us. 7:39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 7:40 saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the works of their hands. 7:42 But God turned and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'Did you offer to me slain beasts and sacrifices, forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 7:43 And you took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of the god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon.'

Acts 7:44 "Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 7:45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations which God thrust out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 7:46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked leave to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. 7:47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 7:48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands; as the prophet says, 7:49 'Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 7:50 Did not my hand make all these things?'

**

13:16a So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: 13:16b "Men of Israel, and you that fear God, listen. 13:17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 13:18 And for about forty years he bore with them in the wilderness. 13:19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years. 13:20 And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 13:21 Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; of whom he testified and said, 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.' 13:23 Of this man's posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.