SEV Biblia, Chapter 7:2
Y l dijo: Varones hermanos y padres, oíd: El Dios de la gloria apareci a nuestro padre Abraham, estando en Mesopotamia, antes que morase en Harn,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 7:2
Verse 2. Men, brethren, and fathers] Rather, brethren and fathers, for andrev should not be translated separately from adelfoi. Literally it is men-brethren, a very usual form in Greek; for every person knows that andrev aqhnaioi and andrev persai should not be translated men-Athenians and men- Persians, but simply Athenians and Persians. See chap. xvii. 22. So, in Luke ii. 15, anqrwpoi poimenev should be translated shepherds, not men-shepherds. And anqrwpov basileuv Matt. xviii. 23, should not be translated man-king, but king, simply. By translating as we do, men, brethren, and fathers, and putting a comma after men, we make Stephen address three classes, when in fact there were but two: the elders and scribes, whom he addressed as fathers; and the common people, whom he calls brethren. See Bp. Pearce, and see chap. viii. 27. The God of glory appeared, &c.] As Stephen was now vindicating himself from the false charges brought against him, he shows that he had uttered no blasphemy, either against God, Moses, or the temple; but states that his accusers, and the Jews in general, were guilty of the faults with which they charged him: that they had from the beginning rejected and despised Moses, and had always violated his laws. He proceeds to state that there is no blasphemy in saying that the temple shall be destroyed: they had been without a temple till the days of David; nor does God ever confine himself to temples built by hands, seeing he fills both heaven and earth; that Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses spoke, and whom they had persecuted, condemned, and at last put to death; that they were wicked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears, and always resisted the Holy Ghost as their fathers did. This is the substance of St. Stephen's defense as far as he was permitted to make it: a defense which they could not confute; containing charges which they most glaringly illustrated and confirmed, by adding the murder of this faithful disciple to that of his all-glorious Master.
Was in Mesopotamia] In that part of it where Ur of the Chaldees was situated, near to BHebel, and among the rivers, (Tigris and Euphrates,) which gave the name of Mesopotamia to the country. See the note on Gen. xi. 31.
Before he dwelt in Charran] This is called Haran in our translation of Gen. xi. 31; this place also belonged to Mesopotamia, as well as Ur, but is placed west of it on the maps. It seems most probable that Abraham had two calls, one in Ur, and the other in Haran. He left Ur at the first call, and came to Haran; he left Haran at the second call, and came into the promised land. See these things more particularly stated in the notes on Gen. xii. 1.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 2. And he said , etc.] Stephen replied, in answer to the high priests question, and addressed himself to the whole sanhedrim, saying: men, brethren, and fathers, hearken ; to the following oration and defence; he calls them men, brethren, by an usual Hebraism, that is, brethren; and that, because they were of the same nation; for it was common with the Jews to call those of their own country and religion, brethren; and he calls them fathers, because of their age and dignity, being the great council of the nation, and chosen out of the senior and wiser part of the people: the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham ; he calls God the God of glory, because he is glorious in himself, in all his persons, perfections, and works, and is to be glorified by his people; and his glory is to be sought by all his creatures, and to be the end of all their actions; and the rather he makes use of this epithet of him, to remove the calumny against him, that he had spoke blasphemous things against God; and because God appeared in a glorious manner to Abraham, either in a vision, or by an angel, or in some glorious form, or another; and it is observable, that when the Jews speak of Abrahams deliverance out of the fiery furnace, for so they interpret Ur of the Chaldees, they give to God much such a title; they say f256 the King of glory stretched out his right hand, and delivered him out of the fiery furnace, according to ( Genesis 15:7).
Stephen uses a like epithet; and he calls Abraham our father, he being a Jew, and according to the common usage of the nation: and this appearance of God to Abraham was when he was in Mesopotamia; a country that lay between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, from whence it had its name; and is the same with Aram Naharaim, the Scriptures speak of; (See Gill on Acts 2:9). Of this appearance of God to Abraham, mentioned by Stephen, the Scriptures are silent; but the Jewish writers seem to hint at it, when they say f257 , thus said the holy blessed God to Abraham, as thou hast enlightened for me Mesopotamia and its companions, come and give light before me in the land of Israel.
And again, mentioning those words in ( Isaiah 41:8,9) the seed of Abraham my friend, whom I have taken from the ends of the earth; add by way of explanation, from Mesopotamia and its companions f258 : and this was before he dwelt in Charan ; or Haran; (see Genesis 11:31) where the Septuagint call it Charan, as here; and by Herodish it is called karrai , where Antoninus was killed; and by Pliny f260 , Carra; and by Ptolomy f261 , Carroe; it was famous for the slaughter of M. Crassus, by the Parthians f262 . R. Benjamin gives this account of it in his time f263 ; in two days I came to ancient Haran, and in it were about twenty Jews, and there was as it were a synagogue of Ezra; but in the place where was the house of Abraham our father, there was no building upon it; but the Ishmaelites (or Mahometans) honour that place, and come thither to pray.
Stephanus says it was a city of Mesopotamia, so called from Carra, a river in Syria.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-16 - Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and value himself on it. The slow steps by which the promise made to Abraha advanced toward performance, plainly show that it had a spiritual meaning, and that the land intended was the heavenly. God owned Josep in his troubles, and was with him by the power of his Spirit, both of his own mind by giving him comfort, and on those he was concerned with by giving him favour in their eyes. Stephen reminds the Jews of their mean beginning as a check to priding themselves in the glories of tha nation. Likewise of the wickedness of the patriarchs of their tribes in envying their brother Joseph; and the same spirit was still workin in them toward Christ and his ministers. The faith of the patriarchs in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly showed they ha regard to the heavenly country. It is well to recur to the first ris of usages, or sentiments, which have been perverted. Would we know the nature and effects of justifying faith, we should study the characte of the father of the faithful. His calling shows the power and freenes of Divine grace, and the nature of conversion. Here also we see tha outward forms and distinctions are as nothing, compared with separatio from the world, and devotedness to God.
Greek Textus Receptus
ο 3588 T-NSM δε 1161 CONJ εφη 5346 5713 V-IXI-3S ανδρες 435 N-VPM αδελφοι 80 N-VPM και 2532 CONJ πατερες 3962 N-VPM ακουσατε 191 5657 V-AAM-2P ο 3588 T-NSM θεος 2316 N-NSM της 3588 T-GSF δοξης 1391 N-GSF ωφθη 3700 5681 V-API-3S τω 3588 T-DSM πατρι 3962 N-DSM ημων 2257 P-1GP αβρααμ 11 N-PRI οντι 5607 5752 V-PXP-DSM εν 1722 PREP τη 3588 T-DSF μεσοποταμια 3318 N-DSF πριν 4250 ADV η 2228 PRT κατοικησαι 2730 5658 V-AAN αυτον 846 P-ASM εν 1722 PREP χαρραν 5488 N-PRI
Vincent's NT Word Studies
2. Brethren. Addressing the audience generally.Fathers. Addressing the members of the Sanhedrim.
Of glory. Outward, visible glory, as in the shekinah and the pillar of fire.
Appeared (wfqh). See on Luke xxii. 43.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
7:2 {Brethren and fathers} (andres adelfoi kai pateres). The spectators (brethren) and members of the Sanhedrin (fathers) as Paul in #Ac 22:1. {Hearken} (akousate). First aorist (ingressive) active imperative, Give me your attention now. {The God of glory} (ho qeos tes doxes). The God characterized by glory (genitive case, genus or kind) as seen in the shekinah, the visible radiance of God. Jesus is also called "the Glory"=the shekinah in #Jas 2:1. Cf. #Ex 25:22; 40:34; Le 9:6; Heb 9:5. By these words Stephen refutes the charge of blasphemy against God in #Ac 6:11. {Appeared} (wfqe). First aorist passive indicative of horaw. See on Lu 23:43. Before there was temple or tabernacle and away over in Mesopotamia (Ur of the Chaldees, #Ge 11:31), even before (prin e with the infinitive) he dwelt in Haran (carran, or Carrae not far from Edessa, where Crassus met death after his defeat by the Parthians B.C. 53).
