The life and work of St. Paul

THE LIFE AND WOEK OP ST. PAUL.
came upon him that now was the time to speak out that this was the
destined moment in which, even if need be to the death, he was to bear
witness to the inner meaning of the Kingdom of his Lord. That conviction
an inspiration from on high gave unwonted grandeur and hcavenliuess
to his look, his words, his attitude. His whole bearing was ennobled, his
whole being was transfigured by a consciousness which illuminated his
very countenance. It is probable
that the unanimous tradition of the
Church is correct in representing him as youthful and beautiful ; but now
there was something about him far more beautiful than youth or beauty
could bestow. In the spiritual light which radiated from him he seemed
to be overshadowed by the Shechinah, which had so long vanished from
between the wings of the Temple cherubim. While the witnesses had
been delivering their testimony, no one had observed the sudden brightness
which seemed to be stealing over him; but when the charge was finished,
and every eye was turned from the accusers to a fixed gaze on the accused, 1
all who were seated
probability, was Saul
of an angel."
in
of
the Sanhedrin and one of the number, in all
Tarsus
"
saw his face as it had been the face
Jn the sudden hush that followed, the voice of the High Priest Jonathan
was heard putting to the accused the customary and formal question
" Are these things so ? " a
In reply to that question began the speech which is one of the earliest,
as it is one of the most interesting, documents of the Christian Church.
Although it was delivered before the Sanhedrin, there can be little doubt
that it was delivered in Greek, which, in the bilingual condition of Palestine
and, indeed, of the civilised world in general at that time, would be
perfectly understood by the members of the Sanhedrin, and which was
perhaps the only language which Stephen could speak with fluency. 8 The
quotations from the Old Testament follow the Septuagint, even where it
differs from the Hebrew, and the individuality which characterises almost
every sentence of the speech forbids us to look on it as a mere conjectural
paraphrase. There is no difficulty in accounting for its preservation. Apart
from the fact that two secretaries were always present at the judicial
proceedings of the Sanhedrin,4 there are words and utterances which, at
certain times, are branded indelibly upon the memory of their hearers ; and
since we can trace the deep impression made by this speech on the mind of
1 Acts vi. 15, aTeviVaire* s OVT&V airavrw.
2 St. Chrysostom sees in the apparent mildness of the question an indication that the
High Priest and the Sanhedrin were awed by the supernatural brightness of the martyr's
look opos (of ficrii cirieiKetaf ^ pu'T7)(7ts KOI ovSev rfwt ^)OpTi(cby Ixovo-a J (ffomil. XV. 171 Act.),
But the question appears to have been a regular formula of interrogation. It was, in
fact, the "Guilty or Not Guilty?" of the Jewish Supreme Court.
3 Against this view are urged (1) the unlikelihood that St. Stephen would have
pleaded in Greek before the Sanhedrin ; (2) the use of the Hebraism ovpavoi in Acts vii.
58. But as to 1, if even Philo knew no Hebrew, Stephen may have known none ; and,
2, the word ovpai-ot points to a special Jewish belief, independent of language.
4 See Jahn, Archaeol. Bibl. 248. He quotes no authority, and I at first felt soma
doubt about the assertion, but I find it so stated in the Mi shim, Sankcdr. iv. 2.