Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Acts: Chapter 7]
7:46 {Asked} (\•it•sato\). Aorist middle (indirect) indicative,
asked for himself (as a favour to himself). Cf. 2Sa 7:2f. {A
habitation} (\sk•n•ma\). Like Ps 132:5, but it was a house that
David proposed to build (2Sa 7:2), not a tent (\sk•n•\) which
already existed. \Sk•n•ma\ here means a more permanent abode
(\oikon\, house, in verse 47), though from the same root as
\sk•n•\.
7:48 {Howbeit} (\all'\). By contrast with what Solomon did and
David planned. Note emphatic position of "not" (\all' ouch\),
"But not does the Most High dwell." The presence of the Most High
is not confined in any building, even one so splendid as
Solomon's Temple as Solomon himself foresaw and acknowledged in
his prayer (1Ki 8:27; 2Ch 6:18). {In houses made with hands}
(\en cheiropoi•tois\). No word here for "houses" or "temples" in
correct text (\naois\ temples in Textus Receptus). Literally, "In
things made with hands" (\cheir\, hand, \poi•tos\, verbal
adjective of \poie•\). It occurs in Mr 14:58 of the temple and
of the sanctuary of Moab (Isa 16:12). It occurs also in Ac
7:24; Heb 9:11,24; Eph 2:11. Common in the old Greek. {The
prophet} (\ho proph•t•s\). Isa 66:1. Isaiah taught plainly that
heaven is God's throne.
7:49 {What manner of house} (\Poion oikon\). What sort of a
house? This interrogative is sometimes scornful as in 4:7; Lu
6:32ff. (Page). So Stephen shows by Isaiah that Solomon was
right that the temple was not meant to "confine" God's presence
and that Jesus had rightly shown that God is a spirit and can be
worshipped anywhere by any individual of any race or land. It is
a tremendous argument for the universality and spirituality of
Christianity free from the shackles of Jewish racial and national
limitations, but its very strength only angered the Sanhedrin to
desperation.
7:51 {Stiffnecked} (\skl•rotrach•loi\). From \skl•ros\ (hard) and
\trach•los\, neck, both old words, but this compound only in the
LXX and here alone in the N.T. Critics assume that Stephen was
interrupted at this point because of the sharp tone of the
speech. That may be true, but the natural climax is sufficient
explanation. {Uncircumcised in heart} (\aperitm•toi kardiais\).
Late adjective common in LXX and here only in the N.T. Verbal of
\peritemn•\, to cut around and \a\ privative. Both of these
epithets are applied to the Jews in the O.T. (Ex 32:9; 33:3,5;
34:9; Le 26:41; De 9:6; Jer 6:10). \Kardiais\ is locative plural
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