6:9 {7} Then there arose certain of the {h} synagogue, which is called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
(7) Schools and universities in ancient times were addicted to false pastors, and were the instruments of Satan to spread abroad and defend false doctrines.
(h) Of the people and the school, as it were.
6:9 There arose certain of the synagogue. This was the ordinary place of worship where Jews met on the Sabbath. The Rabbis say (Talmud) that there were 480 synagogues in Jerusalem.
Of the Libertines. The Freedmen. Thousands of Jews had been carried away captives and sold into slavery by Pompey in 63 B.C. These, or their children, were mostly freed at a later period. Those of them who returned to Jerusalem had a synagogue of their own.
And Cyrenians. A synagogue of. See PNT Ac 2:10. The Cyrenian Jews who returned to the city of their fathers, like those of other countries, had their own synagogues.
Alexandrians. Jews from the great city of Alexandria in Egypt, where they were said to be almost one-third of the population.
Of Cilicia. Of this synagogue the brilliant disciple of Gamaliel, born at Tarsus of Cilicia, was no doubt a member, and one of the most active opposers of Stephen. See Ac 7:58.
Of Asia. The Roman province in Asia Minor of which Ephesus was capital.
Disputing with Stephen. These synagogues were all composed of Grecians, foreign Jews. See PNT Ac 6:1. Stephen's name is also Grecian, and he probably preached especially to his own class.
6:9 There arose certain of the synagogue which is called - It was one and the same synagogue which consisted of these several nations. Saul of Cilicia was doubtless a member of it; whence it is not at all improbable, that Gamaliel presided over it. Libertines - So they were styled, whose fathers were once slaves, and afterward made free. This was the ease of many Jews who had been taken captive by the Romans.
6:8-15 When they could not answer Stephen's arguments as a disputant, they prosecuted him as a criminal, and brought false witnesses against him. And it is next to a miracle of providence, that no greater number of religious persons have been murdered in the world, by the way of perjury and pretence of law, when so many thousands hate them, who make no conscience of false oaths. Wisdom and holiness make a man's face to shine, yet will not secure men from being treated badly. What shall we say of man, a rational being, yet attempting to uphold a religious system by false witness and murder! And this has been done in numberless instances. But the blame rests not so much upon the understanding, as upon the heart of a fallen creature, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Yet the servant of the Lord, possessing a clear conscience, cheerful hope, and Divine consolations, may smile in the midst of danger and death.
