Stee´vuhn
A leader in the early Jerusalem church whose story appears in (Acts 6:1-8:2). The other references to Stephen in the NT refer to this story (Acts 11:19; Acts 22:20). According to (Acts 6:1-6), a dispute had developed in the Jerusalem church between the “Hellenists” (probably Jewish Christians whose first language was Greek) and the “Hebrews” (Jewish Christians who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic). In order to resolve the dispute, seven Hellenists were chosen for positions of leadership, one of whom was Stephen. Stephen is portrayed in Acts as a bold man, wise, full of faith, and possessed of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5; Acts 6:8; Acts 6:10). The speech of Stephen in (Acts 7:2-53) is presented as Stephen’s defense of his position. The essential point is that Israel has always been slow to accept any new activity of God. According to Acts, this message angered Stephen’s audience, and he was stoned to death (vv. 54–58).
