However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
Parallel translations
- WEB However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,
- KJV Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
- NKJV “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
- NASB However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
- NLT However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Most High does not dwell in temples made by human hands, as the prophet declared. God's presence cannot be contained or localized in a building.
Overview
Stephen makes his pivotal point: God is not confined to man-made temples (1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1-2). This answers the charge that he spoke against the temple by affirming a truth Scripture itself teaches. It also points forward to the new covenant reality that God dwells with His people by His Spirit, not in a building of stone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Acts 17:24–25The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.
- Isa 66:1–2This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- 1 Kgs 8:27But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- 2 Chr 2:5–6The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
- 2 Chr 6:18But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Ps 91:9Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High—
- Ps 91:1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Ps 92:8But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!
- Dan 4:17This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’
- Dan 4:24–25This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:
- Ps 7:17I will thank the LORD for His righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
- Dan 4:34But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- Deut 32:8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
- Ps 46:4There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
- Hos 7:16They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 7:48 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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