‘Was it not My hand that made all these things?’
Parallel translations
- WEB Didn’t my hand make all these things?’
- KJV Hath not my hand made all these things?
- BSB Has not My hand made all these things?’
- NKJV Has My hand not made all these things?’
- NLT Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’
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
God reminds them that His own hand made all things. The Creator owns and transcends everything, so He needs no house from man.
Overview
Stephen completes the Isaiah quotation: God made all things (Isaiah 66:2). Since everything is His handiwork, no human construction can add to or contain Him. This caps his argument that true worship is not bound to the temple but offered to the God who made and rules all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 32:17“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
- Isa 66:2For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but to this man will I look, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
- Ps 33:6–9By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- Exod 20:11for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
- Isa 40:28Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
- Ps 146:5–6Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Yahweh, his God:
- Isa 45:12I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army.
- Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
- Jer 10:11“You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.’”
- Isa 45:7–8I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.
- Ps 50:9–12I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens.
- Isa 44:24Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 7:50 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.