But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.
Parallel translations
- WEB But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.
- KJV Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
- BSB At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.
- NKJV Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
- NLT Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him
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 crowd shouted, covered their ears, and rushed at Stephen together. They refused to hear the truth and moved to silence him violently.
Overview
Unable to bear Stephen's testimony, the council stopped their ears and rushed him as one (compare Acts 7:51, resisting the Spirit). Covering their ears dramatizes their willful refusal to listen. Their unified violence shows how rejection of Christ hardens into murderous hostility.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Zech 7:11But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
- Acts 23:27“This man was seized by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them, when I came with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman.
- Ps 58:4Their poison is like the poison of a snake; like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
- Acts 21:27–31When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him,
- Prov 21:13Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
- Acts 7:54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
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 7:57 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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