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Acts 6 · a question people ask

Did Stephen say what the witnesses said he said?

In the text

Acts doesn't record him saying it. It tells that some "arose, disputing with Stephen" (6:9), and "They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke" (6:10). "Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”" (6:11). At the council they "set up false witnesses" (6:13), who said, "This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us." (6:13-14). Acts calls them false witnesses, and gives no words of Stephen in this chapter. In the next chapter the high priest asks, "Are these things so?" (7:1), and Stephen's words follow. These notes leave his words to that chapter, and apply the accusers' words to no one today.

The verses

“The high priest said, “Are these things so?””
Acts 7:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Acts 6

Acts 6: Full of faith and of the Holy Spirit

In Greek, the "daily service" in which the widows were neglected (6:1) and the twelve's "ministry of the word" (6:4) are one noun, diakonia. And the two things the twelve asked for in the seven, "full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom" (6:3), come back in what those who disputed with Stephen "weren’t able to withstand": "the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke" (6:10).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions