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Acts 7 · a question people ask

Stephen sees the Son of Man "standing at the right hand of God" (7:56). Why standing?

In the text

Acts doesn't say. The chapter says standing twice: Stephen "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" (7:55), and Stephen says, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" (7:56). Neither verse gives a reason, and nothing else in the chapter does. These notes don't give one either.

The verses

“But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!””
Acts 7:55-56 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Acts 7

Acts 7: I see the heavens opened

Stephen's first words are of "The God of glory" (7:2), and at the end he "saw the glory of God" (7:55): in Acts's Greek, one noun. All through his story he says "our fathers", until "As your fathers did, so you do" (7:51).

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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