Ryan Hennesy

OT/NT 3380
Dr. Clifton Black
11/27/11

Exegesis Exploration of Acts 6:1-7

I. Introduction
Acts 6:1-7, NASB:
Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a
complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native
Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily
serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the
disciples and said, It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God
in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you
seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom
we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to
prayer and to the ministry of the word. The statement found approval
with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of
faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon,
Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they
brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on
them. The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the
disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many
of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
I prefer the NASB because in my translation experience, this
version consistently presents an English translation that most closely

resembles what I produce. The interpretive decisions made in the

translation of the NASB closely align with the decisions I tend to make.
It is a reliable translation.
There do not appear to be any significant textual variants within
my passage. The history of reproduction and translation of this
particular text seems relatively straightforward. It is true, however,
that the phrase of food (v. 1) is not in the original Greek, but is
instead an interpretive inclusion. It is possible that the distribution
might have been money, or some other necessity.1
I have chosen to delimit the passage to this section for several
reasons. First, the passage clearly changes focal points from the end of
chapter five into the beginning of chapter six. Acts 5 ends with an
account of apostles being persecuted and the continued success of
preaching; Acts 6 begins a new narrative thought about issues within
the new group of believers, as opposed to pressure from without.
Secondly, the latter half of chapter six (verses 8-15) is an introduction
into the story of Stephens martyrdom. Again, the theme shifts, this
time from the resolution of fracturing arguments within the fledgling
organization to oppression against the community from without. Acts
6:1-7 is a self-contained episode that gives a glimpse into the growing
pains of the early church.
II. Literary Analysis:

1 Horton, ACTS, 134

The book of Acts is generally considered the second volume of the

apostle Lukes two volume historiography of the early church and its
context. Luke is virtually undisputed as the author of Luke-Acts despite
his not being named within the text itself, due to the clear relation of
the introductions of the works and the authors use of first-person
pronouns in sections describing events in which Luke would have
participated.
This particular pericope is an account of a single event in the
string of historical proceedings regarding the establishment and
development of the first-century church. One of the central themes in
Acts is the relationship of believers with their surrounding society and
with themselves. The account in Acts 6:1-7 falls squarely into this
theme.
Luke uses the term diakonein, which, in early Greek was to keep
wine glasses full. By New Testament times, the meaning had
broadened to be used of any type of service. Interestingly, the words
service in verse two and ministry in verse four are both from this
same root. Therefore, Luke is suggesting that serving tables and
ministering the word are the same basic activity. This is particularly
important in the establishment of the office of deacon, which,
arguably, occurs right here in this passage. In fact, later New
Testament authors, including Paul, may have referred to this passage
as the inaugural election of the office of deacon within the church.

III. Theological Analysis

At the beginning of this account, Luke outlined for the reader the
issue that was arising in this young community. The influx of new
members to any multitude will almost always bring communal conflict;
this case was no exception. Here in chapter six, the problem was
regarding care of the poor, specifically, widows. The early church had
set up a kind of Social Security system that allowed the widows, the
most needy among them, to survive. However, some of the Hellenistic
recipients of this goodwill were being overlooked. Most scholars believe
Hellenistic refers to the ethnic origin of these widows. In all
likelihood, all the widows were Jewish, but some were probably born in
Israel and Judea while others were born in outlying provinces. The
Hebrew widows would have been able to speak both Aramaic (or
possibly ancient Hebrew) and Greek, while the foreign widows likely
only spoke Greek.
Maybe these widows were being overlooked because of the
language difference, or maybe the people in charge of distribution
were overlooking the Hellenistic widows intentionally; whatever the
case, cultural biases played a part. There was certainly a racial aspect
to this controversy. But, getting the problematic distribution of food (or
money) corrected would not itself settle the community. The problem
was not just the distribution of money, not just business; relationships

within the Church needed the continuing wisdom and direction of the
Spirit as well.2
The response of the 12 apostles, while effectively diplomatic, was
curious. They tried to solve both problems: the obvious one at hand
(distribution to widows) and the underlying issue (communal discord).
To the apostles, and to Luke, both the care of the needy and the unity
of the church were of theological import. Simultaneously, the church
leaders needed to keep their focus on the calling Christ had given
them, namely, to preach the gospel. They did this by proposing a new
administrative office.
By allowing the multitude to select the candidates for this new
office of deacon the apostles were recognizing the ability of all
believers to hear from and be led by the Holy Spirit. The leaders
realized the necessity for these new leaders to be full of the Spirit and
wisdom, especially if the daily distribution was of funds, rather than
food. However, the way the apostles empowered the crowd deserves
some consideration. They claim, It is not desirable for us to neglect
the word of God in order to serve tables.3 A cursory reading of this
reasoning leads a reader to conclude that the apostles thought that
this serving tables was beneath them. While one could argue this, it
2 Stanley M. Horton, Acts : a Logion Press commentary (Springfield, Mo.: Logion Press,
2001), 136.
3 Parenthetically, the Greek word used here for tables, trapezais, is the same word used in
the Gospels of the moneychangers tables that Jesus turned over in the temple (Matt
21:12; Mark 11:15). It is used alternatively in scripture to refer to tables upon which food
is set (Mark 7:28; Acts 16:34)

seems unlikely, based on the connection pointed out earlier: the

apostles used the same word for their service of the word and the new
deacons service of the tables.
The primary focus of this passage relative to the case study is this
establishment of the church office of deacon.

Bibliography
Horton, Stanley M. Acts : A Logion Press Commentary. Springfield, Mo.: Logion Press,
2001.