from the Chalybes of the Pontus, the iron smiths of the ancient world. The hardening of iron for
cutting instruments was practiced in Pontus, Lydia and Laconia. There is, however, a word in
hebrew, paldah, which occurs only in (Nahum 2:3) (4) and is there rendered “torches,” but which
most probably denotes steel or hardened iron, and refers to the flashing scythes of the Assyrian
chariots. Steel appears to have been known to the Egyptians. The steel weapons in the tomb of
Rameses III., says Wilkinson, are painted blue, the bronze red.
Stephanas
a Christian convert of Corinth whose household Paul baptized as the “first-fruits of Achaia.”
(1 Corinthians 1:16; 16:15) (A.D. 53.)
Stephen
the first Christian martyr, was the chief of the seven (commonly called Deacons) appointed to
rectify the complaints in the early Church of Jerusalem, made by the Hellenistic against the hebrew
Christians. His Greek name indicates his own Hellenistic origin. His importance is stamped on the
narrative by a reiteration of emphatic, almost superlative, phrases: “full of faith and of the Holy
Ghost,” (Acts 6:5) “full of grace and power,” ibid. (Acts 6:8) irresistible “spirit and wisdom,” ibid
(Acts 6:10) “full of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 7:55) He shot far ahead of his six companions, and far
above his particular office. First, he arrests attention by the “great wonders and miracles that he
did.” Then begins a series of disputations with the Hellenistic Jews of north Africa, Alexandria and
Asia Minor, his companions in race and birthplace. The subject of these disputations is not expressly
mentioned; but from what follows it is obvious that he struck into a new vein of teaching, which
evidently caused his martyrdom. Down to this time the apostles and the early Christian community
had clung in their worship, not merely to the holy land and the holy city but to the holy place of
the temple. This local worship, with the Jewish customs belonging to it, Stephen denounced. So
we must infer from the accusations brought against him confirmed as they are by the tenor of his
defence. He was arrested at the instigation of the Hellenistic Jews, and brought before the Sanhedrin.
His speech in his defence, and his execution by stoning outside the gates of Jerusalem, are related
at length in Acts 7. The frame work in which his defence is cast is a summary of the history of the
Jewish Church. In the facts which he selects from his history he is guided by two principles. The
first is the endeavor to prove that, even in the previous Jewish history, the presence and favor of
God had not been confined to the holy land or the temple of Jerusalem. The second principle of
selection is based on the at tempt to show that there was a tendency from the earliest times toward
the same ungrateful and narrow spirit that had appeared in this last stage of their political existence.
It would seem that, just at the close of his argument, Stephen saw a change in the aspect of his
judges, as if for the first time they had caught the drift of his meaning. He broke off from his calm
address, and tumult suddenly upon them in an impassioned attack, which shows that he saw what
was in store for him. As he spoke they showed by their faces that their hearts “were being sawn
asunder,” and they kept gnashing their set teeth against him; but still, though with difficultly,
restraining themselves. He, in this last crisis of his fate, turned his face upward to the; open sky,
and as he gazed the vault of heaven seemed to him to part asunder; and the divine Glory appeared
through the rending of the earthly veil—the divine Presence, seated on a throne, and on the right
hand the human form of Jesus. Stephen spoke as if to himself, describing the glorious vision; and
in so doing, alone of all the speakers and writers in the New Testament except, only Christ himself,
uses the expressive phrase “the Son of man.” As his judges heard the words, they would listen no
longer. They broke into, a loud yell; they clapped their hands to their ears; they flew as with one
frankie
(Frankie)
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