11 So in secret they bribed men to lie: "We heard him cursing Moses and God." 12 That stirred up the people, the religious leaders, and religion scholars. They grabbed Stephen and took him before the High Council 13 They put forward their bribed witnesses to testify: "This man talks nonstop against this Holy Place and God's Law.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 6:11-13
Commentary on Acts 6:8-15
(Read Acts 6:8-15)
When they could not answer Stephen's arguments as a disputant, they prosecuted him as a criminal, and brought false witnesses against him. And it is next to a miracle of providence, that no greater number of religious persons have been murdered in the world, by the way of perjury and pretence of law, when so many thousands hate them, who make no conscience of false oaths. Wisdom and holiness make a man's face to shine, yet will not secure men from being treated badly. What shall we say of man, a rational being, yet attempting to uphold a religious system by false witness and murder! And this has been done in numberless instances. But the blame rests not so much upon the understanding, as upon the heart of a fallen creature, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Yet the servant of the Lord, possessing a clear conscience, cheerful hope, and Divine consolations, may smile in the midst of danger and death.