Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 7:49
Heaven [is] my throne, and earth [is] my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what [is] the place of my rest?
49. Heaven is my throne, &c.] The quotation is nearly verbatim from the LXX.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Heaven is my throne – See the notes on Mat 5:34.
Earth is my footstool – See the notes on Mat 5:35.
What house … – What house or temple can be large or magnificent enough for the dwelling of Him who made all things?
The place of my rest – My home, my abode, my fixed seat or habitation. Compare Psa 95:11.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The place referred unto, is Isa 66:1. What house will ye build me, that shall be big enough for one so great as God is? 1Ki 8:27.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Heaven is my throne,…. There is the seat of the divine Majesty; there his glory is most conspicuous; there he keeps his court, that is his palace; and there are his attendants, the angels; and from thence are the administrations of his regal power and government, over the whole world:
and earth is my footstool; which is under his feet, is subject to him, and at his dispose, and which he makes use of at his pleasure: these things are not to be literally understood, but are images and figures, representing the majesty, sovereignty, and immensity of God; who is the maker of all things, the governor of the universe, and is above all places, and not to be contained in any:
what house will ye build me? saith the Lord; or where can any be built for him, since he already takes up the heaven and the earth? what house can be built by men, or with hands, that can hold him, or is fit for him to dwell in?
or what is the place of my rest? not in any house made with hands, but in the church among his saints, who are the temples of the living God; and this is his rest for ever, and here will he dwell, because he has chosen and desired them, and built them up for an habitation for himself, Ps 132:13
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
What manner of house ( ). What sort of a house? This interrogative is sometimes scornful as in Acts 4:7; Luke 6:32 (Page). So Stephen shows by Isaiah that Solomon was right that the temple was not meant to “confine” God’s presence and that Jesus had rightly shown that God is a spirit and can be worshipped anywhere by any individual of any race or land. It is a tremendous argument for the universality and spirituality of Christianity free from the shackles of Jewish racial and national limitations, but its very strength only angered the Sanhedrin to desperation.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
What house. Rev., more correctly, “what manner of house” [] .
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Heaven is my throne,” (ho ouranos moi thronos) “The (upper) heaven (exists as) a throne to me,” 1Ki 8:27; Mat 5:34; Mat 23:22.
2) “And earth is my footstool: (he de ge hupopodion ton podon mou) “Then the earth area (exists as) a footstool of me,” of my making and my use, Isa 66:1-2; Mat 5:35.
3) “What house will ye build me?” (poion oikon
oikodomesete moi) “What (manner) house will you all build for me?” Act 17:24.
4) “Saith the Lord: (legei kurios) “Inquires the Lord,” Isa 66:1-2.
5) “Or what is the place of my rest?” (e tis topos tes katapauseos mou) “Or what (exists as) the place (location) of my rest?” that you have prepared for me, for worship of me? The idea is that the Lord is not confined to an earthly temple, to worship there only, Joh 4:24.
While the greatest degree of worship and praise to God re today rendered in and thru the church (Eph 3:21), this is not the only place He can be worshipped, honored, and praised, 1Co 10:31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
49. For whereas he saith, that heaven is his seat, and the earth his footstool, it must not be so understood as if he had a body, or could be divided into parts, after the manner of men; but because he is infinity, therefore he saith that he cannot be comprehended within any spaces of place; therefore, those men are deceived who esteem God or his worship according to their own nature; and because the prophet had to deal with hypocrites, he doth not only dispute about the essence of God, but also teacheth generally, that he is far unlike to men, and that he is not moved with the vain pomp of this world as they are. Here ariseth that question also, why the prophet saith that the Lord hath no place of rest in the world, whereas, notwithstanding, the Spirit affirmeth the contrary elsewhere, “This is my rest for ever,” (Psa 132:14.) Moreover, Isaiah doth adorn the Church with this self-same title, that it is the glorious rest of God, alluding unto the temple, I answer, that when God appointed signs of his presence ill the temple, and sacrifices in times past, he did not this to the end he might settle and fasten himself and his power there; therefore, the Israelites did wickedly, who, setting their minds wholly upon the signs, did forge to themselves an earthly God. They dealt also ungodly, who under this color took to themselves liberty to sin, as if they could readily and easily pacify God with bare ceremonies. Thus doth the world use to mock God.
When God doth declare, by the external rites, that he will be present with his, that he may dwell in the midst of them, he commandeth them to lift up their minds, that they may seek him spiritually. Hypocrites, which are entangled in the world, will rather pluck God out of heaven; and whereas they have nothing but vain and bare figures, they are puffed up with such foolish confidence, that they pamper themselves in their sins carelessly, so, at this day, the Papists include Christ in the bread and wine in their imagination; that done, so soon as they have worshipped their idol with foolish worship, they vaunt and crack as if they were as holy as angels. We must diligently note these two vices, that men do superstitiously forge to themselves a carnal and worldly God which doth so come down unto them, that they remain still having their minds set upon the earth, and that they rise not up in mind to heaven. Again, they dream that God is pacified with frivolous obedience; hereby it cometh to pass, that they are besotted in the visible signs; and, secondly, that (465) they go about to bring God indebted to them after a childish manner, and with things which be nothing worth.
Now we understand in what sense the prophet saith that God hath no place of rest in the world. He would, indeed, that the temple should have been a sign and pledge of his presence, yet only to the godly, which did ascend into heaven in heart, which did worship him spiritually with pure faith; but he hath no place of rest with the superstitious, who, through their foolish inventions, tie him unto the elements of the world, or do erect unto him an earthly worship; neither yet with hypocrites, who are puffed up with drunken confidence, as if they had done their duty towards God well, after that they have played in their toys. In sum, the promise received by faith doth cause God to hear us in his temple, as if he were present to show forth his power in the sacraments; but unless we rise up unto him by faith, we shall have no presence of his. Hereby we may easily gather, that when he dwelleth amidst those that be his, he is neither tied to the earth, neither comprehended in any place, because they seek him spiritually in heaven.
(465) “ Neglecta pietate,” neglecting a piety, omitted.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
“The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet.
What manner of house will you build Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?”
And this is also what the prophet Isa 66:1-2 LXX had declared. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, who metaphorically sits in the heavens resting His feet on the earth, and can certainly not be restricted to an earthly building. For He has made all things. Nothing on earth can therefore be made which is suitable for Him, or become a place for Him to stay.
He could not more clearly have put the Temple in its proper place. And those who were clear-headed and thoughtful would at another time and in another place, have agreed with him, if not with the implication that he was making. For all knew that God was above all things and could not be restricted to a Temple, even the Temple in Jerusalem. It was His Name that dwelt there. But the Temple had become a fetish and a superstition. It had become the heart of their religion, taking a place in their hearts which was beyond reason. And to have it so degraded tore at their hearts, even if it did justify what Stephen might previously have said about it.
Stephen Accuses His Accusers.
Up to this point Stephen has on the whole aligned himself with the things that he has portrayed, notice for example ‘ our fathers’ Act 7:38-39; Act 7:44-45. But now suddenly he changes tone in order to apply his message. From this point on he disassociates himself from his listeners, and speaks firmly of ‘You’. What he now has to say he himself cannot be accused of for he has responded to the Saviour. Perhaps the change came because he sensed a changed atmosphere in the Tribunal and saw from their behaviour that they were about to silence him. Perhaps what he had described so moved his godly heart that he was horrified at the thought of what these men were guilty of. Perhaps he was simply firmly applying what he had said in order to achieve conviction of sin. Whichever way it was, his words now became pointed, personal and unavoidable.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Ver. 49. Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool ] And accordingly there are Bona throni good of the throne and bona scabelli, good of the footstools, as the schools distinguish. God and his graces are the good things of his throne: earth and outward comforts are the good things of his footstool. These we may have, but not love (God hath put all things under our feet, Psa 8:6 ). Those we must covet and aspire unto. But with most men today the word and the world may seem altered and inverted; earth is their throne, and heaven is their footstool; so little they look after this, and so much that. The Duke of Alva said, he had so much to do on earth, that he had no time to look after heaven.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Act 7:49 . for , and introducing the conclusion instead of -Although Solomon had expressed this same truth in the dedicatory prayer of his temple, St. Stephen appeals to the great Messianic prophet. It is not, as some have thought, the worthlessness of the temple, but rather its relative value upon which Stephen insists. Those who take the former view of the words must suppose that St. Stephen had forgotten that Solomon had given utterance to the same thought at the moment when he was consecrating the temple (so Wendt, Felten, McGiffert, in loco ). Weiss sees in the question another proof of the thought running through the whole address, that God’s presence, with the blessings which He confers and the revelations which He imparts, is not confined to the temple: cf. the use of the same quotation as here against the Jews, Epist. Barn. , xvi., 2, after the destruction of the temple.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
earth. Greek. ge, as in Act 7:3.
My footstool = the footstool of my feet, as in Act 2:35. Compare Mat 5:35, and see note on Mat 22:44.
what = what kind of.
rest. Greek. katapausis. Only here; Heb 3:11, Heb 3:18; Heb 4:1, Heb 4:3, Heb 4:3, Heb 4:5, Heb 4:10, Heb 4:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Act 7:49. , …) Isa 66:1-2, in the Septuag., , , ; ; .-, of My rest) The Gentiles made for their gods cushioned couches.[54] The false use of the temple is hereby reproved.
[54] Pulvinaria, on which their gods were supposed to recline at the banquet called lectisternium.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Lord
Jehovah. Isa 66:1; Isa 66:2.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Heaven: 1Ki 22:19, Psa 11:4, Jer 23:24, Mat 5:34, Mat 5:35, Mat 23:22, Rev 3:21
what house: Jer 7:4-11, Mal 1:11, Mat 24:2, Joh 4:21
Reciprocal: Exo 17:16 – Because Deu 26:15 – Look down 1Ki 8:27 – But will 1Ch 28:2 – the footstool 2Ch 2:6 – But who 2Ch 6:18 – But will Psa 68:5 – in his Psa 92:1 – most Jer 32:17 – thou Eze 43:7 – the place of my throne
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9
Act 7:49. God is a personal (though spiritual) Being, and his dwelling place is in Heaven. What house will ye build me was quoted by Stephen because these Jews had boasted so often of their temple, and pretended to be offended at anyone who even intimated that it would ever be destroyed. (See chapter 6:14.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
See notes on verse 44