Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Acts · About this commentary
The widows overlooked, and the seven appointed
Acts 6:1-7
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service. · WEB
The first internal quarrel runs along a cultural fault line, and it is resolved by giving the complaining party control of the remedy.
The trouble arrives with growth and is caused by it: when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose. The complaint is between two groups within the same church. The Hellenists are Jews whose language and upbringing were Greek, many of them returned from the diaspora; the Hebrews are those of Aramaic speech and local formation. Both are Jewish, both are believers, and the line between them is cultural rather than doctrinal — which is the kind of line congregations divide along most easily and admit to least readily.
The grievance is concrete. Their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. Nobody in the account is accused of malice, and the text supplies no villain; a growing operation run by men with other work was failing the people least able to advocate for themselves, and the failure fell on one group. That is how such things usually happen, and the honesty of the report is part of its value.
The apostles' response begins with a refusal that could be misread. It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables. This is not a ranking of dignity — the same word for serving is used a verse later for the ministry they keep, and one of the seven will shortly be preaching more powerfully than anyone. It is a statement about capacity. Twelve men cannot do both, and if they attempt both, the teaching is what will quietly be lost.
The procedure is then remarkable for who decides. The apostles set the qualifications — good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom — and hand the choosing to the congregation: select from among you. The men with authority define the standard and decline to control the outcome.
What the congregation does with that freedom is the finest thing in the paragraph. All seven names are Greek. The party that raised the complaint is given the whole administration of the fund it complained about, and the last man listed is Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch — a Gentile by birth who had come into Judaism, now trusted with the church's money in Jerusalem. A dispute about fairness to a minority is settled by handing that minority the responsibility rather than by promising to do better.
The seven are set before the apostles, prayed over, and hands are laid on them. The text never calls them deacons, and it never calls their work an office; what it records is a specific need, seven specific men, and a commissioning. Two of them appear again, and neither appears serving tables — Stephen is arguing in synagogues within two verses, and Philip is evangelizing a province two chapters later.
Then the first of the book's progress reports, and its placement is the argument. The word of God increased and the number of the disciples greatly multiplied in Jerusalem. An administrative fix over a food distribution is immediately followed by growth, and the growth includes the least likely converts in the city: a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
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