The story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, has an interest and significance of its own, besides its importance as a landmark in the life of Paul. We are told in Acts that Stephen was one of seven men, apparently Greeks or Hellenistic Jews by background, who were chosen by the primitive Christian community in Jerusalem to distribute supplies to needy Hellenistic Christians. Possibly the distribution included money, as is suggested by the Greek phrase rendered "serve tables" (see Acts 6:1-5; cf. 4:35). The Greek word trapedza—literally "table"—had come to represent what we would call a bank, and it is thus translated in Jesus' parable of the pounds. "Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank" (literally "onto the table"), says the master to the unproductive servant (Luke 19:23). In Greek, bankers or money changers were known as trapedzitai—"table-men," because they sat behind a table to transact their business, as Levi the publican would sit at the receipt of custom (see Mark 2:14).
Stephen's work was probably not confined to the distribution of monetary relief. He is singled out in Acts (6 : 8) as a man "full of faith and power," who wrought "great wonders and miracles among the people." But his kindly labors were short-lived, for soon he was opposed by a group of Jews—men from Cyrene, Alexandria, and Cilicia, among others—some, at least, members of what Acts calls the "synagogue of the Libertines" (v. 9). "Libertines" in this context means freedmen; many of them may have been freed Roman captives or their descendants.
The mention of Cilicia is important, for that was Paul's native province. Since we know him to have been in favor of Stephen's execution (see 8: 1), it may be that he was one of the Cilicians who disputed with Stephen; though we can hardly imagine that he would stoop to the wickedness of their next move. When they found they could make no headway against Stephen's wisdom and spirituality, they ignored the ninth commandment of the sacred Jewish law and resorted to the weapon of false witness. They dragged Stephen before the Sanhedrin and procured witnesses willing to prefer against him the charge brought against Jesus: that he spoke blasphemous words against the law and the temple (see 6:13).
