The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

65 does it stand as a radical new element in Judaism which transcends anything going before?" 46 Some argue that Stephen' s reference to the Temple as "made with hands " (xn ponoL tjTo Lc;) is deprecatory because the term often refers to idolatry in the Septuagint. 47 We need look no further, however, for the meaning of the passage than to the words of the one just mentioned, Solomon himself. The words of Stephen in 7:48 are a virtual paraphrase taken from Solo– mon ' s own dedicatory prayer of the temple , "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house that I have built! " (1 Kings 8:27). 48 Certainly Solomon ' s intent was not to deprecate the Temple which was being dedicated to God, but to recognize that it was only a place in which the transcen– dent God had graciously chosen to localize his presence. The God of Israel was not like an idol which needed a house to protect and preserve him. Whatever the meaning of Stephen's words is here , he intended that it should be clarified and supported by his next quotation ~ because he introduces it with the words , "as the prophet says " (Ka0wc; o npo<j> tjTrJ c; Myn). These next verses (7 :49-50) are often taken as a testimony to God 's transcen– dence by which Stephen implies the universal nature of the gospel . God 's program is no longer limited to Jerusalem but should go to all nations. 49 If this is the interpretation of the quotation, however , then Stephen has given a different meaning to the words than the original author did. A closer look at the context of Isaiah ( 66:1-6) reveal that the prophet wa not 46 Hur t, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 92. 47 "lt wa the term u ed mo t frequently by the pre- hri tian tran lator reek for 'idol' or 'fal e god,"' cott, " tephen' Defen e and the World Mi 48 " n realite, cet oracle ne dit pa autre cho e que decla e lor d la d ,di a du l . . . . M i le di our n per onne ," J qu 9 • A us mt , t , nt ' ' grand tructur it 7 , " 1