Acts 6:9-10

Acts 6:9-10

[9] Then  there arose  certain  of  the synagogue,  which  is called  the synagogue of the Libertines,  and  Cyrenians,  and  Alexandrians,  and  of them of  Cilicia  and  of Asia,  disputing  with Stephen.  [10] And  not  able  to resist  the wisdom  and  the spirit  by which  he spake. 

What does Acts 6:9-10 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Many different synagogues existed in Jerusalem at this time (cf. Acts 24:12). The Talmud said there were390 of them before the Romans destroyed the city. [1] Other rabbinic sources set the number at460,480 , but these may be exaggerations. [2] Like local churches today, they tended to attract people with similar backgrounds and preferences. Many families that had experienced liberation from some kind of slavery or servitude evidently populated the Synagogue of the Freedmen. Some scholars believe that as many as five synagogues are in view in this reference, but the best interpretation seems to be that there was just one. [3]
"The Freedmen were Roman prisoners (or the descendants of such prisoners) who had later been granted their freedom. We know that a considerable number of Jews were taken prisoner by the Roman general Pompey and later released in Rome, and it is possible that these are meant here." [4]
These people had their roots in North Africa (Cyrene and Alexandria) and Asia Minor (Cilicia and Asia). Thus these were Hellenistic Jews, the group from which Stephen himself probably came. Since Saul of Tarsus was from Cilicia, perhaps he attended this synagogue, though he was not a freed man. The leading men in this congregation took issue with Stephen whom they had heard defend the gospel. Perhaps Hebrews , too, attended this synagogue. However they were unable to defeat him in debate. Stephen seems to have been an unusually gifted defender of the faith, though he was not one of the Twelve. He was a forerunner of later apologists. God guided wise Stephen by His Spirit as he spoke (cf. Luke 21:15).
This is the first occurrence in Acts of someone presenting the gospel in a Jewish synagogue. Until now we have read that the disciples taught and preached in the temple and from house to house ( Acts 5:42). We now learn that they were also announcing the good news in their Jewish religious meetings. Paul normally preached first in the synagogue in towns he evangelized on his missionary journeys.
"While not minimizing the importance of the apostles to the whole church, we may say that in some way Stephen, Philippians , and perhaps others of the appointed seven may well have been to the Hellenistic believers what the apostles were to the native-born Christians." [5]