Acts 7:53

Modern

…you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

Traditional

Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

Literal

…you who received the law by the ordination of angels, and did not keep it.”

Latin

…qui accepistis legem in dispositione angelorum, et non custodistis.

Greek

English

…you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

Stephen answered the accusations by speaking about his Lord (see Luke 21:12–17). Instead of defending himself, he became a witness in God's legal case against them. This revealed how contrary they were and their lack of loyalty. Stephen gave a history of Israel's past and reminded them of their repeated rejections of those who announced God's messages.
Stephen's review of Israel's history has three main parts:
1. The work of the patriarchs. This refers to Abraham and those descended from him who founded the nation of Israel (Acts 7:2–16).
2. The ministry of Moses (7:17–43).
3. The role of the tabernacle and the temple (7:44–50).
  Stephen ended his historical survey with a strong criticism of his people's lack of obedience. Like a prophet, he challenged them to stop resisting the Holy Spirit. He told them to turn to God with grief for their sins (repentance) and faith.

Theme notes and profiles

Hebrews 2:2
For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,
Galatians 3:19
Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.
Acts 7:38
He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
John 7:19
Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?”
Deuteronomy 33:2
He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
Galatians 6:13
For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
Ezekiel 20:18–21
In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
Romans 2:23–25
You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
Psalm 68:17
The chariots of God are tens of thousands—thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.
Exodus 19:1–20
In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.