{"id": "card_n_06aa0f5f9391", "kind": "note", "title": "Easton: Stephen", "body": "One of the seven deacons, who became a preacher of the gospel. He was the first Christian martyr. His personal character and history are recorded in Acts 6. “He fell asleep” with a prayer for his persecutors on his lips (7:60). Devout men carried him to his grave (8:2). It was at the feet of the young Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, that those who stoned him laid their clothes (comp. Deut. 17:5-7) before they began their cruel work. The scene which Saul then witnessed and the words he heard appear to have made a deep and lasting impression on his mind (Acts 22:19, 20). The speech of Stephen before the Jewish ruler is the first apology for the universalism of the gospel as a message to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. It is the longest speech contained in the Acts, a place of prominence being given to it as a defence.", "source": {"label": "Matthew Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1897)", "url": "/encyclopedia.html?ref=Stephen", "ref": "Stephen", "authority_tier": "external_aligned"}, "shelf": "dictionary", "box": "easton_concept_q_t", "bands": ["easton", "bible_dictionary", "concept"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_n_06c2ba6723de", "relationship": "same_section", "origin": "nesting_2026_06_12"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_0504c8eaaa65", "relationship": "same_section", "origin": "nesting_2026_06_12"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-05-19T13:11:12.095430+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-19T19:50:26.402302+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 0, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "c58d66c1f6c6bc7851b3ee3aa3854621eba5418c64421b1e58841a800540df22", "witnesses": [{"class": "manuscript_tradition", "label": "Original 1897 publication — Thomas Nelson, London", "ref": "Easton-1897"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Project Gutenberg — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45696", "ref": "PG-45696"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Internet Archive — multiple scans", "url": "https://archive.org/details/eastonsillustra00east", "ref": "IA-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "CCEL — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/", "ref": "CCEL-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Blue Letter Bible — searchable Easton's", "url": "https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/easton/", "ref": "BLB-Easton"}], "witness_status": "passed", "witness_status_reason": "5 witnesses across 2 independence classes: ['manuscript_tradition', 'republication']", "surface": "secular"}