“The Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands”: a study of possible Hellenistic Jewish parallels for the Jerusalem temple as idolatry in Acts 7:48

Abstract

The purpose of the present article is twofold. (1) It analyzes Stephen’s speech, a controversial New Testament passage in the book of Acts chapter 7. In it, Stephen, a Hellenist Christian Jew, criticizes the Jerusalem temple arguing that “the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands (cheiropoi?tois)” (Acts 7:48). Calling the temple a cheiropoi?tos was considered blasphemy once prior to the New Testament that term was only used for idols/false gods in the Hebrew Bible. (2) As Stephen’s speech seems to recover historical material, the article, then, examines Hellenistic Jewish texts written around 1st century BCE and 1st century CE which present negative references to the Jerusalem Temple in order to reconstruct a plausible Hellenistic Jewish background for Acts 7:48.

Keywords

• Hellenistic Judaism – Acts of the Apostles – Jerusalem temple –Stephen – idolatry