Oecumenius, on Acts 7:2

“Who said: Ye men, brethren, and fathers, hear. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charan.”

“See that Stephen does not teach willingly, but is compelled by those who ask. And since he prevailed by his discourse and his signs, he became unbearable to them. The false testimony of the hired men was instigated so that the matter might not appear to be a sham. For they did not fear God, but aimed at the praise of men. The preface, indeed, is truly wise and full of benevolence. For he wishes to present a familiarity with names, as one who is barefaced and harmful toward brothers and fathers is not sane. But he also sees and secures honor and profit, this being the nature of a man who proves himself, and beneficially for those concerning whom the speech is uttered. Yet as to you, he says, there is no perception of such a thing. For the calling which to me is imposed by the brothers and fathers, on the contrary, I view you as if you had forgotten our common nature, showing yourselves to be moved by indiscriminate hatred toward us, making even those things that incline toward the divine to appear favorably to you. Leaving other matters aside, I will lift up for you the remembrance of these things, which are not without the divine end of inclination, signs and wonders worked through us, of which you yourselves are witnesses, being accomplished in no other way. But having indicated these things through the calling hinted by the brothers and fathers and having apprehended Stephen, let us now consider also those things connected with these, not by chance, but set forth with much of inspired wisdom.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.