Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Kneeled down (qeiv ta gonata). Second aorist active participle of tiqhmi, placing the knees (on the ground). This idiom is not in the old Greek for kneeling, but Luke has it five times (Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60; Acts 9:40; 22:36; Acts 21:5) and Mark once (Acts 15:19). Jesus was standing at the right hand of God and Stephen knelt before him in worship and called on him in prayer.
Lay not this sin to their charge (mh sthshv autoiv tauthn thn amartian). First aorist (ingressive) active subjunctive with mh, regular Greek idiom, Place not to them or against them (dative autoiv) this sin. The very spirit of Jesus towards his enemies as he died upon the Cross (Luke 23:34).
He fell asleep (ekoimhqh). First aorist passive indicative of koimaw, to put to sleep. Old verb and the metaphor of sleep for death is common in all languages, but it is peculiarly appropriate here as Jesus used it of Lazarus. See also Acts 13:36; I Corinthians 15:18, etc. Our word cemetery (koimhthrion) is the sleeping place of the dead. Knowling calls ekoimhqh here "a picture word of rest and calmness which stands in dramatic contrast to the rage and violence of the scene."
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Acts 7:60:
Acts 7:60
Acts 13:36
Acts 20:36
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