Acts 7:8-9

7:8 Then God ¹  gave Abraham ²  the covenant ³  of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, ⁴  and Isaac became the father of ⁵  Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. ⁶  7:9 The ⁷  patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold ⁸  him into Egypt. But ⁹  God was with him,

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn God gave…the covenant. Note how the covenant of promise came before Abraham’s entry into the land and before the building of the temple.

⁴ tn Grk “circumcised him on the eighth day,” but many modern readers will not understand that this procedure was done on the eighth day after birth. The temporal clause “when he was eight days old” conveys this idea more clearly. See Gen 17:11-12.

⁵ tn The words “became the father of” are not in the Greek text due to an ellipsis, but must be supplied for the English translation. The ellipsis picks up the verb from the previous clause describing how Abraham fathered Isaac.

⁶ sn The twelve patriarchs refers to the twelve sons of Jacob, the famous ancestors of the Jewish race (see Gen 35:23-26).

⁷ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

⁸ tn The meaning “sell” for the middle voice of ἀποδίδωμι (apodidwmi) is given by BDAG 110 s.v. 5.a. See Gen 37:12-36, esp. v. 28.

⁹ tn Though the Greek term here is καί (kai), in context this remark is clearly contrastive: Despite the malicious act, God was present and protected Joseph.