Acts 7:10-18

7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made ¹  him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 7:11 Then a famine occurred throughout ²  Egypt and Canaan, causing ³  great suffering, and our ⁴  ancestors ⁵  could not find food. 7:12 So when Jacob heard that there was grain ⁶  in Egypt, he sent our ancestors ⁷  there ⁸  the first time. 7:13 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family ⁹  became known to Pharaoh. 7:14 So Joseph sent a message ¹⁰  and invited ¹¹  his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people ¹²  in all. 7:15 So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there, ¹³  along with our ancestors, ¹⁴  7:16 and their bones ¹⁵  were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money ¹⁶  from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

7:17 “But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, ¹⁷  the people increased greatly in number ¹⁸  in Egypt, 7:18 until another king who did not know about ¹⁹  Joseph ruled ²⁰  over Egypt. ²¹ 

[7:10]  ¹ tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.

[7:11]  ² tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”

[7:11]  ³ tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.

[7:11]  ⁴ sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.

[7:11]  ⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:12]  ⁶ tn Or possibly “food,” since in a number of extrabiblical contexts the phrase σιτία καὶ ποτά (sitia kai pota) means “food and drink,” where solid food is contrasted with liquid nourishment (L&N 3.42).

[7:12]  ⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:12]  ⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[7:13]  ⁹ tn BDAG 194 s.v. γένος 2. gives “family, relatives” here; another alternative is “race” (see v. 19).

[7:14]  ¹⁰ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[7:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “Joseph had his father summoned” (BDAG 121 s.v. ἀποστέλλω 2.b).

[7:14]  ¹² tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).

[7:15]  ¹³ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[7:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:16]  ¹⁵ tn “and they.”

[7:16]  ¹⁶ sn See Gen 49:29-32.

[7:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “But as the time for the fulfillment of the promise drew near that God had declared to Abraham.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to improve English style. See vv. 6-7 above.

[7:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the people increased and multiplied.”

[7:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or simply “did not know.” However, in this context the point is that the new king knew nothing about Joseph, not whether he had known him personally (which is the way “did not know Joseph” could be understood).

[7:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “arose,” but in this context it clearly refers to a king assuming power.

[7:18]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Exod 1:8.