Acts 7:17-43

7:17 “But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, ¹  the people increased greatly in number ²  in Egypt, 7:18 until another king who did not know about ³  Joseph ruled ⁴  over Egypt. ⁵  7:19 This was the one who exploited ⁶  our people ⁷  and was cruel to our ancestors, ⁸  forcing them to abandon ⁹  their infants so they would die. ¹⁰  7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful ¹¹  to God. For ¹²  three months he was brought up in his father’s house, 7:21 and when he had been abandoned, ¹³  Pharaoh’s daughter adopted ¹⁴  him and brought him up ¹⁵  as her own son. 7:22 So Moses was trained ¹⁶  in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful ¹⁷  in his words and deeds. 7:23 But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind ¹⁸  to visit his fellow countrymen ¹⁹  the Israelites. ²⁰  7:24 When ²¹  he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, ²²  Moses ²³  came to his defense ²⁴  and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian. 7:25 He thought his own people ²⁵  would understand that God was delivering them ²⁶  through him, ²⁷  but they did not understand. ²⁸  7:26 The next day Moses ²⁹  saw two men ³⁰  fighting, and tried to make peace between ³¹  them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?’ 7:27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed ³²  Moses ³³  aside, saying, ‘Who made ³⁴  you a ruler and judge over us? 7:28 You don’t want to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ ³⁵  7:29 When the man said this, ³⁶  Moses fled and became a foreigner ³⁷  in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

7:30 “After ³⁸  forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert ³⁹  of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ⁴⁰  7:31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, 7:32 ‘I am the God of your forefathers, ⁴¹  the God of Abraham, Isaac, ⁴²  and Jacob.’ ⁴³  Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely. ⁴⁴  7:33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ⁴⁵  7:34 I have certainly seen the suffering ⁴⁶  of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. ⁴⁷  Now ⁴⁸  come, I will send you to Egypt.’ ⁴⁹  7:35 This same ⁵⁰  Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ ⁵¹  God sent as both ruler and deliverer ⁵²  through the hand of the angel ⁵³  who appeared to him in the bush. 7:36 This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs ⁵⁴  in the land of Egypt, ⁵⁵  at ⁵⁶  the Red Sea, and in the wilderness ⁵⁷  for forty years. 7:37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ⁵⁸  ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ ⁵⁹  7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ⁶⁰  in the wilderness ⁶¹  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ⁶²  and he ⁶³  received living oracles ⁶⁴  to give to you. ⁶⁵  7:39 Our ⁶⁶  ancestors ⁶⁷  were unwilling to obey ⁶⁸  him, but pushed him aside ⁶⁹  and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 7:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt ⁷⁰  – we do not know what has happened to him!’ ⁷¹  7:41 At ⁷²  that time ⁷³  they made an idol in the form of a calf, ⁷⁴  brought ⁷⁵  a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing ⁷⁶  in the works of their hands. ⁷⁷  7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ⁷⁸  to worship the host ⁷⁹  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ⁸⁰  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ⁸¹  house of Israel? 7:43 But you took along the tabernacle ⁸²  of Moloch ⁸³  and the star of the ⁸⁴  god Rephan, ⁸⁵  the images you made to worship, but I will deport ⁸⁶  you beyond Babylon.’ ⁸⁷ 

[7:17]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “the people increased and multiplied.”

[7:18]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “arose,” but in this context it clearly refers to a king assuming power.

[7:18]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 1:8.

[7:19]  ⁶ tn According to L&N 88.147 it is also possible to translate κατασοφισάμενος (katasofisameno") as “took advantage by clever words” or “persuaded by sweet talk.”

[7:19]  ⁷ tn Or “race.”

[7:19]  ⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:19]  ⁹ tn Or “expose” (BDAG 303 s.v. ἔκθετος).

[7:19]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “so that they could not be kept alive,” but in this context the phrase may be translated either “so that they would not continue to live,” or “so that they would die” (L&N 23.89).

[7:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “was well-formed before God,” or “was well-pleasing to God” (BDAG 145 s.v. ἀστεῖος suggests the meaning is more like “well-bred” as far as God was concerned; see Exod 2:2).

[7:20]  ¹² tn Grk “who was brought up for three months.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation by changing the relative pronoun to a regular pronoun (“he”).

[7:21]  ¹³ tn Or “exposed” (see v. 19).

[7:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up for herself.” According to BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω, “The pap. exx. involve exposed children taken up and reared as slaves…The rendering ‘adopt’ lacks philological precision and can be used only in a loose sense (as NRSV), esp. when Gr-Rom. terminology relating to adoption procedures is taken into account.” In this instance both the immediate context and the OT account (Exod 2:3-10) do support the normal sense of the English word “adopt,” although it should not be understood to refer to a technical, legal event.

[7:21]  ¹⁵ tn Or “and reared him” (BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b).

[7:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “instructed.”

[7:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “was able” (BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b.α).

[7:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “heart.”

[7:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” The translation “compatriot” is given by BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

[7:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.”

[7:24]  ²¹ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

[7:24]  ²² tn “Hurt unfairly” conveys a better sense of the seriousness of the offense against the Israelite than “treated unfairly,” which can sometimes refer to slight offenses, or “wronged,” which can refer to offenses that do not involve personal violence, as this one probably did.

[7:24]  ²³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:24]  ²⁴ tn Or “he defended,” “he retaliated” (BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμύνομαι).

[7:25]  ²⁵ tn Grk “his brothers.”

[7:25]  ²⁶ tn Grk “was granting them deliverance.” The narrator explains that this act pictured what Moses could do for his people.

[7:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “by his hand,” where the hand is a metaphor for the entire person.

[7:25]  ²⁸ sn They did not understand. Here is the theme of the speech. The people did not understand what God was doing through those he chose. They made the same mistake with Joseph at first. See Acts 3:17; 13:27. There is good precedent for this kind of challenging review of history in the ancient scriptures: Ps 106:6-46; Ezek 20; and Neh 9:6-38.

[7:26]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:26]  ³⁰ tn Grk “saw them”; the context makes clear that two individuals were involved (v. 27).

[7:26]  ³¹ tn Or “tried to reconcile” (BDAG 964-65 s.v. συναλλάσσω).

[7:27]  ³² tn Or “repudiated Moses,” “rejected Moses” (BDAG 126-27 s.v. ἀπωθέω 2).

[7:27]  ³³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:27]  ³⁴ tn Or “appointed.”

[7:28]  ³⁵ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do you?”

[7:29]  ³⁶ tn Grk “At this word,” which could be translated either “when the man said this” or “when Moses heard this.” Since λόγος (logos) refers to the remark made by the Israelite, this translation has followed the first option.

[7:29]  ³⁷ tn Or “resident alien.” Traditionally πάροικος (paroiko") has been translated “stranger” or “alien,” but the level of specificity employed with “foreigner” or “resident alien” is now necessary in contemporary English because a “stranger” is a person not acquainted with someone, while an “alien” can suggest science fiction imagery.

[7:30]  ³⁸ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and contemporary English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:30]  ³⁹ tn Or “wilderness.”

[7:30]  ⁴⁰ sn An allusion to Exod 3:2.

[7:32]  ⁴¹ tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:32]  ⁴² tn Grk “and Isaac,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[7:32]  ⁴³ sn A quotation from Exod 3:6. The phrase suggests the God of promise, the God of the nation.

[7:32]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “to investigate,” “to contemplate” (BDAG 522 s.v. κατανοέω 2).

[7:33]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 3:5. The phrase holy ground points to the fact that God is not limited to a particular locale. The place where he is active in revealing himself is a holy place.

[7:34]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “mistreatment.”

[7:34]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “to set them free.”

[7:34]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “And now.” 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.

[7:34]  ⁴⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 3:7-8, 10.

[7:35]  ⁵⁰ sn This same. The reference to “this one” occurs five times in this speech. It is the way the other speeches in Acts refer to Jesus (e.g., Acts 2:23).

[7:35]  ⁵¹ sn A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see Acts 7:27). God saw Moses very differently than the people of the nation did. The reference to a ruler and a judge suggests that Stephen set up a comparison between Moses and Jesus, but he never finished his speech to make the point. The reader of Acts, however, knowing the other sermons in the book, recognizes that the rejection of Jesus is the counterpoint.

[7:35]  ⁵² tn Or “liberator.” The meaning “liberator” for λυτρωτήν (lutrwthn) is given in L&N 37.129: “a person who liberates or releases others.”

[7:35]  ⁵³ tn Or simply “through the angel.” Here the “hand” could be understood as a figure for the person or the power of the angel himself. The remark about the angel appearing fits the first century Jewish view that God appears to no one (John 1:14-18; Gal 3:19; Deut 33:2 LXX).

[7:36]  ⁵⁴ tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.

[7:36]  ⁵⁵ tn Or simply “in Egypt.” The phrase “the land of” could be omitted as unnecessary or redundant.

[7:36]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “and at,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[7:36]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “desert.”

[7:37]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “to the sons of Israel.”

[7:37]  ⁵⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. This quotation sets up Jesus as the “leader-prophet” like Moses (Acts 3:22; Luke 9:35).

[7:38]  ⁶⁰ tn This term, ἐκκλησία (ekklhsia), is a secular use of the term that came to mean “church” in the epistles. Here a reference to an assembly is all that is intended.

[7:38]  ⁶¹ tn Or “desert.”

[7:38]  ⁶² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:38]  ⁶³ tn Grk “fathers, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new clause introduced by “and” was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

[7:38]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ⁶⁵ tc ‡ The first person pronoun ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “to us”) is read by A C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy, while the second person pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) is read by Ì⁷⁴ א B 36 453 al co. The second person pronoun thus has significantly better external support. As well, ὑμῖν is a harder reading in this context, both because it is surrounded by first person pronouns and because Stephen perhaps “does not wish to disassociate himself from those who received God’s revelation in the past, but only from those who misinterpreted and disobeyed that revelation” (TCGNT 307). At the same time, Stephen does associate himself to some degree with his disobedient ancestors in v. 39, suggesting that the decisive break does not really come until v. 51 (where both his present audience and their ancestors are viewed as rebellious). Thus, both externally and internally ὑμῖν is the preferred reading.

[7:39]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “whom our.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[7:39]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:39]  ⁶⁸ sn To obey. Again the theme of the speech is noted. The nation disobeyed the way of God and opted for Egypt over the promised land.

[7:39]  ⁶⁹ sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).

[7:40]  ⁷⁰ tn Or simply “of Egypt.” The phrase “the land of” could be omitted as unnecessary or redundant.

[7:40]  ⁷¹ sn A quotation from Exod 32:1, 23. Doubt (we do not know what has happened to him) expresses itself in unfaithful action. The act is in contrast to God’s promise in Exod 23:20.

[7:41]  ⁷² tn Grk “And.” 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.

[7:41]  ⁷³ tn Grk “In those days.”

[7:41]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “a bull calf” (see Exod 32:4-6). The term μοσχοποιέω (moscopoiew) occurs only in Christian writings according to BDAG 660 s.v.

[7:41]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “and brought,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[7:41]  ⁷⁶ tn The imperfect verb εὐφραίνοντο (eufrainonto) has been translated ingressively. See BDAG 414-15 s.v. εὐφραίνω 2.

[7:41]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “in what they had done.”

[7:42]  ⁷⁸ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

[7:42]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “stars.”

[7:42]  ⁸⁰ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

[7:42]  ⁸¹ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”

[7:43]  ⁸² tn Or “tent.”

[7:43]  ⁸³ sn Moloch was a Canaanite deity who was believed to be the god of the sky and the sun.

[7:43]  ⁸⁴ tc ‡ Most mss, including several important ones (Ì⁷⁴ א A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï h p vg sy^h mae bo Cyr), have ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here, in conformity with the LXX of Amos 5:26. But other significant and diverse witnesses lack the pronoun: The lack of ὑμῶν in B D 36 453 gig sy^p sa Ir^lat Or is difficult to explain if it is not the original wording here. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[7:43]  ⁸⁵ sn Rephan (῾Ραιφάν, RJaifan) was a pagan deity. The term was a name for Saturn. It was variously spelled in the mss (BDAG 903 s.v. has Rompha as an alternate spelling). The references cover a range of deities and a history of unfaithfulness.

[7:43]  ⁸⁶ tn Or “I will make you move.”

[7:43]  ⁸⁷ sn A quotation from Amos 5:25-27. This constituted a prediction of the exile.