Discovery BoxActs 7:21-24
Context7:21 and when he had been abandoned, 1 Pharaoh’s daughter adopted 2 him and brought him up 3 as her own son. 7:22 So Moses was trained 4 in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful 5 in his words and deeds. 7:23 But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind 6 to visit his fellow countrymen 7 the Israelites. 8 7:24 When 9 he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, 10 Moses 11 came to his defense 12 and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian.
[7:21] 1 tn Or “exposed” (see v. 19).
[7:21] 2 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] 3 tn Or “and reared him” (BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b).
[7:22] 5 tn Or “was able” (BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b.α).
[7:23] 7 tn Grk “brothers.” The translation “compatriot” is given by BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.
[7:23] 8 tn Grk “the sons of Israel.”
[7:24] 9 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] 10 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] 11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:24] 12 tn Or “he defended,” “he retaliated” (BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμύνομαι).
