Acts 7:27-28

7:27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed ¹  Moses ²  aside, saying, ‘Who made ³  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?’ ⁴ 

Acts 7:38-39

7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ⁵  in the wilderness ⁶  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ⁷  and he ⁸  received living oracles ⁹  to give to you. ¹⁰  7:39 Our ¹¹  ancestors ¹²  were unwilling to obey ¹³  him, but pushed him aside ¹⁴  and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ¹⁵  people, with uncircumcised ¹⁶  hearts and ears! ¹⁷  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ¹⁸  did!

[7:27]  ¹ tn Or “repudiated Moses,” “rejected Moses” (BDAG 126-27 s.v. ἀπωθέω 2).

[7:27]  ² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:27]  ³ tn Or “appointed.”

[7:28]  ⁴ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do you?”

[7:38]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “desert.”

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

[7:38]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:39]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).

[7:51]  ¹⁵ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ¹⁶ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ¹⁷ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ¹⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”