Exodus 2:14

2:14 The man ¹  replied, “Who made you a ruler ²  and a judge over us? Are you planning ³  to kill me like you killed that ⁴  Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, ⁵  “Surely what I did ⁶  has become known.”

Numbers 16:3

16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, ⁷  seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

Numbers 16:13

16:13 Is it a small thing ⁸  that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, ⁹  to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince ¹⁰  over us?

Acts 7:27-28

7:27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed ¹¹  Moses ¹²  aside, saying, ‘Who made ¹³  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?’ ¹⁴ 

Acts 7:38-39

7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ¹⁵  in the wilderness ¹⁶  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ¹⁷  and he ¹⁸  received living oracles ¹⁹  to give to you. ²⁰  7:39 Our ²¹  ancestors ²²  were unwilling to obey ²³  him, but pushed him aside ²⁴  and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ²⁵  people, with uncircumcised ²⁶  hearts and ears! ²⁷  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ²⁸  did!

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “And he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:14]  ² tn Heb “Who placed you for a man, a ruler and a judge over us?” The pleonasm does not need to be translated. For similar constructions see Lev 21:9; Judg 6:8; 2 Sam 1:13; Esth 7:6.

[2:14]  ³ tn The line reads “[is it] to kill me you are planning?” The form אֹמֵר (’omer) is the active participle used verbally; it would literally be “[are you] saying,” but in this context it conveys the meaning of “thinking, planning.” The Qal infinitive then serves as the object of this verbal form – are you planning to kill me?

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Egyptian.” Here the Hebrew article functions in an anaphoric sense, referring back to the individual Moses killed.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The verb form is “and he said.” But the intent of the form is that he said this within himself, and so it means “he thought, realized, said to himself.” The form, having the vav consecutive, is subordinated to the main idea of the verse, that he was afraid.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn The term הַדָּבָר (haddavar, “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done. For clarity this has been specified in the translation with the phrase “what I did.”

[16:3]  ⁷ tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.

[16:13]  ⁸ tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.

[16:13]  ⁹ tn The modern scholar who merely sees these words as belonging to an earlier tradition about going up to the land of Canaan that flows with milk and honey misses the irony here. What is happening is that the text is showing how twisted the thinking of the rebels is. They have turned things completely around. Egypt was the land flowing with milk and honey, not Canaan where they will die. The words of rebellion are seldom original, and always twisted.

[16:13]  ¹⁰ tn The verb הִשְׂתָּרֵר (histarer) is the Hitpael infinitive absolute that emphasizes the preceding תִשְׂתָּרֵר (tistarer), the Hitpael imperfect tense (both forms having metathesis). The verb means “to rule; to act like a prince; to make oneself a prince.” This is the only occurrence of the reflexive for this verb. The exact nuance is difficult to translate into English. But they are accusing Moses of seizing princely power for himself, perhaps making a sarcastic reference to his former status in Egypt. The rebels here are telling Moses that they had discerned his scheme, and so he could not “hoodwink” them (cf. NEB).

[7:27]  ¹¹ tn Or “repudiated Moses,” “rejected Moses” (BDAG 126-27 s.v. ἀπωθέω 2).

[7:27]  ¹² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:27]  ¹³ tn Or “appointed.”

[7:28]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do you?”

[7:38]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “desert.”

[7:38]  ¹⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:38]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:39]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).

[7:51]  ²⁵ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ²⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”