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.”

Psalms 2:2-3

2:2 The kings of the earth ⁷  form a united front; ⁸ 

the rulers collaborate ⁹ 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ¹⁰ 

2:3 They say, ¹¹  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ¹² 

Let’s free ourselves from ¹³  their ropes!”

Luke 19:14

19:14 But his citizens ¹⁴  hated ¹⁵  him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man ¹⁶  to be king ¹⁷  over us!’

Acts 7:25-27

7:25 He thought his own people ¹⁸  would understand that God was delivering them ¹⁹  through him, ²⁰  but they did not understand. ²¹  7:26 The next day Moses ²²  saw two men ²³  fighting, and tried to make peace between ²⁴  them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?’ 7:27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed ²⁵  Moses ²⁶  aside, saying, ‘Who made ²⁷  you a ruler and judge over us?

Acts 7:35

7:35 This same ²⁸  Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ ²⁹  God sent as both ruler and deliverer ³⁰  through the hand of the angel ³¹  who appeared to him in the bush.

[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.”

[2:2]  ⁷ sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “throw off from us.”

[19:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “subjects.” Technically these people were not his subjects yet, but would be upon his return. They were citizens of his country who opposed his appointment as their king; later the newly-appointed king will refer to them as his “enemies” (v. 27).

[19:14]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect is intense in this context, suggesting an ongoing attitude.

[19:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “this one” (somewhat derogatory in this context).

[19:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to rule.”

[7:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “his brothers.”

[7:25]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “was granting them deliverance.” The narrator explains that this act pictured what Moses could do for his people.

[7:25]  ²⁰ tn Grk “by his hand,” where the hand is a metaphor for the entire person.

[7:25]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:26]  ²³ tn Grk “saw them”; the context makes clear that two individuals were involved (v. 27).

[7:26]  ²⁴ tn Or “tried to reconcile” (BDAG 964-65 s.v. συναλλάσσω).

[7:27]  ²⁵ tn Or “repudiated Moses,” “rejected Moses” (BDAG 126-27 s.v. ἀπωθέω 2).

[7:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:27]  ²⁷ tn Or “appointed.”

[7:35]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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).