1 And the chief priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And he said, “Men, brethren, and fathers, listen. The God of the glory appeared to our father Abraham being in Mesopotamia i before he dwelt in Haran. ii 3 And he said to him, 'Go out from your land and your relatives and come to the land which I will show you.' 4 Then, coming out of the land of the Chaldeans, iii he dwelt in Haran. And then, with the death his father, he moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even a judgment of foot. iv And he promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed v after him, when he had no child. vi 6 And God spoke thus, that his seed vii will be a stranger in a foreign land and they will enslave it and harm viii 400 years.”
7 “'And the nation to whom they will be enslaved I will judge,' said God, 'and after these things they will come out and serve me in this place.' 8 And he gave him a covenant of circumcision. ix And so he begot Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day, and Isaac, Jacob, and the Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, being envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. And God was with him 10 and delievered him out of all his troubles and gave him grace and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and his whole house.”
11 “And there came a famine over the whole land of Egypt and Canaan and great tribulation x and our fathers were not finding food. xi 12 And Jacob hearing there was wheat in Egypt, sent out our fathers first. 13 And in the second one, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the race xii of Joseph became manifest to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sending, summoned his father Jacob and all the relatives, 75 souls. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were brought back to Shechem xiii and placed in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price xiv of silver from the sons of Hamor, xv of Shechem.”
17 “And as the time drew near of the promise which God swore to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 until another king xvi arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This one, taking shrewd advantage xvii of our race, mistreated our fathers, causing to abandon their infants, so that not to live. xviii 20 In which time Moses was born, and he was beautiful xix to God. He was brought up for three months in the house of the father. 21 And when he was set out, the daughter of Pharaoh took up and brought him up herself as a son.”
22 “And Moses was disciplined in all the wisdom of Egyptians. And he was powerful in words xx and deeds. xxi 23 And as time of forty was fulfilled to him, it came upon his heart to visit his brethren the sons of Israel. 24 And seeing someone suffer wrong, he defended and took vengeance for the one oppressed, striking the Egyptian. 25 And he was supposing his brethren to understand that God through his hand gives to them salvation. And they did not understand. 26 And the following day he saw them fighting and reconciled them to peace, saying, 'Men, you are brethren. Why do you wrong one another?' 27 And the one who was wronging his neighbor pushed him, saying, 'Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? 28 You don't xxii want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 And Moses fled at this word, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, xxiii where he had two sons.”
30 “And when 40 years were fulfilled, a messenger of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire of a bush. xxiv 31 And when Moses saw, he marveled at the vision. xxv And when he came near to observe, a voice of the Lord came to him. 32 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' xxvi And Moses trembled and did not dare to observe. xxvii 33 And the Lord said to him, 'Loosen the sandal of your feet, for the place in which you stand is holy earth. xxviii 34 I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I heard their groaning and came down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you into Egypt.'”
35 “This Moses whom they denied saying, 'Who appointed you ruler and judge?' This one God sent ruler and redeemer xxix by the hand of a messenger, who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This one xxx led them out, doing wonders and signs in Egypt and in the red sea and in the wilderness forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'The Lord your God will raise up a prophet xxxi to you out of your brethren like me.' xxxii 38 This one is he who was in the assembly xxxiii in the wilderness with the messenger, the one speaking to him on the mountain of Sinai, and with our fathers, who received a living word xxxiv to give us, 39 to which our fathers were unwilling to be obedient, but pushed away, xxxv and turned their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, 'Make us Gods who will go before us. For this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' 41 And they made a calf xxxvi in those days and made a sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the works of their hands.” 42 “And God turned xxxvii and delivered them to serve the host of heavens, just as it has been written in the book of the prophets, 'Not xxxviii offerings and sacrifices did you offer me forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel? xxxix 43 And you took up the tent of Moloch xl and the star of your god Remphan, xli the images which you made to worship them. xlii And I will move you beyond Babylon.'” xliii
44 “The tent xliv of the testimony was to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the image xlv which he had seen, 45 which also our fathers having received in turn brought with Joshua xlvi into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out from before our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found grace before God, and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 And Solomon built him a house. 48 But the Most High does not dwell in temples xlvii made by hands, just as the prophet says, 49 'The heavens are my throne, and the earth, footstool of my feet. xlviii What house will you build me?' Says Lord, 'Or what place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these?'”
51 “Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in the xlix hearts and the ears. You are always resisting the holy spirit, as your fathers also you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed the ones who foretold about the coming of the righteous one, of whom now you became betrayers and murderers, 53 who received the law as ordinances of messengers, and you kept not.” l
54 And hearing these things, they were being cut to their hearts, and they were gnashing li the teeth at him. 55 And being full of the holy spirit, looking intently into the heaven, he saw glory of God and Joshua standing at right of the God, 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the son of the man standing at right of the God.” 57 And crying out in a loud voice, they held their ears and with one accord hastened upon him. 58 And throwing outside the city, they stoned. And the witnesses laid the lii garments by the feet of a youth called Saul. liii 59 And they were stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Joshua, receive my spirit.” 60 And placing the knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not have this sin stand against them.” liv And having said this, he fell asleep. lv
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf. lvi
- In the OT God's first recorded encounter with Abraham is in Haran (Genesis 11:31-12:4 “from Haran”). But, here Stephen reveals “God . . . appeared to . . . Abraham . . . before he dwelt in Haran.” ^
- Χαρράν (Charran) - “Haran” - also found only in Acts 7:4. “Haran” the man is spelled in the Greek (LXX) Αρραν (Arran), Hebrew הָרָן (hârân). “Haran” the location is spelled as here Χαρράν (Charran) in the LXX, Hebrew חָרָן (chârân) e.g. Genesis 11:31. ^
- Χαλδαίων (Chaldaiôn) - “Chaldeans” - only found here. This verse reveals Mesopotamia is in “the land of the Chaldeans.” ^
- βῆμα ποδός (bêma podos) - “judgment of foot” - see footnote for Matthew 27:19. ^
- σπέρματι (spermati) - “seed” - singular – Paul makes a point of this singularity in Galatians 3:16-19. ^
- Genesis 15:1-7 ^
- σπέρμα (sperma) - “seed” - singular – likewise “stranger” πάροικον (paroikon) is singular and “it” αὐτὸ (auto) neuter. ^
- κακώσουσιν (kakôsousin) - “harm” - as here, God's plan often includes harm, even for the people of God, as Joseph illustrates in the following verses, and Job likewise (Job 1-2). David had troubles (Psalm 25:17-22), Christ had trials (Luke 22:28) and suffered (Hebrew 5:8), as so will we (1 Peter 4:1-2; 5:6-11; Psalm 34:17, 19). ^
- Genesis 17 ^
- θλίψις μεγάλη (thlipsis megalê) - “great tribulation” - same exact words for “great tribulation” in Matthew 24:21. There is also “great tribulation” θλίψιν μεγάλην (thlipsin megalên) in Revelation 2:22 and “the great tribulation” τῆς θλίψεως τῆς μεγάλης (tês thlipseôs tês megalês) in Revelation 7:14. ^
- χορτάσματα (chortasmata) - “food” - only found here. ^
- γένος (genos) - “race” - Genesis 43:32 “the Hebrews” - Genesis 47 is when they are presented to Pharaoh. ^
- Συχέμ (Suchem) - “Shechem” - only here. Hebrew שְׁכֶם (shekhem) e.g. Genesis 12:6. ^
- The price was “100 pieces” of silver (Genesis 33:19). ^
- Ἐμμὸρ (Emmor) - “Hamor” - only here. Hebrew חֲמוֹר (chamor) e.g. Genesis 33:19. ^
- Critical Text adds “ἐπ Αἴγυπτον” (ep Aigupton) “over Egypt.” See NAS. ^
- κατασοφισάμενος (katasophisamenos) - “taking shrewd advantage of” - only found here. NAS “who took shrewd advantage of”; NKJV “dealt treacherously”; KJV “dealt subtilly with.” This is a compound verb from κατασοφίζομαι (katasophizomai) κατα (kata) “down” and σοφίζομαι (sophizomai) “to be wise” or “shrewd.” ^
- Exodus 1:15-22 ^
- ἀστεῖος (asteios) - “beautiful” - NKJV “well pleasing”; KJV “exceeding fair”; NAS “lovely” - also only found in Hebrews 11:23 of Moses being “beautiful” (NKJV, NAS; “proper” KJV). ^
- δυνατὸς ἐν λόγοις (dunatos en logois) - “powerful in words” - yet, later (much later, 40 or so years) Moses argues otherwise, see Exodus 4:10. ^
- Critical Text adds αὐτοῦ (autou) “his” for “his deeds” ἔργοις αὐτοῦ (ergois autou). ^
- Μὴ (Mê) - “don't” - the question is asked in the negative, e.g. see NAS. ^
- Μαδιάμ (Madiam) – “Midian” - only here. ^
- See Exodus 3. ^
- ὅραμα (horama) - “vision” - NKJV, KJV, NAS “sight” - everywhere else in NKJV “vision.” See Matthew 17:9; 7:31; 9:10, 12; 10:3, 17, 19; 11:5; 12:9; 16:9-10; 18:9. ^
- Jesus revealed that this statement reveals these men were all physically resurrected already. See Matthew 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38. ^
- See Exodus 3:6. Some of the ancients understood there was danger in seeing God. See Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 4:32-33; Judges 6:22-23; 13:19-22; Isaiah 6:5. ^
- This same statement is found in Joshua 5:13-15. ^
- λυτρωτὴν (lutrôtên) - “redeemer” ESV, BSB, BLB, JB2000, DRB, YLT - “deliverer” NKJV, KJV, NAS - only found here. The related verb is “redeem” λυτρόω (lutroô) e.g. Luke 24:21; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:8; related noun “redemption” λύτρωσιν (lutrôsin) e.g. Luke 1:68; 2:38; Hebrews 9:12. “Ransom” is λύτρον (lutron) e.g. Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45. ^
- In Exodus 3:2, in the burning bush passage, he is called the “messenger of the LORD,” and He identifies Himself as God (vs. 6). ^
- See Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (see also verses 20-22). ^
- TR adds “αὐτοῦ ἀκούσεσθε” (autou akousesthe) – “Him you shall hear.” ^
- ἐκκλησίᾳ (ekklêsia) - “assembly” - see footnote for Matthew 16:18. ^
- λόγον (logon) - “word” - TR & CT “λόγια” (logia) “oracles” NKJV, KJV, NAS - “λόγια” (logia) “oracles” or “sayings” is found also in Romans 3:2; Hebrews 5:12; 1 Peter 4:11. ^
- ἀπώσαντο (apôsanto) - “pushed away” - KJV “thrust”; NKJV “rejected”; NAS “repudiated” - this is the same word used in Acts 7:27 for “pushed” ἀπώσατο (apôsato). Found also only in Acts 13:46 (“reject”); Romans 11:1-2 (“cast away”); 1 Timothy 1:19 (“rejected”). ^
- ἐμοσχοποίησαν (emoschopoiêsan) - “they made a calf” - only here. ^
- Ἔστρεψεν (Estrepsen) - “turned” - same root word as in verse 39 where the Israelites “turned” ἐστράφησαν (estraphêsan) their hearts to Egypt. ^
- Μὴ (Mê) - “Not” - KJV, NKJV no “Not” - NAS reads, “It was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices . . . ?” ^
- This is an exact quote of the LXX in Amos 5:25. The Hebrew in Amos 5:25 reads more literally, “Sacrifices and offering did you bring to me in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?” ^
- Μολόχ (Moloch) - “Moloch” - only here. ^
- Ῥεμφάν (hremphan) - “Remphan” - only here. ^
- This sentence is almost identical to the LXX in Amos 5:26, except for the last part after “Remphan.” On this last part NT reads, τοὺς τύπους οὓς ἐποιήσατε προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς (tous tupous hous epoiêsate proskuvêin autois) “the images which you made to worship them.” LXX reads, τοὺς τύπους αὐτῶν οὓς ἐποιήσατε ἑαυτοῖς (tous tupous autôn hous epoiêsate heautois) “their images which you made for yourselves.”
The Hebrew for Amos 5:26 reads quite differently: “You carried Sikkuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.” ^
- This last sentence is found in Amos 5:27, except both in the LXX and Hebrew it reads “Damascus,” Δαμασκοῦ (damaskou), דַמּשֶׂק (dammâseq) instead of “Babylon” Βαβυλῶνος (Babulônos). ^
- σκηνὴ (skênê) – “tent” - same word as in verse 43 for “tent,” except there in the accusative form, σκηνὴν (skênên). ^
- τύπον (tupon) – “image” - same word as in verse 43 for “images,” except there in the plural form, τύπους (tupous). See Exodus 25:40 (LXX τύπον) & Hebrews 8:5 “pattern” (NKJV, τύπον [tupon]) is the same word for “image” in this verse. ^
- Ἰησοῦ (iêsou) – same exact name as “Jesus.” See footnote for Matthew 1:1. ^
- ναοῖς (naois) - “temples” - CT does not have this word. ^
- ποδῶν (podôn) - “feet” - see footnote for Matthew 5:35. ^
- τῇ (tê) - “the” - CT does not have this word. ^
- Hard core rebuke like this is not uncommon in Scripture. For example, in the book of Acts see in the next chapter Peter's rebuke of Simon (Acts 8:20-23), Paul's rebuke of Elymas (Acts 13:10-11), Paul's rebuke of the Jews in Antioch (Acts 13:46[-48 “appointed to eternal believed”; -50-51 “shook off the dust . . . against them”]), Paul's rebuke of the Jews in Corinth (Acts 18:6), Paul's rebuke of the high priest (Acts 23:3, on vs 4-5, see Acts 24:20-21), and Paul's rebuke of the Jews in Rome (Acts 28:24-29). ^
- ἔβρυχον (ebruchon) - “gnashing” - verb only found here. For “gnashing” of teeth, see footnote for Matthew 8:12. ^
- CT & RT add αὐτῶν (autôn) “their” for “their” garments. ^
- Σαύλου (Saulou) - “Saul” - genitive form of Σαῦλος (Saulos) which is one of two forms of the name “Saul” in the NT. LXX Greek OT form of “Saul” is Σαούλ (Saoul) “Saul” שָׁאוּל (shâ'ul) e.g. Genesis 36:37; 1 Samuel 9:2; etc.. NT has this form in Acts 9:4 etc., see footnote therein. Σαῦλος (Saulos) is also found in Acts 8:1, 3; 9:1, 8, 11, 19, 22, 24, 26; 11:25, 30; 12:25; 13:1-2, 7, 9. ^
- Similar to Christ, Luke 23:34. Saul was there, and did receive mercy. See 1 Timothy 1:13. Conversely, Zechariah prayed otherwise (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), likewise did Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:18-23). ^
- ἐκοιμήθη (ekoimêthê) - “he fell asleep” - see footnote for Matthew 27:52. ^
- Mirrored here. ^