Acts 7

Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these charges true?"

1Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

NoteStephen is on trial before the Sanhedrin, the council of seventy elders, chief priests and legal experts that governed Jewish religious life under Roman rule. The high priest presided over it. The charges are the ones brought at the end of the previous chapter: that Stephen had spoken against the Temple and the law of Moses. Everything from verse 2 to verse 53 is his answer.

2Stephen answered: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Charran.

2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

Note"Men, brethren, and fathers" is a formal courtroom address, roughly "gentlemen of the council." Mesopotamia means "between the rivers," the land along the Tigris and Euphrates in what is now Iraq. Charran is the Greek spelling of Haran, a caravan town in the far north of that region; the Old Testament calls it Haran.

3God said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.'

3And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

NoteA near word for word quotation of God's first command to Abraham in Genesis 12:1.

4So Abraham left the land of the Chaldaeans and settled in Charran. After his father died, God moved him from there into this land where you are living now.

4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

NoteThe Chaldaeans were the people of southern Mesopotamia; Abraham's home city, Ur, lay in their territory. The KJV "from thence" simply means "from there."

5God gave him no property here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. Yet he promised to give the land to Abraham as his own, and to his descendants after him, at a time when Abraham still had no child.

5And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

NoteLand was normally held by inheritance within a family, so to own "not so much as to set his foot on" is to be a permanent outsider. The only ground Abraham ever bought in Canaan was a burial plot.

6This is how God said it: Abraham's descendants would live as foreigners in a land that was not theirs, and the people there would make them slaves and treat them badly for four hundred years.

6And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

NoteA quotation of Genesis 15:13. The four hundred years is the round figure given there; Exodus 12:40 gives the period as four hundred and thirty years, and both numbers circulated.

7'But I will judge the nation that holds them as slaves,' God said, 'and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.'

7And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

8God then gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve fathers of our tribes.

8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement with stated terms and obligations on both sides. Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin, performed here on a boy eight days after birth; it served as the permanent bodily mark that a male belonged to Abraham's people. The KJV "begat" means "fathered." The twelve patriarchs are Jacob's twelve sons, the men from whom the twelve tribes of Israel traced their descent; "patriarch" means the founding father of a family line.

9Those twelve were jealous of their brother Joseph, so they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him.

9And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,

10God rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who put him in charge of Egypt and of his whole household.

10And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Note"Pharaoh" is a title, not a personal name. It comes from an Egyptian phrase meaning "great house," that is, the palace, and came to stand for the king himself.

11Then a famine came over the whole land of Egypt and Chanaan, and there was great suffering. Our ancestors could find nothing to eat.

11Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

NoteChanaan is the Greek spelling of Canaan, the land later called Israel. The KJV "dearth" means famine, and "sustenance" means food.

12When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on a first trip.

12But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

NoteIn 1611 English "corn" meant grain of any kind, usually wheat or barley. It did not mean maize, which is the American sense that the word later took on.

13On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family.

13And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.

14Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all.

14Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

NoteGenesis in its Hebrew form counts seventy people in Jacob's household; the Greek translation of Genesis used widely in Stephen's day counts seventy five. Stephen follows the Greek. The KJV "threescore and fifteen" is sixty plus fifteen, and "souls" here means persons.

15So Jacob went down to Egypt. He died there, and so did our ancestors.

15So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,

16Their bodies were carried back to Sychem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought with silver from the sons of Emmor, the father of Sychem.

16And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

NoteSychem is the Greek spelling of Shechem, a town in central Canaan; Emmor is the Greek spelling of Hamor. Genesis records two separate purchases: Abraham bought a burial cave at Hebron from Ephron, and Jacob bought ground at Shechem from the sons of Hamor. Stephen's summary combines them into a single sentence.

17As the time drew near for God to keep the promise he had sworn to Abraham, our people in Egypt grew and became many.

17But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

18This went on until another king came to power in Egypt, one who knew nothing about Joseph.

18Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

19This king dealt craftily with our people and treated our ancestors cruelly. He forced them to abandon their newborn babies outside, so that the babies would not stay alive.

19The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

NoteThe KJV "dealt subtilly" means dealt cunningly or by trickery, not "subtly" in the modern sense of faintly, and "evil entreated" means treated badly. Leaving an unwanted newborn outdoors to die of exposure was a recognized practice in the ancient world; the order described here forced Israelite parents to do it to their own sons.

20It was at that time that Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God's sight. For three months he was cared for in his father's house.

20In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:

NoteThe Greek behind the KJV "exceeding fair" reads literally "beautiful to God," a Hebrew style way of saying beautiful in the highest degree. "Nourished up" means raised or cared for.

21When he was put outside, Pharaoh's daughter picked him up and raised him as her own son.

21And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

22Moses was taught all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in what he said and what he did.

22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

NoteThis is the standard description of an elite Egyptian court education: reading and writing, law, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. "Mighty in words and in deeds" was a stock phrase for a man of commanding ability in both speech and action.

23When Moses was forty years old, he decided to go and see his own people, the children of Israel.

23And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

NoteStephen divides Moses' life into three periods of forty years: forty in Egypt, forty in Midian, forty leading Israel in the desert. Exodus does not give his age at this point; the scheme comes from later Jewish tradition. "Forty years" in the Bible often functions as a round figure for a full generation.

24He saw one of them being mistreated, so he stepped in to defend him. He paid back the wrong by striking down the Egyptian who was mistreating him.

24And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

25Moses thought his own people would understand that God was using him to set them free, but they did not understand.

25For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.

26The next day he came upon two of them fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said, 'Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?'

26And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

NoteThe KJV "as they strove" means as they were fighting, and "would have set them at one again" means tried to reconcile them, to make them one again.

27But the man who was wronging his neighbor shoved Moses aside and said, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

27But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

NoteA quotation of Exodus 2:14. The question is a challenge to Moses' authority: no one had appointed him to settle disputes.

28Do you mean to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

28Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

29When Moses heard this, he ran away. He lived as a foreigner in the land of Madian, and there he had two sons.

29Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

NoteMadian is the Greek spelling of Midian, a region east of the Gulf of Aqaba, well outside Egyptian control. "Begat" means fathered.

30Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sina, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire inside a bush.

30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

NoteSina is the Greek spelling of Sinai. The KJV "wilderness" means uninhabited desert country, not forest. "Were expired" simply means had passed.

31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he came closer to look at it, the voice of the Lord spoke to him:

31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him,

32'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Moses began to shake with fear and did not dare to look.

32Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

NoteThe KJV "durst not" means did not dare.

33Then the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.

33Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

NoteRemoving sandals before entering a sacred space was a normal mark of respect in the ancient Near East, much as one might uncover the head; priests served at the altar barefoot. "Holy" here means set apart from ordinary use.

34I have seen, I have truly seen, how my people in Egypt are being crushed. I have heard them groaning, and I have come down to set them free. Now come; I will send you to Egypt.'

34I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.

Note"I have seen, I have seen" reproduces a Hebrew pattern in which a verb is doubled for emphasis, meaning "I have certainly seen." The Greek translation of Exodus that Stephen is quoting kept the doubling.

35This same Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' is the one God sent to be their ruler and rescuer, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

35This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

36He led them out, after doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for forty years.

36He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

Note"Wonders and signs" is the standard pair of terms for the plagues and other acts recorded in Exodus. The Hebrew name of the sea crossed in the escape is yam suph, "sea of reeds"; the ancient Greek translation rendered it "Red Sea," and that is the form quoted here.

37This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people. You must listen to him.'

37This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

NoteA quotation of Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses tells Israel that God will supply a prophet in his own line for them to listen to.

38This is the one who was with the gathered people of Israel in the desert, along with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sina, and with our ancestors. He received living words from God to pass on to us.

38This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

NoteThe KJV "church" here translates the ordinary Greek word ekklesia, meaning an assembly or gathering of citizens. It refers to Israel assembled in the desert, not to a Christian congregation or a building. "Lively oracles" means living utterances: "lively" in 1611 English meant living, and "oracles" meant words spoken by God.

39But our ancestors refused to obey him. They pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back toward Egypt.

39To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

40They said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to go ahead of us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

40Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

NoteThe KJV "we wot not" means "we do not know." Aaron was Moses' older brother. The demand is quoted from Exodus 32:1.

41In those days they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and celebrated what their own hands had made.

41And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

NoteThe reference is to the golden calf of Exodus 32, an image molded from melted jewelry while Moses was on the mountain. A calf or young bull was a common figure for a god, or for a god's mount, in the surrounding cultures. "Idol" means a manufactured image treated as a god.

42So God turned away from them and left them to worship the host of heaven, the sun, moon and stars. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: 'People of Israel, was it to me that you brought slaughtered animals and sacrifices during those forty years in the desert?

42Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

Note"Gave them up" means handed them over, let them have what they wanted. The quotation in verses 42 and 43 is from Amos 5:25 to 27, in its Greek version rather than the Hebrew. The KJV "by the space of" means "for a period of."

43No, you carried along the shrine tent of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, the images you made in order to worship them. So I will send you away into exile beyond Babylon.'

43Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

NoteMoloch was a god associated with the Ammonites and with child sacrifice. Remphan, spelled Rephan elsewhere, appears in the Greek version of Amos where the Hebrew has Kiyyun, a name linked to the planet Saturn; the "star" is the planet treated as a god. A portable shrine tent carried in procession was a familiar way of transporting such an image. Amos wrote "beyond Damascus"; the form Stephen quotes reads "beyond Babylon," pointing to the later deportation of Judah.

44Our ancestors had the tent of the testimony with them in the desert. It was made just as God had ordered when he spoke to Moses, following the pattern Moses had been shown.

44Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

NoteThe tabernacle was the portable tent sanctuary Israel carried through the desert, described in Exodus 25 to 40. It is called the tent "of witness" or "of the testimony" because it housed the stone tablets of the law, which stood as the testimony to the agreement between God and Israel. The KJV "fashion" means pattern or design.

45Our ancestors who came later brought that tent with them, under Jesus, when they took over the land of the nations God drove out ahead of them. It stayed with them until the days of David.

45Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

Note"Jesus" here is not Jesus of Nazareth. Joshua and Jesus are the same name, Yeshua; the KJV transliterates the Greek form, so Joshua son of Nun, who led Israel into Canaan after Moses died, appears as "Jesus." "Gentiles" translates a word simply meaning the nations, that is, peoples other than Israel, and the KJV "drave" is the old past tense of drive.

46David found favor with God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

46Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

Note"Found favour" means was looked on with approval. Some ancient manuscripts read that David wished to find a dwelling place for "the house of Jacob" rather than for "the God of Jacob"; both readings are old.

47But it was Solomon who built him a house.

47But Solomon built him an house.

48Yet the Most High does not live in houses built by human hands. As the prophet says:

48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Note"The most High" is a standard title for God, meaning the highest one. "Temples made with hands" uses a Greek word, cheiropoietos, that the Greek Old Testament regularly applies to manufactured idols; applying it to a building is pointed language.

49'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the place where I rest my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord? Where is the place where I would rest?

49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

NoteA quotation of Isaiah 66:1 and 2. A footstool is the low stool a seated ruler rests his feet on, so heaven and earth together form a single throne. "The place of my rest" means a settled dwelling, a place to stay put.

50Did my own hand not make all these things?'

50Hath not my hand made all these things?

51You stubborn people, with hearts and ears still closed and uncircumcised! You always fight against the Holy Spirit. You do exactly what your fathers did.

51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Note"Stiffnecked" is an image from farming, of an ox that locks its neck against the yoke and will not be steered. To be "uncircumcised in heart and ears" is an Old Testament idiom, used by Jeremiah and by Moses, for being closed off and unable to take anything in; it turns the mark of belonging into a question about the inner person.

52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed the ones who announced ahead of time that the Righteous One was coming. And now you have betrayed and murdered him.

52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Note"The Just One" means the Righteous One, "just" in 1611 English meaning righteous or innocent rather than merely fair. It is used here as a title for Jesus. "Shewed before" means announced in advance.

53You are the people who received the law as it was handed down by angels, and you have not kept it."

53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

NoteThe KJV "by the disposition of angels" means as arranged or administered through angels. Jewish tradition of this period held that the law was delivered at Sinai by angelic intermediaries rather than directly, a view also reflected in Galatians 3:19 and Hebrews 2:2.

54When they heard this, it cut them to the heart, and they ground their teeth at him in rage.

54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Note"Cut to the heart" translates a Greek word meaning sawn through, a stronger image than the English suggests. Grinding or gnashing the teeth was a recognized public display of fury.

55But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked steadily up into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.

55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

NoteThe position at a ruler's right hand was the place of highest honor and delegated authority in a royal court, occupied by the person who acted with the king's power. "Stedfastly" means with a fixed, unwavering gaze.

56He said, "Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Note"The Son of man" is the phrase the gospels report Jesus using of himself. It draws on Daniel 7:13, where "one like a son of man" comes with the clouds and is given authority; in ordinary Aramaic the same phrase can mean simply "a human being," and both senses are in play.

57At that they shouted at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and all rushed at him together.

57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

NoteCovering the ears was the customary reaction to hearing what one took to be blasphemy, so as not to be a party to it. "With one accord" means all together, as one.

58They dragged him out of the city and began to throw stones at him. The men who had testified against him piled their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

NoteExecution by stoning took place outside the city walls. Under Deuteronomy 17:7 the witnesses whose testimony had secured the conviction had to throw the first stones, which meant stripping off their outer cloaks to free their arms; someone had to mind the clothes. Saul, minding them here, is the man later known as Paul.

59While they were stoning him, Stephen called out in prayer, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

NoteThe KJV supplies the word "God"; the Greek says only that Stephen was calling out or appealing, and the words that follow show whom he addressed.

60Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." After he said this, he died.

60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Note"Lay not this sin to their charge" means do not enter this sin on their account against them, an image from bookkeeping. "He fell asleep" was an ordinary way of saying that someone died, in Greek as in English.