NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 22
A cts 6 : 1 3
1978
religious law. So they arrested Stephen and
brought him before the high council.*
13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is al
ways speaking against the holy Temple and
against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard
him say that this Jesus of Nazareth* will de
stroy the Temple and change the customs
Moses handed down to us.”
15 At this point everyone in the high coun
cil stared at Stephen, because his face be
came as bright as an angel’s.
Stephen’s Testimony before the Council
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are
these accusations true?”
2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and
fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God ap
peared to our ancestor Abraham in Meso
potamia before he settled in Haran.* 3 God
told him, ‘Leave your native land and your
relatives, and come into the land that I will
show you.’* 4 So Abraham left the land of the
Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father
died. Then God brought him here to the land
where you now live.
5 “But God gave him no inheritance here,
not even one square foot of land. God did
promise, however, that eventually the whole
land would belong to Abraham and his
descendants—even though he had no chil
dren yet. 6 God also told him that his descen
dants would live in a foreign land, where they
would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.
7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves
them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will
come out and worship me here in this place.’*
8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant
of circumcision at that time. So when
Abraham became the father of Isaac, he
circumcised him on the eighth day. And
the practice was continued when Isaac be
came the father of Jacob, and when Jacob
became the father of the twelve patriarchs
of the Israelite nation.
7
9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their
brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a
slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and
rescued him from all his troubles. And God
gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of
Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wis
dom, so that Pharaoh appointed him gover
nor over all of Egypt and put him in charge
of the palace.
11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Ca
naan. There was great misery, and our ances
tors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there
was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—
our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second
time they went, Joseph revealed his identity
to his brothers,* and they were introduced
to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father,
Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt,
seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went
to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.
16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and
buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a
certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
17 “As the time drew near when God would
fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number
of our people in Egypt greatly increased.
18 But then a new king came to the throne
of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
19 This king exploited our people and op
pressed them, forcing parents to abandon
their newborn babies so they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born—a beau
tiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared
for him at home for three months. 21 When
they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daugh
ter adopted him and raised him as her own
son. 22 Moses was d taught all the wisdom of
the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both
e speech and action.
23 “One day when Moses was forty years
old, he decided to visit his relatives, the
people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mis
treating an Israelite. So Moses came to the
6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15. 6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene. 7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a
city in what is now called Syria. 7:3 Gen 12:1. 7:57 Gen 12:7; 15:1314; Exod 3:12. 7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was
recognized by his brothers.
6:15 His face became as bright as an
angel’s, just as Moses’ face had (6:14;
see Exod 34:3235). Stephen, like Moses,
was bringing God’s instruction to Israel
(see also 2 Cor 3:718).
7:153 Stephen responded to the accu
sations by testifying about his Lord (cp.
Luke 21:1217). Instead of defending
himself against their prosecution, he
became a witness in God’s prosecution
of them, exposing their stubbornness
and unfaithfulness to God. Stephen’s
recital of Israel’s past reminded them of
their repeated rejections of those whom
God had sent. • Stephen’s review of
Israel’s history has three principal parts,
dealing with the work of the patriarchs
(Acts 7:216), the ministry of Moses
(7:1743), and the role of the Tabernacle
and the Temple (7:4450). Stephen fol
lowed up his historical survey with a
clear attack on the hardheartedness of
his own people. With a prophetic chal
lenge, he urged them to stop rebelling
against the Holy Spirit and turn to God
with repentance and faith.
7:8 the covenant of circumcision: See
Gen 17:914; see also “Circumcision,”
Acts 15:15.
6:13
Acts 7:48; 21:28
6:14
John 2:1921
Acts 21:21
7:2
Gen 11:31–12:1; 15:7
Acts 22:1
7:3
*Gen 12:1
7:4
Gen 12:5
Heb 11:8
7:5
Gen 12:7; 13:15; 15:2,
18; 17:8; 24:7
7:6
*Gen 15:1314
7:7
Exod 3:12
7:8
Gen 17:1014; 21:24;
25:26; 35:2326
7:9
Gen 37:28; 39:2
Ps 105:17
7:10
Gen 41:3743
Ps 105:21
7:11
Gen 41:54
7:12
Gen 42:12
7:13
Gen 45:14
7:14
Gen 45:910; 46:2627
Deut 10:22
7:15
Gen 46:57; 49:33
Exod 1:6
7:16
Gen 23:1620
7:1718
*Exod 1:78
Ps 105:24
7:19
Exod 1:1011, 22
7:20
Exod 2:2
Heb 11:23
7:21
Exod 2:310
7:22
1 Kgs 4:30
Isa 19:11
d paideuo- (3811)
Acts
22:3
e logos (3056)
Acts
15:6
7:2324
Exod 2:1112
7:14 Compare this figure with the seventy
mentioned in the Hebrew text of Gen
46:27. The number seventy-five is prob
ably taken from the Septuagint (the Greek
translation of the OT) for Gen 46:27. The
Septuagint includes three descendants
of Ephraim and two of Manasseh at Gen
46:20, making for a total of five more
persons, whereas the Hebrew text does
not include descendants for Joseph’s
sons. The NT authors often quote from
the Septuagint, which sometimes differs
from the Hebrew Masoretic Text.
7:16 a certain price: Four hundred
pieces of silver, according to Gen 23:16.
