Acts 7:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers,

NIV: Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.

NASB: And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.

CSB: and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,

NLT: So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.

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

NKJV: So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.

Jews from Egypt, Libya, and modern-day Asia Minor have accused Stephen, a Jewish Jesus-follower, of disrespecting Moses, the Mosaic law, and the temple (Acts 6:11–14). In his trial before the Sanhedrin, he uses the history of Israel to weave together a defense of those three charges and show the hypocrisy of his accusers and the Jewish people as a whole.

He starts by showing that Abraham worshiped God long before the Mosaic law or the temple—in fact, he worshiped God outside the confines of what came to be Israel (Acts 7:1–8). It was circumcision, not the Law or temple that set the Jews apart.

Next, Stephen uses the story of Joseph to show that far from revering God's prophets, the Israelites started their tradition of persecuting God's messengers very early on (Acts 7:9–14). He will later tie in the fact that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery with the Israelite's rejection of Moses, other prophets, and Jesus (Acts 7:35, 39–40, 51–52).

Now, in preparation of his story of Moses, Stephen returns to the idea of place. God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Far from it, Abraham's great-grandson and his twelve sons all die in Egypt. They are no less God's people because they are on another continent. Jerusalem and the temple are important to Stephen and to the other Jesus-followers. But those locations mean nothing without the God, and His Son, who give them significance.

Acts 7:9–16 describes one of the church's first deacons, Stephen, during his trial before the Sanhedrin. A crowd of Jews has accused him of speaking against Moses, the Mosaic law, and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). Stephen uses his defense to show how Abraham's descendants have been God's people since long before the Law or the temple. In Acts 7:1–8, he gave a summary of how God called Abraham far from the land his people would later inherit. Stephen continues showing how God cared for His people without a place, adding that they didn't respect His prophets, starting with Joseph. Joseph's story is in Genesis 37—Exodus 1.

Stephen is a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian and one of the first deacons in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1–7). He's also a skilled apologist and has been debating Jews from outside Judea about the proper place of the Mosaic law and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). His opponents cannot counter his arguments so they resort to lies. They tell the Sanhedrin that Stephen wants to destroy the temple and repeal the Mosaic law. Stephen counters that his accusers don't respect Moses or the Law, and the temple isn't necessary to worship God. This enrages the mob, and Stephen is stoned, becoming the first Christian martyr.

Chapter 7 is one of the pivot points of the book of Acts. Until recently, the early church has seen favor from the people and indifference from the Sanhedrin. Now, the Sanhedrin has beaten the apostles and ordered them not to preach about Jesus (Acts 5:40), and the people are starting to realize how different Christianity is. In Jerusalem, a Hellenist Jewish Jesus-follower named Stephen has been in a debate with other foreign Jews who finally accuse him of wishing to destroy the temple, like Jesus (Acts 6:8–15). This is Stephen's defense, which leads to his death and the introduction of Paul.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.