Acts 7:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

NIV: He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.

NASB: And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.

CSB: When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian.

NLT: He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.

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

NKJV: And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.

After Moses had been weaned, he grew up in the home of the pharaoh's daughter with all the privileges afforded a royal child, including a formal Egyptian education (Acts 7:22). He never forgot who his people were, however. It's unclear if he knew the harsh slavery conditions Pharaoh had put them under—as a nursing child, he wouldn't have been able to understand the full extent of their suffering. And as an adult in Pharaoh's palace, he may or may not have fully realized the brutality of what was happening, as the Israelites lived in a separate area, Goshen (Genesis 45:10; Exodus 8:20–22).

When he was forty, Moses went to visit his people and saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite. Moses immediately identified with the victim. Thinking they were alone, he killed the Egyptian, then buried the body in the sand (Exodus 2:11–12).

Contemporary culture tends to glamorize vengeful killings done in the name of justice. Moses' murder of the Egyptian is a full forty years before God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, but the prohibition of murder is one of the oldest laws in creation. After Noah left the ark, God told him that not only humans but even animals needed to be executed if they killed a person: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image" (Genesis 9:6).

Moses knew it was wrong, and not just because the law would have favored a free Egyptian over a foreign slave. He had some understanding that God had chosen him to rescue the people (Acts 7:25), but he didn't wait for God's timing. God had told Abraham his descendants would be in slavery for four hundred years (Genesis 15:13) and they had forty more years to go.

Acts 7:23–29 furthers Stephen's defense against allegations that he disrespects the Law, the temple, and Moses (Acts 6:8–15). He has obliquely reminded his audience that God was the God of the Jews before they had a temple or even a homeland (Acts 7:1–16). Now, he outlines their beloved Moses' not-so-honorable beginnings. Their most-respected prophet and leader started as a murderer. Stephen is recounting the story originally given in Exodus 2:11–22.

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.