Acts 7:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot 's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.

NIV: He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

NASB: But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

CSB: He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.

NLT: 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 children yet.

KJV: And 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.

NKJV: And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.

The Jesus-follower Stephen is explaining to the Sanhedrin and a crowd that God's people do not require the Mosaic law or the temple to worship Him. His first example is Abraham.

God had promised Abraham that his descendants would one day possess the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:7). Abraham would never inherit it, but his offspring would. This promise was given despite the fact that at the time, Abraham didn't have any offspring. His wife, Sarah, was infertile.

Modern-day Bible-readers have made a game of nit-picking the stories in the Bible to discover "contradictions." It's worth pointing out that what's recorded here is Stephen's speech; even if it were incorrect in some fact, Scripture is merely recording what was said. Nevertheless, this part of Abraham's story benefits from two clarifications.

First, Abraham did not inherit any land, but he did own some. After his wife, Sarah, died, Abraham bought a cave and a field for her tomb (Genesis 23:1–20). In fact, Abraham and his grandson Jacob were buried there, as well (Genesis 25:8–9; 50:12–13). But Abraham did not inherit this plot of land, he purchased it. It wasn't until the time of Joshua that God gave Canaan to the Israelites as their inheritance.

Second, Abraham's offspring inherited the land, but not all of them. Before Sarah could have a child, she had her handmaid bear Abraham's child. After Sarah died, Abraham took a wife named Keturah who bore six sons. Abraham gave an inheritance to Ishmael and Keturah's sons and sent them away; from the start God chose Isaac, Sarah's son, to receive Abraham's blessings (Genesis 17:19–21; 25:1–6).

Acts 7:1–8 is the beginning of Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin. Jews from outside Judea have accused Stephen, a follower of Jesus, of speaking against Moses, the Law, and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). Stephen uses the history of Israel to show how hypocritical the charges are. In Abraham's story, alone, Stephen shows how God is sovereign over His people outside Israel and outside the Mosaic law. God called Abraham hundreds of miles from Jerusalem in Mesopotamia and made a covenant with him hundreds of years before the Israelites received the Law. This story is told in full in Genesis 11:27—30:24.

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.