Limitless Word
When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.
Acts 7:21 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son.
  • KJV And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
  • BSB When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
  • NKJV But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.
  • NASB And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

When Moses was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter rescued and raised him as her own son. God providentially preserved His deliverer in the very household of his enemy.

Overview

Stephen recounts how Moses, set out on the Nile, was taken up and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus 2:3-10). God's sovereign hand turns Pharaoh's house into the place of the deliverer's nurture and education. This irony underscores that no human power can thwart God's redemptive plan.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Heb 11:24By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
  • Exod 2:2–10The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.
  • Deut 32:26I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 7:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 7:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.