He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
Parallel translations
- WEB He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.
- KJV For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
- NKJV For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
- NASB And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.
- NLT Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
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
Moses assumed his people would recognize God was delivering them through him, but they did not. This rejection foreshadows Israel's later rejection of greater deliverers, including Christ.
Overview
Stephen draws out the theme of misunderstanding: Moses expected Israel to see God's hand of deliverance in him, yet they failed to grasp it. This pointed comment exposes a pattern in Israel's history of failing to recognize God's appointed deliverers. It builds toward Stephen's charge that his hearers have likewise failed to recognize Jesus, the Righteous One.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Luke 18:34But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
- 1 Cor 15:10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
- 2 Cor 6:1As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- Luke 9:45But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- 1 Sam 19:5He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
- 2 Kgs 5:1Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
- Acts 14:27When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
- Rom 15:18I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,
- 1 Cor 3:9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- Col 1:29To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
- Ps 106:7Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.
- 1 Sam 14:45But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die—he who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for with God’s help he has accomplished this today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.
- Acts 15:4On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and apostles and elders, to whom they reported all that God had done through them.
- Acts 15:7After much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that the Gentiles would hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
- Mark 9:32But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- Acts 21:19Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:25 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.