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“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.
Acts 7:35 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ — God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
  • KJV This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
  • BSB This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
  • NKJV “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.
  • NASB “This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

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

The Moses whom Israel rejected, God appointed as ruler and deliverer through the angel in the bush. The rejected one became God's chosen redeemer, a direct parallel to Jesus.

Overview

Stephen draws the sharp lesson: the very Moses whom Israel disowned, God made their ruler and deliverer (Exodus 2:14; 3:10). This deliberately echoes how Israel rejected Jesus, whom God exalted as Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36; 4:11). The rejected deliverer, vindicated and sent by God, is the gospel pattern fulfilled in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
  • Ps 118:22–23The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
  • Num 20:16When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border.
  • Ps 75:7But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.
  • Ps 113:7–8He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap;
  • Exod 14:19The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.
  • Heb 2:2For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;
  • 1 Sam 8:7–8Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
  • Exod 33:2I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
  • Acts 2:36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
  • Acts 7:9–15“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,
  • Isa 63:9In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
  • Exod 14:24In the morning watch, Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army.
  • Exod 32:34Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
  • Exod 23:20–23“Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
  • John 19:15They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
  • Neh 9:10–14and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land; for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today.
  • Col 1:15who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
  • Acts 7:30“When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
  • John 18:40Then they all shouted again, saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
  • Isa 63:11–12Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
  • Rev 15:3They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
  • Acts 5:31God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.
  • Acts 3:22For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you.
  • Ps 77:20You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
  • Exod 33:12–15Moses said to Yahweh, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people:’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’
  • 1 Sam 12:8“When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to Yahweh, then Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.
  • 1 Sam 10:27But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
  • Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
  • Acts 7:27–28But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

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 7:35YouTube · 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 7:35 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.