But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
Parallel translations
- WEB to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
- KJV To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
- NKJV whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,
- NASB Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,
- NLT “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.
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
Israel refused to obey Moses and turned back in their hearts to Egypt. Their disobedience exposes the persistent rebellion of God's people.
Overview
Stephen now turns the indictment toward Israel: the fathers rejected Moses and longed for Egypt (Numbers 14:3-4). Their heart turning back from God's deliverer parallels the resistance Stephen's hearers showed toward Christ. This continues his argument that rejecting God's messengers is a recurring sin in Israel's history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Num 14:3–4Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
- Num 11:5We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
- Neh 9:16–17But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
- Exod 16:3“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
- Ezek 20:6–14On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.
- Acts 7:51–52You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Ps 106:32–33At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them.
- Num 21:5and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
- Exod 14:11–12They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Exod 17:3But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
- Judg 11:2And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
- 1 Kgs 2:27So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.
- Acts 7:27But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
- Ps 106:16In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.
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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 7:39 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
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