“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
another king - "For the history of vv 17-41, see Exodus, chapters 1-32. The king in question is thought to be Rameses II, of the nineteenth dynasty, who was pre-eminent as a builder. His son and successor, Merenptah, was, most likely, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. There is some ground, however, for regarding Thothmes III, of the eighteenth dynasty, as the Pharaoh of the captivity, and his son Amenotep III as the Pharaoh of the Exodus." (Walker)
Moses - See Ex 2 and Heb 11:24-26.
it came into his heart - "Literally 'it came up on to his heart', a non-classical expression adopted from the LXX. in which it occurs several times (2 Kings 12:4; Isa. 65:17). We meet with it again in 1 Cor 2:9. It represents a Hebrew idiom. It is as though an idea which had lain dormant in the depths of Moses' mind suddenly rose up as a distinct plan and purpose, awakened into activity by a divine impulse." (Walker)
when forty years had passed - "In addition to the 40 years of verse 23, making Moses 80 years old." (Ryrie)
the congregation in the wilderness - "Lit., the assembly in the wilderness; i.e., the gathering of the people to receive the law. The word translated congregation (or church, assembly, gathering) is used in the NT of four kinds of groups: (1) the children of Israel gathered as a nation; (2) in 19:32, 39, 41, a group of townspeople assembled in a town meeting; (3) in a technical sense, all believers who are gathered together in the one Body of Christ, the church universal (Col 1:18); and (4) most frequently, in reference to a local group of professing Christians; e.g., the church at Antioch (13:1)." (Ryrie)
living oracle - "That is, in effect, 'living words and utterances of revelation'. The word translated 'oracles' was used by the pagan Greeks of the (supposed) oracular utterances of their gods, in answer to the inquiries of their worshippers. It was then employed by the Greek translators of the Old Testament to represent divine utterances and communications. It is found again in Rom 3:2; Heb 5:12; 1 Pet 4:11. They are called 'living oracles' because of the divine power and life which lay behind them (cf John 6:63; Heb 4:12; 1 Pet 1:23). Perhaps Stephen would hint to his hearers that the Law which they revered so highly was intended to be a spiritual and effective system, and not merely a dead and mechanical code, observed only with a scrupulous attention to the letter." (Walker)
they made a calf - "The word rendered 'calf', borrowed from the LXX, really means 'a young bull', and there can scarcely be any doubt that the golden image fashioned by Aaron assumed that special shape. The Egyptians worshipped the sacred bulls Apis and Mnevis, considered as incarnations of Osiris and the sun-god respectively, and the Israelites most probably learnt this form of idolatry from them." (Walker)
to worship the host of heaven - "That is 'to worship the sun, moon, and stars'. We find references to such a worship in Deut 17:3; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:3; 2 Chron 33:3; Job 31:26-28; Jer 8:2; 19:13. In Egypt, the sun was worshipped under the names Ra, Tum, etc.; the moon under the title Aah; while the planets also received special veneration. Similar systems prevailed among the Assyrians, Babylonians, etc." (Walker)
Moloch ... Rompha - "Moloch was a title for various Canaanite deities to whom human sacrifices were offered. Rompha (better, Rephan) was the name of a god connected with the planet Saturn." (Ryrie)
tent of Moloch - "The word for 'tent' is the same as is used in v. 44 of the 'tent of the testimony', and is probably employed of set purpose to denote both the true and the counterfeit. The real becomes counterfeit when the heart is wrong. This translation follows the LXX of Amos v. 26, and has something to be said in its favour. But the word used by the prophet in the original Hebrew (Siccuth) is not the usual one for 'tent' (Ohhal), thought it closely resembles the usual word for 'booths' (Succoth), which is regularly employed of the Feast of tabernacles (booths). It is regarded, therefore, in the Revised Version as a proper name; and, instead of 'Moloch', we have the words 'your king', which are literal translation of the original Hebrew the Hebrew for king being Melech). Thus the whole sentence in Amos now runs 'Ye have borne Siccuth your king' ... The parallelism which predominates in Hebrew poetry favours this interpretation: Ye have borne Sikkuth (Saturn) your king; Yea, Chiun (Saturn) your images; The star of your god Which ye made to yourselves." (Walker)
"Such was the tendency of even God's covenant people to despise His prophets and to depart from His Word. In the minds of the rulers Stephen left the question: Were they doing this again by rejecting Christ? And were they too, perhaps, in danger of being 'given up' to even greater evils? It was not Stephen; it was they who were despising Moses and the law. Had not Moses himself said 'A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear" (Ver. 37). What Stephen, tactfully, did not quote, but what the rulers well knew, was the rest of the prophetic declaration, where God goes on to say: 'And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My word which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him' (Deut 18:19). Did not this prophecy about Messiah clearly indicated that the Old Covenant was a temporary institution? Did it not prove that Christ was to supersede Moses? And the remarkable part is that Christ had not come to destory the law, but to fulfil it (Matt 5:17) and to bring in the New Covenant by the shedding of His blood and the coming of His Spirit, so that Israel might carry out the law from the heart (Read carefully Jer 31:31-34, Acts 21:20)." (Stam)
another king - "For the history of vv 17-41, see Exodus, chapters 1-32. The king in question is thought to be Rameses II, of the nineteenth dynasty, who was pre-eminent as a builder. His son and successor, Merenptah, was, most likely, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. There is some ground, however, for regarding Thothmes III, of the eighteenth dynasty, as the Pharaoh of the captivity, and his son Amenotep III as the Pharaoh of the Exodus." (Walker)
Moses - See Ex 2 and Heb 11:24-26.
it came into his heart - "Literally 'it came up on to his heart', a non-classical expression adopted from the LXX. in which it occurs several times (2 Kings 12:4; Isa. 65:17). We meet with it again in 1 Cor 2:9. It represents a Hebrew idiom. It is as though an idea which had lain dormant in the depths of Moses' mind suddenly rose up as a distinct plan and purpose, awakened into activity by a divine impulse." (Walker)
when forty years had passed - "In addition to the 40 years of verse 23, making Moses 80 years old." (Ryrie)
the congregation in the wilderness - "Lit., the assembly in the wilderness; i.e., the gathering of the people to receive the law. The word translated congregation (or church, assembly, gathering) is used in the NT of four kinds of groups: (1) the children of Israel gathered as a nation; (2) in 19:32, 39, 41, a group of townspeople assembled in a town meeting; (3) in a technical sense, all believers who are gathered together in the one Body of Christ, the church universal (Col 1:18); and (4) most frequently, in reference to a local group of professing Christians; e.g., the church at Antioch (13:1)." (Ryrie)
living oracle - "That is, in effect, 'living words and utterances of revelation'. The word translated 'oracles' was used by the pagan Greeks of the (supposed) oracular utterances of their gods, in answer to the inquiries of their worshippers. It was then employed by the Greek translators of the Old Testament to represent divine utterances and communications. It is found again in Rom 3:2; Heb 5:12; 1 Pet 4:11. They are called 'living oracles' because of the divine power and life which lay behind them (cf John 6:63; Heb 4:12; 1 Pet 1:23). Perhaps Stephen would hint to his hearers that the Law which they revered so highly was intended to be a spiritual and effective system, and not merely a dead and mechanical code, observed only with a scrupulous attention to the letter." (Walker)
they made a calf - "The word rendered 'calf', borrowed from the LXX, really means 'a young bull', and there can scarcely be any doubt that the golden image fashioned by Aaron assumed that special shape. The Egyptians worshipped the sacred bulls Apis and Mnevis, considered as incarnations of Osiris and the sun-god respectively, and the Israelites most probably learnt this form of idolatry from them." (Walker)
to worship the host of heaven - "That is 'to worship the sun, moon, and stars'. We find references to such a worship in Deut 17:3; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:3; 2 Chron 33:3; Job 31:26-28; Jer 8:2; 19:13. In Egypt, the sun was worshipped under the names Ra, Tum, etc.; the moon under the title Aah; while the planets also received special veneration. Similar systems prevailed among the Assyrians, Babylonians, etc." (Walker)
Moloch ... Rompha - "Moloch was a title for various Canaanite deities to whom human sacrifices were offered. Rompha (better, Rephan) was the name of a god connected with the planet Saturn." (Ryrie)
tent of Moloch - "The word for 'tent' is the same as is used in v. 44 of the 'tent of the testimony', and is probably employed of set purpose to denote both the true and the counterfeit. The real becomes counterfeit when the heart is wrong. This translation follows the LXX of Amos v. 26, and has something to be said in its favour. But the word used by the prophet in the original Hebrew (Siccuth) is not the usual one for 'tent' (Ohhal), thought it closely resembles the usual word for 'booths' (Succoth), which is regularly employed of the Feast of tabernacles (booths). It is regarded, therefore, in the Revised Version as a proper name; and, instead of 'Moloch', we have the words 'your king', which are literal translation of the original Hebrew the Hebrew for king being Melech). Thus the whole sentence in Amos now runs 'Ye have borne Siccuth your king' ... The parallelism which predominates in Hebrew poetry favours this interpretation: Ye have borne Sikkuth (Saturn) your king; Yea, Chiun (Saturn) your images; The star of your god Which ye made to yourselves." (Walker)
"Such was the tendency of even God's covenant people to despise His prophets and to depart from His Word. In the minds of the rulers Stephen left the question: Were they doing this again by rejecting Christ? And were they too, perhaps, in danger of being 'given up' to even greater evils? It was not Stephen; it was they who were despising Moses and the law. Had not Moses himself said 'A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear" (Ver. 37). What Stephen, tactfully, did not quote, but what the rulers well knew, was the rest of the prophetic declaration, where God goes on to say: 'And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My word which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him' (Deut 18:19). Did not this prophecy about Messiah clearly indicated that the Old Covenant was a temporary institution? Did it not prove that Christ was to supersede Moses? And the remarkable part is that Christ had not come to destory the law, but to fulfil it (Matt 5:17) and to bring in the New Covenant by the shedding of His blood and the coming of His Spirit, so that Israel might carry out the law from the heart (Read carefully Jer 31:31-34, Acts 21:20)." (Stam)
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