“The
patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s race was revealed to Pharaoh. Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls. Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers, and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.
Acts 7:9-16
Acts 7 [5.] He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child. God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.’ He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
Acts 7 [9.] “The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s race was revealed to Pharaoh. Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls. Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers, and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.
Acts 7 [17.] “But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until there arose a different king, who didn’t know Joseph. The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive. At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father’s house. When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son. Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works. But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.
Meaning:
Stephen moves from Abraham to Joseph, retelling the story of Genesis 37 to Genesis 50 in a few sentences. Joseph is the first of several leaders in the speech who were rejected by their own brothers but used by God to save them.
- “moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt”
Joseph’s brothers envied him because their father loved him and because of his dreams. They sold him to traders for twenty pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28). Stephen’s hearers would have caught the pattern: the leaders had handed Jesus over out of envy, as even Pilate saw (Mark 15:10).
- “God was with him”
Genesis repeats this phrase: “Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man” (Genesis 39:2). God was with Joseph outside the Promised Land, in slavery and in prison. Pharaoh made him ruler, saying, “You shall be over my house” (Genesis 41:40). Once again Stephen shows that God’s presence was not tied to one place.
- “On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers”
The brothers did not recognize Joseph on their first visit. Only the second time did he reveal himself: “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt” (Genesis 45:4). Many readers see a parallel with Jesus, rejected by his people at his first coming and still offering himself to them.
- “seventy-five souls”
Genesis and Exodus number Jacob’s family as seventy (Exodus 1:5). Stephen follows the ancient Greek translation, which counts seventy-five by including more of Joseph’s descendants. The difference comes from different ways of counting.
- “laid in the tomb that Abraham bought… of Shechem”
Stephen compresses two burial accounts. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, where Jacob was buried (Genesis 50:13), while Jacob bought land at Shechem from the sons of Hamor (Genesis 33:19), where Joseph’s bones were laid (Joshua 24:32). Some think Stephen, speaking briefly, joined the two; others think Luke records his words as spoken; still others suggest Abraham also bought land at Shechem. Stephen’s point is that the patriarchs, though they died in Egypt, were buried in the land God promised.
The Significance of Acts 7:9-16
- God works through rejection
What the brothers meant for harm, God used to save many lives. Joseph later told them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). The rejection of Jesus led to the salvation of the world.
- God is with his people everywhere
Joseph was in a foreign land, yet God was with him. Believers can trust God’s presence in every circumstance.
Cross-References:
Genesis 39:2: "Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man." God’s presence in Egypt.
Genesis 45:4: "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt." Joseph reveals himself.
Joshua 24:32: "They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem" The burial at Shechem.
Conclusion: Stephen tells how the patriarchs sold Joseph out of jealousy, yet God was with him, raised him to power and used him to save the family. Joseph was revealed to his brothers the second time, and the patriarchs were buried in the land of promise. The story shows that God works through rejection and is present with his people wherever they are.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible