Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 7:23
And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
23. And when he was full forty years old ] Better, But when he was well-nigh forty years old. The verb in the original intimates that the forty years were just being completed. For the fixing of this time we have no authority in the Old Testament. We learn thence that Moses was eighty years old when he was sent to speak before Pharaoh for the deliverance of the Israelites (Exo 7:7), and that he was a hundred and twenty years old when he died (Deu 34:7). In Midrash Tanchuma on Exo 2:6, we are told “Moses was in the palace of Pharaoh twenty years, but some say forty years, and forty years in Midian, and forty years in the wilderness.” Stephen’s words agree with this tradition.
it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel ] The verb in the original, which is here rendered visit, is the same as in Luk 7:16, “God hath visited his people,” and means to look upon (generally with kindness, Jas 1:27), and this was the old sense of the English visit. Cf. Shaks. Rich. II. 1. 3. 275:
“All places that the eye of heaven visits.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Full forty years old – This is not recorded in the Old Testament; but it is a constant tradition of the Jews that Moses was 40 years of age when he undertook to deliver them. Thus, it is said, Moses lived in the palace of Pharaoh forty years; he was forty years in Midian; and he ministered to Israel forty years (Kuinoel).
To visit … – Probably with a view of delivering them from their oppressive bondage. Compare Act 7:25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 7:23-30
And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren.
The patriotism of Moses
I. Long nursed–forty years.
1. Inspired by his mother. The precious time during which he was entrusted by the princess to the care of his nurse, Jochebed, would, we may be sure, be well employed, and subsequent opportunities would be utilised for reminding him of who he was, and of his possible destiny as the leader of his race. No throne in the universe is so potent as the mothers knee for good or evil.
2. Cherished among smothering influences.
(1) Gratitude to his deliverer.
(2) Egyptian learning and court training.
(3) Prospects of advancement, even to the throne of Egypt. It must have required a very deep-seated patriotic instinct to have resisted all this.
II. Prematurely exhibited.
1. Without a Divine call. Moses acted on the spasmodic impulse of the moment. Here was a palpable opportunity–the first which presented itself–of showing his long-nursed patriotism, and the ill-usage of his brethren acted like a spark on a train of gunpowder. Many men call themselves to rectify certain evils, and mistake a seeming opportunity for the voice of God. Passion, however noble, is not inspiration. This is seen in its effects. That which leads to murder, however great the provocation, as in the case of Moses and the French Revolution, is manifestly not from heaven. When the hour comes the man will be inspired; let the man, then, wait for the hour.
2. Without the least chance of success. What was one man, even suppose that he was sure of the loyalty of the unorganised slaves, against the disciplined might of Egypt? This has been the mistake of well-meaning but impulsive patriots all through history, and the results have ever been fatal to the interests of those whom they would have served.
III. Eventually rectified. Moses soon saw that force was no remedy, and that his people were hardly fit for immediate emancipation. What chance of liberation for a people divided amongst themselves? Union is strength; and Moses began to educate the people in the two great unifying principles–
1. Fraternity. Sirs, ye are brethren. Moses saw that the only hope for Israel was the cultivation of brotherly feeling. Other ties without this are ropes of sand.
2. Justice. Why do ye wrong? The fetters of internal wrong-doing are far stronger than those imposed from without. Tyrants are safe when their subjects are depraved. If a community would successfully resist the iniquities of the powers that be, they must be law-abiding themselves. Agitators are at length recognising this principle, and passionately appeal to their followers not to break the law.
IV. Ungratefully repudiated. When Moses smote the Egyptian no protest was raised; but on attempting to sow the seeds of self-deliverance he met with the fate of many reformers. Most people are willing to be helped; but when urged to help themselves, the whole situation is often changed. They had no objection to Moses being a ruler and a judge when he assailed the oppressor; but when he advised the oppressed to follow a more successful but prosaic and unromantic course, the worst feelings of jealousy were aroused. The public sentiment towards Cromwell was very different when he was driving out the Stuarts from that which was expressed when reducing the chaotic national elements to order.
V. Suddenly abandoned. Then fled Moses.
1. Not, we may well believe, through sheer cowardice. Fear of Pharaoh had something to do with it, no doubt; but this was the fear of a man who felt that he would have to encounter the monarch alone. The cause was hopeless; he would have no following; it was useless to throw his life away.
2. Disgust, we may believe, had something to do with it. Why should he sacrifice himself for a people who would not even treat him with common gratitude. Those who would be free must themselves strike the blow. Moses adopted the right course. He accepted the inevitable. The time was not ripe, nor was he–a lesson for all would-be patriots and reformers.
VI. Divinely revived. That his patriotism died out in Midian is obvious from his reluctance to embark on the mission when the time had come. By minding other peoples business he had lost everything; henceforth he would mind his own, And he did so for forty years. But all this time he was being Divinely qualified. His character matured, his old impulsiveness was gone. Cool reason took the place of spasmodic passion. He became familiar with habits and scenes which stood him in good stead for the next forty years. The time came, and when it came the fire of the bush laid hold of his soul, and the Divinely-inspired leader went to beard Pharaoh and to lead his brethren out of the house of bondage. (J. W. Burn.)
A true leader of the people
These words were spoken by the Christian martyr, Stephen, when he was standing before the Jewish council. He was accused of seeking to overthrow the institutions of Moses, and his mind not unnaturally reverted to the time when Moses himself was an innovator, and repelled by the ancestors of the very men who now taxed Stephen with seeking to change the customs which he had delivered to them. The passage in the life of Moses which Stephen relates gives us an example of–
I. The true leaders instinct. He went to see his brethren, and to look on their burdens. This is the instinct of a true leader. He does it from policy; for how can the general regulate the marches unless he knows how much the soldier has to carry? Or how can he prescribe methods of lightening burdens unless he knows of what they consist? But not only from policy; from piety and humanity. The true leaders nature comprises the true shepherds nature–not the robbers or the mere hirelings.
II. The true leaders mistake. He supposed the people would understand. A superiorly-gifted mind often finds a peculiar difficulty in judging of average human nature, and its calculations may prove to be ill-founded.
III. The true leaders aim. It is to cause unity to be recognised; for what but unity can give the power which it is his nature and his function to wield? Here there was no absence of natural grounds of union. They had two of the strongest–oneness of race and a common oppressor.
IV. The true leaders disappointment. That his efforts to promote union were in vain. But in the case of the Israelites, blindness was combined with jealousy. They saw in Moses only a man of their own order. His own received him not. Stephen might well recall these circumstances when he was standing before that tribunal of his countrymen, which was perpetrating a still greater refusal. The repulse was a personal one; but the disappointment was far from being merely personal. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. When he was full forty years old] This was a general tradition among the Jews: “Moses was forty years in Pharaoh’s court, forty years in Midian, and forty years he served Israel.”
To visit his brethren] Probably on the ground of trying to deliver them from their oppressive bondage. This desire seems to have been early infused into his mind by the Spirit of God; and the effect of this desire to deliver his oppressed countrymen was his refusing to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter-see Heb 11:24, and thus renouncing all right to the Egyptian crown, choosing rather to endure addiction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Forty years old; this age of Moses is not set down in his history, but they might have it by tradition, which is here confirmed unto us by the holy penman: these forty years Moses spent in Pharaohs court.
It came into his heart; it speaks these thoughts and resolutions to have been from God, that such a great courtier should so far debase himself; therefore this is deservedly attributed unto his faith, Heb 11:24, which is the gift of God, Eph 2:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23-27. In Act 7:23;Act 7:30; Act 7:36,the life of Moses is represented as embracing three periods, of fortyyears each; the Jewish writers say the same; and though this is notexpressly stated in the Old Testament, his age at death, one hundredtwenty years (De 34:7), agreeswith it.
it came into his heart tovisit his brethrenhis heart yearning with love to them asGod’s chosen people, and heaving with the consciousness of a divinevocation to set them free.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when he was full forty years old,…. This Stephen had from tradition, and not from Scripture, which is silent about the age of Moses at this time, and only says, “it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown”, Ex 2:11 but that he was at this time at such an age, is the general sense of the Jews. Upon the above mentioned passage they have this note h
“twenty years old was Moses at that time; and there are that say, that he was forty years old. And i elsewhere still more particularly; Moses was “forty” years in the palace of Pharaoh, forty years in Midian, (the Amsterdam edition reads,
, “in the wilderness”, wrongly,) and he served Israel forty years.”
Indeed, the fabulous history of his life makes him to be but fifteen years of age at this time k; but Stephen’s account is undoubtedly right, and which is confirmed by the above testimonies.
It came into his heart; by the Spirit of God, under a more than ordinary impulse of which he now was:
to visit his brethren, the children of Israel; whom he knew to be his brethren, partly from the common report in Pharaoh’s court concerning him, and partly from the mark of circumcision in his flesh, and chiefly from divine revelation: for some years he had lived a courtly and military life, and had took no notice of the Israelites in their oppressions; but now the Lord laid it upon his heart to visit them, and observe how things were with them; and though he could not use any public and open authority, yet Philo the Jew says l, that he exhorted the officers to use mildness and moderation with them, and comforted and encouraged the Israelites to bear their burdens with patience and constancy, and not sink under them; suggesting, that things would take another turn, and would change for the better in time.
h Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 3. i Bereshit Rabba, sect. 100, fol. 88. 4. k Chronicon Mosis, fol. 5. 2. l De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 608, 609.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When he was well-nigh forty years old (H ). A rather awkward Greek idiom for the English: “When a forty year old time (same idiom in Ac 13:18 and only twice in the N.T.) was being fulfilled (, imperfect passive) for him (dative case).” The life of Moses is divided into three periods of forty years each (in Egypt 40 years, in Midian 40, governed Israel 40, 120 when he died, De 34:7).
It came into his heart ( ). Second aorist active indicative of , common verb. Came up as if from the lower deeps of his nature. This Hebrew image occurs in Jer 3:16; Isa 65:17; 1Cor 2:9.
To visit (). First aorist middle infinitive of , old verb to go to see for oneself, with his own eyes, to help if possible. Used of God visiting his people (Lu 7:16). Our “visit” is from Latin video, to see, visito, to go to see. During the Welsh mining troubles the Prince of Wales made a sympathetic visit to see for himself the actual condition of the coal miners. Moses desired to know first hand how his kinsmen were faring.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
It came into his heart [ ] . Lit., “it arose into his heart.” ” There may be something in the depth of the soul which afterward emerges and ascends from that sea into the heart as into an island “(Bengel). The expression is imitated from the Hebrew, and occurs in the Septuagint :” The ark shall not come to mind; ” lit., go up into the heart (Jer 3:16). See, also, Jer 32:35; Isa 65:17.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And when he was full forty years old,” (hos de eplerouto auto tresserakontaetes chronos) “Then when he was full forty years of age (chronological time),” as recounted Exo 2:11-12.
2) “It came into his heart,” (anebe epi ten kardian autou) “it came upon his heart,” it became a desire, longing heavy upon his heart, “The interest of ones kindred is important in determining real character, whether that interest be in their physical or spiritual welfare, or both, 1Ti 1:5; 1Ti 3:14-15.
3) “To visit his brethren,” (episkepsasthai tous adelphous autou) “To make a visit to his brethren,” the Hebrews. He was interested in both the physical and spiritual welfare of his own family-race, even as Paul was, after his conversion, Rom 9:1-3; Rom 10:1-4.
4) “The children of Israel,’-‘, (tous huious Israel) “The sons or heirs of Israel,” Our Cord came to His own and called, stretched out His hands to help them first, Joh 1:10-11; Mat 23:37; and it is declared that he who cares or provides not, ‘ has not compassion for his own family-line, denies the faith and is ‘Worse than an infidel, 1Ti 5:8; 1Ti 5:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. When the time was fulfilled. Many gather by this that Moses was never estranged in mind from his nation; but the words of Stephen incline rather toward the contrary, to wit, that the Spirit of God did at length awake his mind, as it were out of sleep, that he might at length go visit his brethren, whom he had long time neglected. It is to be thought that he was not ignorant of what stock he came, seeing he had some token thereof in his flesh, and seeing the rumor thereof was spread abroad in the court, because the king’s daughter could not adopt him to be her son without some suspicion of wickedness, unless his kindred had been known; yet was it long before he was of such courage that he durst make known the love which he bare toward his kindred. And this serveth not a little to set forth the glory of God, that Moses, being ignorant of his calling, doth remain a long time idle in the king’s court, and is afterward called of the Lord contrary to the hope of all men, and his own also. Therefore, this new care for his brethren which came into his mind, proceeded from a new and unwonted motion of God’s Spirit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) It came into his heart.The distinct purpose in going out to look after his brethren is stated somewhat more emphatically than in Exo. 2:11.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Full forty years By a comparison with Act 7:23; Act 7:30; Act 7:36, it appears that Moses was forty years in the house of Pharaoh, forty years with Jethro waiting for his divine commission, and forty years leading Israel through the wilderness; being thus at his death one hundred and twenty years old, (Deu 24:7.)
Came into his heart Though enjoying a royal dignity, there came into his heart a tender desire to become the deliverer of his oppressed race. His first action betokening this desire was the slaying of one of their oppressors, Act 7:24; the second was an effort to unite the hearts of the oppressed, Act 7:26. He did these things, for he had hoped that they would appreciate his condescension to them and recognise in him a divinely intended deliverer, Act 7:25. But, like the Jesus whom Stephen would represent as typified by him, he was slighted and rejected, Act 7:27-28.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
23. Gall of bitterness Bitterness is depravity; true hatred and malignity against holiness and God. But in Simon the apostle sees the very gall of such bitterness, the very quintessence of depravity.
Bond of iniquity Hemmed around by habits and principles of iniquity, as if bound fast by a fetter or bond, from which he cannot energetically even will to escape. Such are all men by nature without Christ and Spirit and Gospel. To such a condition do men tend by habits and principles of profligacy, even in spite of Christ and his provisions. Simon was none the less guilty for these bonds, for his own free will had fastened them about himself.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But when he was almost forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian, and he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance, but they did not understand.’
Once he had reached full age Moses had gone to visit his people, and seeing them suffer wrong, had revealed himself as the deliverer sent by God. He had expected them to recognise him for what he was. In Genesis ‘forty years old’ signified the age of maturity. For Jesus it was ‘about thirty’ (Luk 3:23). He too on reaching maturity had ‘visited his brethren’ and sought to deliver them from ‘oppression’, from evil spirits and diseases, hoping that they would understand.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Moses attempts to deliver his people:
v. 23. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.
v. 24. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian;
v. 25. for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not.
v. 26. And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
v. 27. But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
v. 28. Wilt thou kill me as thou didest the Egyptian yesterday?
v. 29. Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. The events narrated in Exo 2:1-25 are here briefly reviewed. The entire training of Moses under the direction of his foster-mother may well have taken until he was almost forty years old, since many years were devoted to the study of mathematics, natural philosophy, and medicine, in all of which branches the advance made by the Egyptians is little short of remarkable. But he must have been fully aware of his parentage during this whole time, for his own mother had been his nurse and had undoubtedly imparted to him the promises of the Lord and the prophecy concerning the deliverance of His people from the bondage of Egypt. When Moses therefore had turned forty, the thought arose in his, heart to look upon, to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. It can hardly be assumed that he had at that time received any revelation from the Lord as to his future position among his enslaved brethren, although there was a Jewish tradition which stated that Amram, the father of Moses, had received some intimation from God that his son would be the leader in the deliverance of the Jews. Upon this occasion, Moses saw that one of his brethren was being ill-treated, and he promptly sprang to his defense. He wrought speedy justice and revenge for the oppressed by killing the Egyptian that had transgressed his authority. Note: The act of Moses in this instance was not a murder, for he was an Egyptian prince with absolute power over life and death, and he is nowhere in Scriptures censured for it, but it was a rash act, since he had no right to anticipate the providence of God simply because of his personal belief in the divine destiny of Israel. The effort of Moses was premature and unauthorized. He supposed that his brethren understood that God was giving them salvation, deliverance through his hand, but they did not understand; they resented the interference of the prince of Egypt as unwarranted officiousness. When he therefore tried to reconcile two quarreling Israelites the next day and attempted to establish peace by gently rebuking them: Men, you are brethren, why do you wrong each other? he was met by a decided rebuff: Who has established thee as a ruler and judge over us? Far from rising under his leadership and striking for liberty, his countrymen rejected all his offers with vehemence and even aided in making public his effort in their behalf. So Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of Midian, out in the wilderness, where he was married to a native girl and became the father of two sons, Exo 2:22; Exo 4:25; Exo 18:3-5. Moses fled from Egypt because he had nothing to hope for from his own people and also because his life was no longer safe. Many a matter which in itself is altogether praiseworthy is undertaken upon man’s own initiative without success, but the same thing is afterward, at God’s time, carried to a successful conclusion. Zeal not according to knowledge may do almost as much harm as dilatoriness and procrastination.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Act 7:23 . But when a period of forty years became full to him , i.e. when he was precisely 40 years old . This exact specification of age is not found in the O. T. (Exo 2:11 ), but is traditional ( Beresh . f. 115. 3; Schemoth Rabb. f. 118. 3). See Lightfoot in loc. Bengel says: “Mosis vita ter 40 anni, Act 7:30 ; Act 7:36 .”
] it arose into his heart , i.e. came into his mind , to visit (to see how it went with them), etc. The expression (comp. 1Co 2:9 ) is adopted from the LXX., where it is an imitation of the Hebrew , Jer 3:16 ; Jer 32:35 ; Isa 65:17 . [205] Neither is (for which Luk 24:38 is erroneously appealed to) nor to be supplied.
. ] invisere (Mat 25:36 , often also in Greek writers). He had hitherto been aloof from them, in the higher circles of Egyptian society and culture.
] “motivum amoris,” Bengel. Comp. Act 7:26 .
[205] “Potest aliquid esse in profundo animae, quod postea emergit, et in cor ascendit,” Bengel.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
Ver. 23. See Heb 11:24 . See Trapp on “ Heb 11:24 “
It came into his heart ] sc. By an impulse of the Holy Spirit; for till then it seems he had slighted them; but now he began to be sick of the affliction of Joseph, whereby he was even broken to shivers, as the Hebrew word Shevarim signifies, Amo 6:6 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. .] M [46] , Exo 2:11 , LXX. The exact age was traditional, see Lightf.
[46]. Marcion, 130; fragments in Epiph. (Mcion-e) and Tert. (Mcion-t)
] No nominative (as , Kuin.) must be supplied: it is impersonal; see reff.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 7:23 . , cf. Act 1:10 , Lucan. The exact age is not mentioned in O.T., but it was traditional (Weiss refers its mention to the reviser, perhaps introduced as a parallel to Act 7:30 ). According to the tradition, which Stephen apparently followed, Moses lived forty years in Pharaoh’s palace, but some accounts give twenty years; his dwelling in Midian occupied forty years, and he governed Israel for the same period, Act 13:18 . See Midrash Tanchuma on Exo 2:6 (Wetstein, with other references, so too Lumby). , “but when he was well-nigh,” etc., R.V., lit [204] “when the age of forty years was being fulfilled to him” (imperf. tense), cf. Luk 21:24 , Act 2:1 ; Act 9:23 ; Act 24:27 , and Act 7:30 below; so repeatedly in LXX. , cf. 1Co 2:9 for the expression, probably taken from LXX, Isa 65:17 , cf. Jer 3:16 ; Jer 32:35 , Eze 38:10 , and 2Ki 12:4 . The phrase is an imitation of the Hebrew. Gesenius compares the phrase before us with Heb., Eze 14:3-4 ; see also Viteau, Le Grec du N. T. , p. 66 (1896). , cf. Luk 1:68 ; Luk 1:78 ; Luk 7:16 , cf. Exo 4:31 , of God visiting His people by Moses and Aaron (Act 15:14 ). In each of these passages the verb is used of a divine visitation, and it is so used by St. Luke only amongst N.T. writers, except Heb 2:6 = Psa 8:5 , LXX. It is used elsewhere in Mat 25:36 ; Mat 25:43 , Jas 1:27 , Act 6:3 ; Act 15:36 ( cf. Jdg 15:1 ). The word is used of visits paid to the sick, cf. Sir 7:35 , and so in classical Greek (see Mayor on Jas 1:27 ), often in medical writings and in Plutarch (Grimm, sub v. , and Kennedy, Sources of N. T. Greek , p. 105); mostly in the LXX, as always in the N.T., in good sense (Gen 21:1 , Psa 8:4 , 79:14, Sir 46:14 , Jdt 8:33 , but also with reference to divine punishment, Ps. 88:31, 32, Jer 9:9 ; Jer 9:25 ; Jer 11:22 ; Jer 34:8 , etc.), cf. its use in Psalms of Solomon , where it is generally employed with reference to divine visitation, either for purposes of punishment or deliverance. In modern Greek = to visit , same sense as in LXX and N.T.; Kennedy, u. s. , p. 155. For its old English sense of visit , as looking upon with kindness, Lumby compares Shaks., Rich. II. , i., 3, 275: “All places that the eye of heaven visits ”. : though in a king’s palace, and far removed in one sense from his people, Moses remembers that he is an Israelite, and that he has brethren; while others forgot their brotherhood he reminded them of it: “motivum amoris quod Moses etiam aliis adhibuit Act 7:26 ,” Bengel, cf. Exo 2:10 , and Heb 11:24-25 .
[204] literal, literally.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
he was, &c. Literally a period (Greek. chronos) of forty years (Greek. tessarakontaetes. Only here and Act 13:18) was fulfilled. Greek. pleroo. App-125.
into = upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
visit. Greek. episkeptomai. App-133.
children = sons. Greek. huios as in Act 7:16.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23. .] M[46], Exo 2:11, LXX. The exact age was traditional, see Lightf.
[46]. Marcion, 130; fragments in Epiph. (Mcion-e) and Tert. (Mcion-t)
] No nominative (as , Kuin.) must be supplied: it is impersonal; see reff.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 7:23. , was fulfilled) There is a ripe time in all things. Before that time we ought to undertake nothing.- , the age of forty years) Moses life was thrice forty years: Act 7:30; Act 7:36.- , it came up into his heart) A very appropriate phrase. There may be something in the depth of the soul, which afterwards emerges and ascends (comes up) from that sea into the heart, as into an island. It might seem to have come into the mind of Moses at random: and yet Moses was acted on by Divine impulse.-, to visit) although he himself was happy and they wretched. He was not able to have exact knowledge in the palace of the sorrows of his brethren; therefore he went forth to them.- , his brethren) A motive of love which Moses also employed to others: Act 7:26.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
when: Exo 2:11, Exo 2:12, Heb 11:24-26
it came: Exo 35:21, Exo 35:29, 1Ch 29:17-19, 2Ch 30:12, Ezr 1:1, Ezr 1:5, Ezr 7:27, Pro 21:1, 2Co 8:16, Phi 2:12, Phi 2:13, Jam 1:17, Rev 17:17
to: Act 15:36, Exo 4:18
Reciprocal: Exo 3:11 – General Exo 7:7 – General Deu 31:2 – I am an Deu 34:7 – an hundred Rom 9:3 – my kinsmen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
Act 7:23. Full forty years is more definite than the account in Exo 2:11, which says he “was grown.” Came into his heart. Moses acted on his own authority only, for there is no information that God told him to take on the work at that time.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 7:23. And, when he was full forty years old. The Hebrews lived in a separate district of their own, and Moses, one of the royal family, the adopted son of the daughter of the Pharaoh, no doubt during these first forty years of his life had little to do with his kinsmen. In this verse and in Act 7:30; Act 7:36, Stephen divides the life of Moses into three exact periods, each of forty years. This division, afterwards current among the Jews, is not found in the Old Testament. Deu 34:7 states that the whole age of Moses was 120 years. In Exo 21:32, we hear that the time spent in the desert wanderings was forty years; and Exo 7:7 mentions that when he stood before Pharaoh, he was eighty years old; but the Pentateuch gives no hint of the time that he spent in Egypt before his flight to Midian. In the Bereshith Rabba it is said, Moses lived in the palace of Pharaoh forty years; in Midian, forty years; and for forty years he ministered to Israel. This repeats the statement of Stephen, who doubtless quoted from the traditional history generally received in his times. Wordsworth, commenting on this verse, calls attention to the mystic triple division of the life of the great lawgiver, and points out how often the number forty occurs in the recital of the most important events of sacred history:
In the history of the flood,Gen 7:4
Moses in the mount before the giving of the law,Exo 24:18; Exo 34:23
Elijah before coming to Horeb1Ki 19:8
The probation of Nineveh,Jon 3:4
Before our Lords presentation in the Temple,Luk 2:22
His fasting,Mat 4:2
The resurrection-life between resurrection and ascension,Act 1:3
It came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. In the midst of all his busy life with the great ones of Egypt, while dwelling in the palace of the Pharaoh, the thought of his own race and people toiling at their hard tasks, building, as slaves for their masters, cities and fortresses,probably, too, among their works, some of those pyramids we know so well,he obeyed the impulse, and went and pondered over the life they were leading. While looking at one of the working parties of these Israelites toiling under the superintendence of Egyptian taskmasters, the episode related in the following verses took place. It is told almost word for word, though slightly abbreviated from the Exodus history.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Act 7:23-25. When he was forty years old So long he continued in Pharaohs court; it came into his heart Probably by an impulse from God; to visit his brethren He having been instructed, it appears, in the knowledge of his real descent, and in the principles of the Jewish religion; and it is likely his spirit was so impressed with a concern for their welfare, that all the pleasure and grandeur at the court of Egypt could not make him easy, without going in person to take a view of their state. And seeing one of them suffer wrong Probably by one of the task-masters; he defended him And smiting the Egyptian with a mortal wound, he at once rescued and avenged him that was oppressed See note on Exo 2:11-12. For he supposed his brethren would have understood, &c. The manner in which Stephen expresses himself, seems to imply, that he considered Moses as doing this action in consequence of a special impression from God on his mind, intimating to him the important work for which he was intended, that God by his hands would deliver them Two things are here proper to be inquired into, namely, 1st, By what authority or right Moses slew the Egyptian. 2d, What reason he had to expect the people should understand that God designed him for their deliverer? The Jewish historians, says Whitby, give us a very easy solution of these difficulties; for, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, their priests declare that Moses slew the Egyptian with a word, and so gave them a miracle to prove his mission: and Josephus assures us, that God appeared to Amram, the father of Moses, as he was praying to him for the afflicted Jews, and said to him, Thy son, now in the womb of thy wife, shall escape the hand of the Egyptians, and shall deliver the Hebrews from the afflictions of Egypt; and that, to confirm this vision, his wife brought him forth without any pain. The Jerusalem Talmud likewise declares that Moses slew the Egyptian by the spirit of prophecy, or by an extraordinary impulse from God; and Maimonides makes this action one degree of prophecy. And thus, as Stephen here says: it came into his heart, namely, from God, to visit his brethren: and indeed otherwise he could not have justified this fact to God and his own conscience. Now Moses, knowing what had been declared of him to his father, and by this action working deliverance to one of them, might justly hope they would look upon him as one appointed by God to be their deliverer. Dr. Benson, however, not crediting these stories, thinks it does not appear that Moses had as yet any prophecy to assure him that he was the person who should deliver Israel; but, knowing there was a divine promise of deliverance made to, and retained in the house of Israel; that he himself had been extraordinarily preserved and educated, and that the time of their deliverance was approaching, he showed himself willing to run all hazards and dangers with the people of God, rather than continue in the splendour of the Egyptian court; and that when the time should be fully come, he would cheerfully join and head them, in order to rescue them from their bondage and cruel slavery. But it seems there is more than this implied in the verse; and though we may have no certain information of any prophecy that Moses had yet received, it does not follow but he might have received some private revelation from God, that he was the person appointed by him to deliver the Israelites. But they understood not Such was their stupidity and sloth, which made him afterward unwilling to go to them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
See notes on verse 17
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
23. And when the time of the fortieth year was being fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. Here culminates a crisis, more copiously revealed in Heb 11:24-28, where it is said that he
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh, preferring to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.
This clearly confirms and corroborates the preceding. As Egypt was an absolute monarchy, the king owned the country, all the people and all the money. Thus, in the capacity of king, Moses had it in his power to own all the treasures of Egypt. History says that after be had passed his thirty- fifth year, having for many years, in the capacity of royal regent, relieved his queenly mother of governmental burden and responsibility, now that she is venerable with years, knowing the political intrigue on all sides among the consanguinity of the blood-royal, and so anxious to carry out the cherished enterprise of her life, i. e., to transmit the kingdom to her son Moses, at the same time in constant fear lest something might happen and prevent his receiving the crown, she resolves, though out of harmony with royal precedent, to have Moses crowned king before she passes out of life. With great reluctance he finally yields to her importunity, and, pursuant to Egyptian custom, is passing through a whole lunar month of preparatory disciplines and vigils, conducted by the magicians in the secret orgies of their subterranean chambers, beneath the great pyramids. The time of inauguration is drawing nigh, he sees a vision at the third watch of the night, in the subterranean chamber of the magician; behold! he sees the soldiers dashing hither and thither ransacking the mud-tenements of the Hebrew slaves, hunting up every boy baby and knocking his brains out. He sees a father and mother with all expedition fixing up a bulrush ark, putting their baby in it, committing it to the waves. It floats down the Nile, pursued by the little sister on the bank, is picked up by the maid-servants at day- dawn, brought to the queen in her bathing-house, adopted, mother and father called to nurse. Then it is revealed to him that he is that baby.
Besides, a supernatural voice rings out, Thou art not an Egyptian; thou art a Hebrew, a son of the despised race of slaves. Then Moses, responsive to the heavenly vision and the divine voice, to his unutterable surprise for the first time in life finds out his mistake, that he is not the son of Pharaohs daughter, but the son of his faithful Hebrew nurse and the pious old gardener, who all their lives had showed him so much kindness, but of course never intimating to him his Hebrew origen, as this would have blighted all the hope of his future kingdom. Now arriving at day-dawn, entering the royal palace he runs to his venerable queenly mother: Oh, mother; though you are not my mother, yet I love you with all the possible love of a mothers son; yet you are not my mother, but I am the son of that Hebrew nurse and belong to that race of slaves. This to his royal mother is a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky crushing all her hopes. Verily, the trouble she had feared all her life has come like a flood. Now arises the crisis mentioned in the above quotation. She importunes him to keep the whole matter thus revealed in the heavenly vision a secret, with her and him alone, go on with the inauguration and be crowned king. Oh, mother, in that case I would reign under a falsehood, as you know that the Egyptians would never tolerate a Hebrew on the throne. They would hurl me down and elevate the nearest of the blood-royal. Why? Joseph, the Hebrew, was king of Egypt. Yes, but he reigned as a Hebrew and not as an Egyptian, which will never again be tolerated since the degradation of the Hebrews in disgraceful bondage. Oh, mother, you know I can never reign under a falsehood. I must be true and cast my fortunes with those despised slaves. History says when Moses thus refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, receive the crown of Egypt, bade his royal mother adieu and hastened away to join the toiling slaves, that she quickly died of a broken heart, succeeded in the throne by the nearest of the blood-royal, unfortunately very profligate. How wonderfully God maketh the wrath of man to praise Him! While Pharaoh was doing his utmost to prevent the insurgency of Israel by killing their leader, of course making sure of it by killing all the boy babies, behold! the very one he was ransacking all the land to kill he is keeping in his own palace, feeding him on the fat of the land, paying his own father and mother enormous wages to nurse him, and bestowing a million of dollars on the magicians, priests and philosophers to give him the finest education ever received by a mortal man, thus conferring on him every qualification needed for the very work he had turned loose his whole army to prevent by killing the babies. We have myriads of historic repetitions of this same folly this day. The very sons and daughters cultured by the opposition to fight the holiness movement are everywhere getting sanctified and leading the embattled host to victory. The life of Moses, one hundred and twenty years, is divided into three periods of forty years each, so wonderfully contrastive either with other. The first forty years in the royal palace of the proudest kingdom beneath the skies, actually living at the top of creation, emblemating the mediatorial Christ on the throne of heaven before He condescended to become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, to redeem the world from sin, death and hell. We now reach the second period of Moses wonderful life.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Moses’ presumptive attempt to deliver his people resulted in his having to flee Egypt for Midian where he became an alien (cf. Act 7:6). These verses relate another story of an anointed leader of God’s people, like Joseph, being rejected by those people. Yet God did not abandon Moses or his people. God blessed Moses in a foreign land, Midian, by giving him two sons.
Moses offered himself as the deliverer of his brethren, but they did not understand him. The same thing happened to Jesus. Moses’ Jewish brethren who did not recognize that God had appointed him as their ruler and judge rejected him even though Moses sought to help them. Likewise Jesus’ Jewish brethren rejected Him. Moses’ brethren feared that he might use his power to destroy them rather than help them. Similarly the Jewish leaders feared that Jesus with His supernatural abilities might bring them harm rather than deliverance and blessing (cf. Joh 11:47-48). This rejection led Moses to leave his brethren and to live in a distant land where he fathered sons (Act 7:29). Jesus too had left His people and had gone to live in a distant land where He was producing descendants (i.e., Christians).