Acts 7:17

“Our ancestors had become very numerous when it was almost time for God to rescue them from Egypt, as he had promised Abraham that he would do.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

In Context

16But the bodies of Jacob and Joseph were brought { they brought the bodies of Jacob and Joseph} back to our land, and Jacob’s body was buried {they buried Jacob’s body} in the tomb that Abraham had bought, and they buried Joseph’s body in Shechem in the ground that Jacob had bought from Hamor’s sons.”

18Another king had begun to rule in Egypt. He did not know that Joseph, long before that time, had greatly helped the people of Egypt [MTY].

Read all of Acts 7

Cross References

Genesis 15:13Then God said to Abram, “I want you to know that your descendants will become foreigners living in a land that does not belong to them. They will become slaves of the owners of that land. The owners of the land will mistreat them for 400 years.

Exodus 1:20So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the Hebrew people became even more numerous and strong.

Acts 7:6“ Later God told Abraham, ‘Your descendants will go and live in a foreign country. They will live there for 400 years, and during that time their leaders will mistreat your descendants and force them to work as slaves.’

2 Peter 3:8Dear friends, I want you to understand well that the Lord God is willing to wait a long time to judge the people in the world! How much time passes before the Lord God judges the people in the world does not matter to him! He considers that one day passes no more quickly than 1,000 years, and he also considers that 1,000 years pass as quickly as one day passes to us!

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:2-17

Stephen's Address. 1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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