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Acts 7:19

in Acts 7

He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The same dealt craftily with our race, and ill-treated our fathers, that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live.

KJV

The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

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This verse in Acts 7

Commentary

12 notes on this verse
Dealt subtilly - He acted deceitfully; he used fraud. The cunning or deceitful attempt which is referred to, is his endeavour to weaken and destroy the Jewish people by causing their male children to be put to death, Exo 1:22. Our kindred - Our nation, or our ancestors. And evil-entreated - Was unjust and cruel toward them. So that ... - For that purpose, or to “cause” them to cast them out.

This site's exposition

As the time drew near

on Acts 7:17-19

As God's promise drew near, Israel increased in Egypt, until a king who knew nothing of Joseph turned favor to fear. The growth that was blessing under Joseph's honor is now read as a threat.

This site's exposition

forcing them to abandon their infants

The word rendered exploited means to deal craftily, and Clarke traces it to the Greek of Exodus 1:10, where Pharaoh plots against Israel. Chrysostom reads it as a hint that Pharaoh wished to destroy Israel without doing so openly, by having the infants cast out.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

Having become crafty, that is resolved to outwit them by cunning devices. For sophistry is a forced explanation. Wherefore the emphasis here says that it is plain they are violently imposed upon; therefore the charlatans are called sophists, as those who hide the truth by …

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

But even at the time when deliverance for the afflicted was drawing near, the arrogance of the oppressors, having increased, introduced destruction of the males by the midwives. Moreover, as to the other evils it chiefly led to an increase in the number of the …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 16 · Written before 407.

proposed

"The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil-entreated our fathers, that they should cast out their young children, to the end they might not live." "Dealt subtly:" he hints at their not liking to exterminate them openly: "that they should cast out their young children," it says.

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

Moreover, this season of visitation according to Christ also appears. During which all shadowy and typical things are transferred to the truth according to the Gospel. Therefore those who do not endure being so transformed are represented as hard of neck and uncircumcised, hard-hearted with …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

"Forcing… to cast out their young children, to the end they might not live." This expression hints that the king did not want the killing of the infants to be carried out openly. And observe: the promise of God was strengthened by the very same …
4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Their base ingratitude: They were oppressed by another king that knew not Joseph, that is, did not consider the good service that Joseph had done to that nation; for, if he had, he would not have made so ill a requital to his relations and family. Those that injure good people are very ungrateful, for they are the blessings of the age and place they live in.
The same dealt subtilly with our kindred,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He applies this to those that prosecuted him, and sat in judgment upon him, sharply reproving them for their wickedness, by which they had brought upon themselves the ruin of their place and nation, and then could not bear to hear of it,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The same dealt subtilty - Οὑτος κατασοφισαμενος, A word borrowed from the Septuagint, who thus translate the Hebrew נהחכמה לו nithchokmah lo, let us deal wisely with it, i.e. with cunning and deceit, as the Greek word implies; and which is evidently intended by the Hebrew. See Gen 27:35, Thy brother came with subtilty, which the Targumist explains by בחוכמא be-chokma, with wisdom, that is, cunning and deceit. For this the Egyptians were so remarkable that αιγυπτιαζειν, to Egyptize, signified to act cunningly, and to use wicked devices. Hence the Jews compared them to foxes; and it is of them that Canticles, Son 2:15, is understood by the rabbins: Take us the little foxes which spoil our vines; destroy the Egyptians, who, having slain our male children, sought to destroy the name of Israel from the face of the earth. To the end they might not live - Might not grow up and propagate, and thus build up the Hebrew nation.

The words behind it

19 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 2:13When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”7 worksExodus 1:10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”7 worksExodus 1:14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.7 worksExodus 1:22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”7 worksExodus 2:3But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.7 worksPsalms 105:25whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.6 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 1:9–22“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.3 worksPsalms 83:4–5saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”2 worksRevelation 12:4–5His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.2 worksMatthew 26:4and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.2 worksNumbers 20:15how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,2 worksPsalms 129:1–3Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth— let Israel now declare—1 worksActs 9:2and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.0 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 105:25

    whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 15:13

      Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

    • Exodus 9:16

      But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

    • Exodus 1:16

      “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

    • Romans 9:17–19

      For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

    • Exodus 4:21

      The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 7 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 16; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.

Read on in Acts 7 →