Acts 7:31
in Acts 7When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord,
KJV
When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
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This verse in Acts 7
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd as he came near to observe, the voice of the Lord came: I am the God of your fathers. In the Greek it is written thus: A voice came from heaven saying to him: I am the God of your brothers, remove the sandals …
This site's exposition
After forty years had passed
on Acts 7:30-34
An angel appeared to Moses in a burning bush near Mount Sinai, yet the voice names itself the God of his fathers. God calls the ground holy because of the presence that meets Moses there.
This site's exposition
he marveled at the sight
Albert Barnes explains from Exodus 3:2-3 that the wonder was a bush that burned without being consumed. Moses heard the Lord's voice but saw no form. Matthew Henry adds that Stephen, accused of blaspheming Moses, shows him here as a man subject to fear before the majesty of God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Now he calls the Son of God an angel, just as elsewhere he calls him a man. For he is the angel of great counsel. (Isa. 9:6 LXX) Therefore shortly afterwards he shows him speaking to the blessed Moses: "I am the God of your …
"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush." Do you mark that it is not hindered by lapse of time? For when he was an exile, when a stranger, when he had now passed much time in a foreign land, so as to have two sons, when he no longer expected to return, then does the Angel appear to him. The Son of God he calls an Angel, as also he calls Him man. Appears in the desert, not in a temple. See how many miracles are taking place, and no word of Temple, no word of Sacrifice. And here also not simply in the desert, but in the bush. "When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him." Lo! he was deemed worthy of the Voice also.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Stephen was accused for blaspheming Moses and God ( ch. vi. 11 ), as if Moses had been a little god; but by this it appears that he was a man, subject to like passions as we are, and particularly that of fear, upon any appearance of the divine majesty and glory. The declaration which he heard of the covenant of God (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
), that the stone which the builders refused was become the head-stone in the corner, ch. iv. God showed favour to them by him, and he was very forward to serve them, though they had thrust him away. God might justly have refused them his service, and he might justly have declined it; but it is all forgotten: they are not so much as upbraided with it,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He wondered ... - What particularly attracted his attention was the fact that the bush was not consumed, Exo 3:2-3. The voice of the Lord - Yahweh spake to him from the midst of the bush. He did not see him. He merely heard a voice.
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| Μωϋσῆς | mouses | Moses | G3475 → | 78 times |
| ἰδὼν | idon | having seen [it] | G1492 → | 374 times |
| ἐθαύμαζεν | ethaumazen | was marvelling at | G2296 → | 43 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὅραμα· | horama | vision; | G3705 → | 12 times |
| προσερχομένου | proserchomenou | When is approaching | G4334 → | 86 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | he | G846 → | 5565 times |
| κατανοῆσαι, | katanoesai | to behold [it], | G2657 → | 14 times |
| ἐγένετο | egeneto | there was | G1096 → | 667 times |
| φωνὴ | phone | [the] voice | G5456 → | 139 times |
| κυρίου | kuriou | of [the] Lord | G2962 → | 711 times |
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
ΜωϋσῆςMoses
mousesG3475 →78 times
ἰδὼνhaving seen [it]
idonG1492 →374 times
ἐθαύμαζενwas marvelling at
ethaumazenG2296 →43 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ὅραμα·vision;
horamaG3705 →12 times
προσερχομένουWhen is approaching
proserchomenouG4334 →86 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
αὐτοῦhe
autouG846 →5565 times
κατανοῆσαι,to behold [it],
katanoesaiG2657 →14 times
ἐγένετοthere was
egenetoG1096 →667 times
φωνὴ[the] voice
phoneG5456 →139 times
κυρίουof [the] Lord
kuriouG2962 →711 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies38
On this verse
On this chapter
- Abraham
- Brit milah: circumcision on the eighth day
- Chaldea
- Circumcision of the Heart
- Egypt's Famine Years and the Land of Pharaoh
- Father, Forgive Them
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
- Types of Christ: Joseph and Joshua
- Joseph and the Tale of Two Brothers
- Joshua son of Nun
- Amos and the Courts at the Gate
- Love Your Enemies
- Mesopotamia
Show the next 6 titles
- Moses in the Bulrushes
- Mourning and Burial in Israel
- Outside the Camp
- Paul
- Prophet, Priest and King: The Threefold Office of Christ
- Scribes and the Sanhedrin
Show the next 6 titles
About Acts
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Retractions on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 16; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts.