Acts 7:32
in Acts 7‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
KJV
Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
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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
the God of Abraham, Isaac
The one who appears in the bush is called an angel in verse 30, yet the voice names itself the God of the patriarchs. Chrysostom calls the speaker Christ, the Angel of the Great Counsel. Gill adds that Jesus uses these words in Matthew 22 to prove the resurrection.
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 …
"I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Lo! how He shows that He is none other than "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"--He, "the Angel of the Great Counsel." Here he shows what great loving-kindness God herein exhibits. "Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place where thou standest is holy ground." Not a word of Temple, and the place is holy through the appearance and operation of Christ. Far more wonderful this than the place which is in the Holy of Holies: for there God is nowhere said to have appeared in this manner, nor Moses to have thus trembled. And then the greatness of His tender care.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But his flight did not disrupt God's plans either, because it is said: "when forty years were fulfilled, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai" — He appeared when Moses was in flight, when he did not even …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Saying, I am the God of thy fathers,.... Who made a covenant with them, promised the land of Canaan to them, and to their posterity, and to bring the children of Israel out of their servitude and bondage, and into the possession of the promised land: the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; words which our Lord makes use of to prove the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, since God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; see Gill on Mat 22:
): The voice of the Lord came to him; for faith comes by hearing; and this was it: I am the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and therefore, 1. "I am the same that I was." The covenant God made with Abraham some ages ago was, I will be to thee a God, a God all-sufficient.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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)
proposed
Saying, I am the God ... - See this explained in the notes on Mat 22:32. Then Moses trembled - Exo 3:6.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐγὼ | ego | I myself [am] | G1473 → | 839 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεὸς | theos | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| τῶν | ton | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πατέρων | pateron | Fathers | G3962 → | 410 times |
| σου, | sou | of you, | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεὸς | theos | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| Ἀβραὰμ | abraam | of Abraham | G11 → | 73 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Ἰσαὰκ | isaak | of Isaac | G2464 → | 20 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Ἰακώβ. | iakob | of Jacob.’ | G2384 → | 27 times |
| ἔντρομος | entromos | Terrified | G1790 → | |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| γενόμενος | genomenos | having become | G1096 → | 667 times |
| Μωϋσῆς | mouses | Moses | G3475 → | 78 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἐτόλμα | etolma | he was daring | G5111 → | |
| κατανοῆσαι. | katanoesai | to look. | G2657 → | 14 times |
ἐγὼI myself [am]
egoG1473 →839 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
θεὸςGod
theosG2316 →1312 times
τῶνof the
tonG3588 →19766 times
πατέρωνFathers
pateronG3962 →410 times
σου,of you,
souG4771 →2973 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
θεὸςGod
theosG2316 →1312 times
Ἀβραὰμof Abraham
abraamG11 →73 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
Ἰσαὰκof Isaac
isaakG2464 →20 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
Ἰακώβ.of Jacob.’
iakobG2384 →27 times
ἔντρομοςTerrified
entromosG1790 →
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
γενόμενοςhaving become
genomenosG1096 →667 times
ΜωϋσῆςMoses
mousesG3475 →78 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἐτόλμαhe was daring
etolmaG5111 →
κατανοῆσαι.to look.
katanoesaiG2657 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Matthew 22:32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
it leads to
- Exodus 3:6
Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to…
- Mark 12:26–27
But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the…
- Luke 20:37–38
Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
- Exodus 3:6
Through
Exodus 3:6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to…
it leads to
- Luke 20:37
Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
- Matthew 22:32
‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Exodus 4:5
“This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
- Mark 12:26
But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the…
- Genesis 28:13
And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the…
- Luke 20:37
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
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonExodus and Wilderness PeriodMosesIsrael's deliverer from Egyptian slavery, covenant mediator, and lawgiver.
- PersonPatriarchsAbrahamCalled out of Ur, the father of all who believe, justified by faith, and the friend of God through whose seed all nations are bles…
- PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.