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Acts 7:44

in Acts 7

Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen.

KJV

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

This verse in Acts 7

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony - The testimony was properly the two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written. Hence the ark which contained them is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole tabernacle in this place.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

The tent of testimony, that is, of the commands of God, which was the tent of Moses shown by God on Mount Sinai. It was said to have been established by God so that they would have God as witness, because its explanation was on …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 17 · Written before 407.

proposed

"Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion he had seen." "But a Tabernacle," say you, "there was (the Tabernacle) 'of Witness.'" (Yes,) this is why it was: that they should have God for Witness: this was all. "According to the fashion," it says, "that was shown thee on the mount:" so that on the mount was the Original. And this Tabernacle, moreover, "in the wilderness," was carried about, and not locally fixed. And he calls it, "Tabernacle of witness:" i.e. (for witness) of the miracles, of the statutes. This is the reason why both it and those (the fathers) had no Temple.

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 17 · Written before 407.

proposed

Seest thou, how the holy place is there wherever God may be? For to this end also he says, "in the wilderness," to compare place with place. Then the benefit (conferred upon them): And our fathers that came after brought it in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

"The tabernacle of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness." They had it in order to have God as a witness. He calls it the tabernacle of testimonies, that is, of miracles and commandments. "As He who spoke to Moses commanded." The establishment of …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

The tabernacle of testimony was with our fathers in the desert. Because they said he was acting against the holy place, here he shows that the Lord does not greatly esteem decorated stone but desires the splendor of heavenly souls. Where he wants it to …
5 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness,.... The Ethiopic version adds, "of Sinai"; there it was that the tabernacle was first ordered to be built, and there it was built, and set up; which was a sort of a portable temple, in which Jehovah took up his residence, and which was carried from place to place: of it, and its several parts and furniture, there is a large account in Exo 25:

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 Century3 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

gave them up--judicially. as . . . written in the book of the prophets--the twelve minor prophets, reckoned as one: the passage is from Am 5:25. have ye offered to me . . . sacrifices?--The answer is, Yes, but as if ye did it not; for "neither did ye offer to Me only, nor always, nor with a perfect and willing heart" [BENGEL].

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness - That is, the tabernacle in which the two tables of stone written by the finger of God were laid up, as a testimony that he had delivered these laws to the people, and that they had promised to obey them.
The tabernacle of witness - The “tent” or “tabernacle” which Moses was commanded to make. It was called a tabernacle of “witness,” or of “testimony,” because it was the visible witness or proof of God’s presence with them; the evidence that he to whom it was devoted was their protector and guide. The name is given either to the “tent,” to the two tables of stone, or to the ark; all of which were “witnesses,” or “evidences” of God’s relation to them as their Lawgiver and guide, Exo 16:34; Exo 25:16, Exo 25:21; Exo 27:21; Exo 30:6, Exo 30:36; Exo 31:18, etc.; Num 1:50, Num 1:53. The two charges against Stephen were, that he had spoken blasphemy against Moses or his Law, and against the temple, Act 6:13-14. In the previous part of this defense he had shown his respect for Moses and his Law. He now proceeds to show that he did not design to speak with disrespect of the temple, or the holy places of their worship. He therefore expresses his belief in the divine appointment of both the tabernacle Act 7:44-46 and of the temple Act 7:47. According to the fashion ... - According to the pattern that was shown to him, by which it was to be made, Exo 25:9, Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30. As God showed him “a pattern,” it proved that the tabernacle had his sanction. Against that Stephen did not intend to speak.

The words behind it

24 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.

The walk

8 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

    Hebrews 8:5

    The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 25:40

      See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

    • Exodus 26:30

      So you are to set up the tabernacle according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Colossians 2:17

      These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.

    • Hebrews 10:1

      For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near…

    • Exodus 27:8

      Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

  • Through

    Exodus 25:40

    See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 8:5

      The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you…

    • Numbers 8:4

      This is how the lampstand was constructed: it was made of hammered gold from its base to its blossoms, fashioned according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.

  • Through

    Hebrews 8:2

    and who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 33:7

      Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent…

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 17; 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.