Acts 7:22

22 Moses was educated in the best schools in Egypt. He was equally impressive as a thinker and an athlete.

Acts 7:22 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 7:22

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,
&c,] Which was reckoned very considerable: ( 1 Kings 4:30 ) Philo the Jew says F5 that he learned arithmetic, geometry, and every branch of music, the hieroglyphics, the Assyrian language, and the Chaldean knowledge of the heavens, and the mathematics; yet was not a magician, or skilled in unlawful arts, as Justin suggests F6:

and was mighty in words;
he had a command of language, and a large flow of words, and could speak properly and pertinently upon any subject; for though he was slow of speech, and of tongue, and might have somewhat of a stammering in speaking, yet he might have a just diction, a masculine style, and a powerful eloquence, and the matter he delivered might be very great and striking:

and in deeds;
or in "his deeds", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read: he was a man of great abilities, and fit for business both in the cabinet and in the field. Josephus F7 relates an expedition of his against the Ethiopians, whilst he was in Pharaoh's court, in which he obtained victory over them, when the Egyptians had been greatly oppressed by them; in which his prudence and fortitude were highly commended.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 606. Clement. Alex. Strom. l. 1. p. 343.
F6 L. 36. c. 2.
F7 Antiqu l. 2. c. 10. sect. 1. 2. 3.

Acts 7:22 In-Context

20 "In just such a time Moses was born, a most beautiful baby. He was hidden at home for three months.
21 When he could be hidden no longer, he was put outside - and immediately rescued by Pharaoh's daughter, who mothered him as her own son.
22 Moses was educated in the best schools in Egypt. He was equally impressive as a thinker and an athlete.
23 "When he was forty years old, he wondered how everything was going with his Hebrew kin and went out to look things over.
24 He saw an Egyptian abusing one of them and stepped in, avenging his underdog brother by knocking the Egyptian flat.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.