Acts 7:5

5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it--not even a footstep--and he promised to give [it] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, {although he did not have} a child.

Acts 7:5 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 7:5

And he gave him none inheritance in it
To be personally enjoyed by him; and which was a great trial to Abraham's faith, to be brought out of his country, and into another land, and which was promised to him and his; and yet, as not the whole, so not a single part of it was given him to possess:

no, not so much as to set his foot on:
so that when Sarah his wife died, he was obliged to buy a piece of ground for a burying place to bury her in: and which could not be said to be given him by the Lord, for he bought it with his money:

yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and
to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child;
which was another exercise of Abraham's faith, that he should have a whole country promised him and his seed, and yet had no seed given him; see ( Genesis 12:7 ) ( 13:15 ) ( Genesis 15:2 Genesis 15:3 Genesis 15:7 ) .

Acts 7:5 In-Context

3 and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.'

4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans [and] settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live.

5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it--not even a footstep--and he promised to give [it] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, {although he did not have} a child.

6 But God spoke like this: 'His descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and mistreat [them] four hundred years,

7 and the nation {that} they will serve as slaves, I will judge,' God said, 'and after these [things] they will come out and will worship me in this place.'

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "a step of a foot"
• [b] *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [c] Literally "not being to him"
• [d] *Here "[although]" is supplied in the translation as a component of the participle ("was") which is understood as concessive