Acts 7:7

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.'

Acts 7:7 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 7:7

And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage
At the end of the four hundred years, and which was the Egyptian nation:

I will judge, said God;
that is, condemn and punish them, as he did, by inflicting the ten plagues upon them:

and after that they shall come forth;
out of the land of Egypt, and their hard bondage there; and which was brought about by the judgments executed upon the Egyptians:

and serve me in this place;
in the land of Canaan; though these words are not to be found in ( Genesis 15:13 ) what comes nearest them is in ( Exodus 3:12 ) . "Ye shall serve God upon this mountain"; meaning Mount Horeb, where Moses then was, and from whence the law was afterwards given.

Acts 7:7 In-Context

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.'

8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac [did so with] Jacob, and Jacob [did so with] the twelve patriarchs.

9 And the patriarchs, [because they] were jealous of Joseph, sold [him] into Egypt. And God was with him,

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "to which"
• [b] Verses 6-7 are a quotation from Gen 15:13-14
• [c] The final phrase is an allusion to Exod 3:12