Acts 7:7

7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that they shall come forth, and serve 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 gave him no inheritance in it, no not [so much as] to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when [as yet] he had no child.

6 And God spoke on this wise, That his offspring should sojourn in a foreign land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat [them] ill four hundred years.

7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that they shall come forth, and serve me in this place.

8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so [Abraham] begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac [begat] Jacob, and Jacob [begat] the twelve patriarchs.

9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,