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Acts 7:1–7:8, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Acts 7:1–7:8
Stephen begins with Abraham's unsettled journey
Stephen answers the high priest by beginning with Abraham's landless call
The high priest asks whether these things are so. Stephen addresses brothers and fathers and asks them to hear. The God of glory appeared to their father Abraham in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and told him to leave country and kindred and come into a land he would be shown. Abraham went out of the land of the Chaldeans, dwelt in Haran, and after his father died God moved him into this land where they now dwell. God gave him no inheritance in it, not so much as to set his foot on, yet promised it to him for a possession and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
God said his seed would sojourn in a strange land, be brought into bondage, and be evilly treated four hundred years; the nation they serve God would judge, and they would come out and serve him in this place. God gave the covenant of circumcision. Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day; Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. The speech retells Scripture selectively for the present controversy. It is Acts' composition of Stephen's defense and may follow textual forms that differ from later Hebrew numbering. The journey begins before settlement. Land is promised while Abraham still owns none of it.
Covenant history is Stephen's defense, not an attack on Israel's people
He speaks as a member of this story to fathers and brothers. Circumcision, promise, and the patriarchal line are honored. A Christian reader who treats this opening as a wedge against Jews has already misheard the speaker and the audience.
How this should shape us
Tell your people's story from God's call, not from possession already secured. Honor Abraham's landless faith without using Stephen's Bible as a weapon against Jewish covenant life.
Teach it back
Explain Acts 7:1–7:8 in your own words, naming its movement, speaker or narrator role, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one conclusion the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible interpreters differ?
Best judgment: The speech retells Scripture selectively for its present controversy; it is Acts' composition of Stephen's defense and may follow textual forms that differ from later Hebrew numbering.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Acts 7:1–7:8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
SBLGNT official text, Acts 7:1-7:8
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 7:1-7:8
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 7:1–7:8
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'Deepening Community, Growing Mission,' Acts 5-8 study guide
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 7:1–7:8
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 7:1–7:8, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Supports: Direct manuscript evidence only where a material Western reading is named; Bezae is not treated as the Western text as a whole.
IGNTP Codex Bezae Acts transcription, verse-addressable witness at 7:1–7:8, checked with SBLGNT and the NET tc note
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Exact location: Acts 7:1–7:8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 7:1-7:8
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 7:1-7:8
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 7:1–7:8
Open source ↗open university bible study course
Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2019
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'Deepening Community, Growing Mission,' Acts 5-8 study guide
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
The Acts of the Apostles
Alan J. Thompson
The Gospel Coalition, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Exact location: Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 7:1–7:8
Open source ↗peer reviewed article abstract and metadata
The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish
Joshua Paul Smith
The Journal of Theological Studies 72.2, 2021
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 7:1–7:8, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Exact location: Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Open source ↗primary manuscript transcription
Codex Bezae: Electronic Transcription of Acts
International Greek New Testament Project
Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing, University of Birmingham, 2012 transcription; current online edition
Supports: Direct manuscript evidence only where a material Western reading is named; Bezae is not treated as the Western text as a whole.
Exact location: IGNTP Codex Bezae Acts transcription, verse-addressable witness at 7:1–7:8, checked with SBLGNT and the NET tc note
Open source ↗