Acts 7:20

Act_7:20-43

In which time Moses was born.

Moses, a man of God and a man of the people

I. From the people, according to flesh and blood.

II. Above the people, according to spirit and character.

III. For the people, in word and in deed.

IV. Against the people, where the law of God was concerned. (K. Gerok.)

Moses, a pattern of Gods chosen instruments

1. The metal from which He takes them.

2. The fire in which He forges them.

3. The tests by which He proves them.

4. The deeds which He performs by them. (K. Gerok.)

Moses, a true reformer

Every reformer needs--

1. Profound knowledge and living experience of the heart.

2. Clear insight into the times.

3. Warm heart for the people.

4. Heroic courage in the face of the world.

5. Childlike humility before God and His Word. (K. Gerok.)

The training of Moses, an example how God prepares His chosen instruments

1. By great dangers and mighty deliverances (Act_7:21).

2. By human instruction (Act_7:22), and Divine illumination (Act_7:30).

3. By the experience of the world (verss 22-24), and quiet intercourse with our own heart (Act_7:29).

4. By deep humiliations (Act_7:27-28), and high proofs of favours (Act_7:32-34). Observe similar experiences in Joseph, David, Elijah, Paul, Luther, etc. (K. Gerok.)

Moses and Christ

I. Wherein Moses resembles Christ.

1. Both accredited by God--

(1) By a wonderful deliverance in infancy (Pharaoh and Herod).

(2) By their silent ripening for their great mission (Moses at court and in the wilderness; Christ in the cottage and the wilderness).

(3) By their solemn call to office (Moses at Horeb, Christ at Jordan).

(4) By the rich manifestation of the Spirit and of power (Moses mighty in words and deeds, Jesus mighty in deeds and words).

(5) By the deliverances wrought out by them.

(6) By the judgments inflicted on an ungrateful and disobedient people.

2. Both rejected by their nation.

(1) Their Divine mission was apprehended (Act_7:27).

(2) Their pure intention calumniated (Act_7:28).

(3) The freedom offered to the despised (Act_7:39).

(4) Their memory blotted out by an ungrateful generation (Act_7:40).

II. Wherein Christ is superior to Moses.

1. Moses redeems from bodily, Christ from spiritual bondage.

2. Moses redeems Israel, Christ mankind.

3. Moses effects a temporal, Christ an eternal salvation.

4. Moses acts as servant, Christ as Lord. (K. Gerok.)

And was exceeding fair.--

Moses beauty

God gave him that tallness when he was three years old, as was wonderful; and as for his beauty, there was nobody so unpolite, as when they saw Moses, they were not greatly surprised. Nay, it happened frequently, that those who met him as he was carried along the road, were obliged to turn again on seeing the child; that they left what they were about, and stood still a great while to look on him. (Josephus.)

Beauty a Divine talent

Beauty, if given to God, is indeed a talent not to be despised. It adds grace to our actions, a lustre to our virtues, and eloquence to our words. But if it be not defalcated to the service of God, it becomes a deadly poison, both to ourselves and others. (Dr. Wogan.)

Beauty, its criterion

If true, it increases on examination; if false, it lessens. (Lord Greville.)

Virtue necessary to beauty

Beauty unaccompanied by virtue is a flower without perfume.

And when he was cast out Pharaohs daughter took him up.--

Providence

What God wills to live no tyrant can destroy. Pharaoh, who had given a cruel order for Moses death, must bring him up in his own court. The Lord knows how to protect His chosen, and makes their enemies their servants. (K. Gerok.)

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.--

Moses education

I. The education of Moses.

1. He was instructed by strangers. Pharaohs daughter had him taught Egyptian learning at her own expense, as children have to be taught in schools by strangers. Instruction by parents not always possible, because of their ignorance, labour, etc.

(1) God appointed a princess, as if to honour the teachers office. People say any one will do; but if your watch-spring is broken, do you take it to a blacksmith? Can a common mind guide that delicate, ethereal thing, a childs soul? We want first-rate men. Miserable economy in parents! Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. You weigh your childs mind against copper.

(2) Consider the influence of teachers. Three thousand five hundred years an Egyptian princess took a poor mans child and taught him. The result of that education is not over yet. Compare her influence with Pharaohs. To rule in a single heart is greater than the proudest sway. The teacher is greater than the king. Here is a man perched on high, dressed in a little brief authority, with fingers pointing: That is he! And here is Christ with little children round Him.

2. He was under home influences. By a merciful arrangement Moses early years were entirely superintended by Pharaohs daughter. His mother nursed him. The princess gave him instruction, his mother education. People think education reading, writing, etc.; loading the memory with information and making preparation for a profession; but that is only the wisdom of Egypt. We must distinguish between education and instruction. The former is to unfold nature; to strengthen good and conquer evil; to give self-help; to make a man. The teacher cannot give this. You want influence bearing on the heart. Now influence is given at home. God gives the father to impart strength of will, and the mother tenderness of affection. Moses owed his lawgiving, politics, etc., to the princess; his religion to Jochebed. Jochebed that woman of poverty and toil, her hands black with brick-making; Jochebed that woman of faith, ennobled to defy the might of Egypt. Mothers, know your work! God has given you the destinies of the world. Our schools fail for the want of mothers and home influences.

3. He was disciplined by circumstances. Pharaohs daughter had done something, and Moses mother something, but there were other things needed beyond mans control.

(1) He belonged to an oppressed nation: hence his patriotism--that deep, long devotion to one vast cause which only can be felt in such circumstances.

(2) He was a banished man: hence his sympathy with the crushed.

(3) He was a solitary man: hence his depth and solemnity of character.

(4) He was a traveller: hence his knowledge of the world and man, and his enlarged views.

4. But he needed some sudden impulse. It came in the burning bush, and from thence the man of learning became the man of public action. Observe from all this--

(1) That education goes on through life. After he left Egypt and home his development continued. The lot of many is poverty: hence their fondness of character. It is often the lot of the orphan: hence may spring self-help; or, if the disposition be weak, bad habits. Riches may obstruct the childs moral growth, and produce, in spite of expensive education, only indolence of character. Again, we are disciplined by public circumstances. We live in time of war or peace, during a revolution, or in an age of trade, science, and philosophy--all this disciplines character. We talk of finished education. Education only ends when a man is in his winding-sheet. Observe--education is useful to call forth power to grapple with and modify circumstances. Trees on the sea-coast or in stony soil are thwarted, yet they may be pushed by agriculture. The best agriculture is in Scotland, which has but a poor soil.

(2) Education is Gods work, for circumstances come from God. Teaching cannot do all; we must look for fruit from God. We must war for our best impulses, which come like a flash, unexpectedly. The wind bloweth where it listeth, etc. Look back on our lives: what governed our most remarkable moments and alteration in character? Not systematic education; but some impression like that of Moses in the wilderness, that locked like chance--an impression from some great soul, or an old truth forcibly put.

II. Its results.

1. On his own character.

(1) Mentally, it gave him the habit of inquiry. He turns aside to see why the bush is not burnt. Other men would have simply seen the bush on fire. The first thing in education is to encourage this habit. When your child asks, What is the use of this? etc., do not call it troublesome. But not in duty. Why in phenomena is the acknowledgment of ignorance, but in practical duties it is the boast of presumption.

(2) Morally, it gave him boldness and tenderness. Many men are bold, yet tyrannical; many tender, yet weak. The perfect character joins both. Moses was ever the champion of the oppressed--his brethren, Jethros daughters.

(3) Religiously, it gave him--

(a) Reverence. He takes off his shoes.

(b) Obedience. God says, Go before Pharaoh, and Moses braves the angry king.

(c) Meekness. He was humble as a child. This is what is meant by education--mental power, moral worth, religious character.

2. On his nation the chief result was the elevation of the labouring classes. The Egyptian policy was to keep Israel down, to refuse them educational and political advantages, to prevent their increase. The task of Moses was their emancipation. So is that of every Christian. To elevate the labouring classes, however, is not to exempt them from toil. Labour is a blessing; it brings out strength of character. Nor is it to break down classes, but by Christianity and education to level up. Thank God the time has passed when the English policy was the policy of Egypt. The insane cry once was, The people must not be educated, because it will unfit them for their station. Now the mighty chasm between rich and poor is filling up. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Human learning recommended from the example of Moses

I. Inquire into the education and attainments of Moses, who is here said to have been learned in all the wisdom of the egyptians.

II. Deduce the lawfulness and explain the advantages of human learning, in opposition to those weak sophisms which some conceited novelists have imagined to the contrary. But there is little need of authority to recommend that which does so amply recommend itself. Such is the excellency of human learning, that it is impossible to conceive how anything so entertaining in the theory, so useful in the application, and withal so ornamental in the figure it makes, should be unlawful to be acquired, or should not, indeed, rather be highly worthy of the most laborious pursuits. The mind of man is capable of great improvements, not to be attained but by much pains and study: from whence we see every day the mighty difference between a liberal and sordid education. In the one, human nature seems only to resemble the rude lines of an unfinished piece, which may, indeed, discover the bulk that is designed, but without that beauty, order, and proportion which should recommend it. In the other it is, as it were, finished by the artists hand, and seems to want nothing that should make it lovely and agreeable. I forbear to expatiate farther on the transporting pleasures which arise from learning; in regard its excellency is such that it serves not only to please, but profit, to improve the mind with useful lessons and instructions, as well as entertain it with delightful speculations. The necessity of virtue is more clearly discerned, and the measures of our duty are more easily prescribed, when men are able to perceive the consequences of their actions, and infer fit rules of life from their observation of the nature of things. They are likewise better able to gain advantage to themselves, and go the readiest way to work in any enterprise, when they know the connection between causes and effects, and have all the experience of former ages which learning can afford. Nor is its influence confined at home, but, diffusive of itself, extends to all that stand in any way related to us, The philosopher, studies not only for himself, but for the common benefit of human kind; and, by his useful discoveries, unfolds those secrets for the public good, which had been otherwise locked up in the profoundest silence. The power of medicine to heal diseases might have remained a secret, and mankind have been for ever destitute of wholesome remedies, were it not for such cultivation and improvement of the mind as human learning gives. I need not observe to you how the several arts of arithmetic, geometry, navigation, and the rest, conduce to the good order and government of the world, to the adjusting mens various rights and interests, to the symmetry, and thereby to the duration, of buildings, to the conjunction of countries far distant in situation, and thereby to the better carrying on of trade and commerce. Nor can you want to be reminded that an inquiry into the nature of moral good and evil must likewise be of general use, beneficial to the public as well as to the student, qualifying some for the information and tuition of others, to furnish them that have less leisure and abilities with true principles, and instruct them fully in the nature of their duty. And from the whole it will be obvious to collect what ought not to be omitted upon this occasion, that those first rudiments of literature we learn at school must needs be highly beneficial as laying the foundation for all the rest, and being, indeed, the proper groundwork upon which any part of human learning should be built. The enthusiast, in the first place, objects against it as deceitful or vexatious, or at best but useless. The deceitfulness of human learning he would build upon St. Pauls authority, who calls it philosophy and vain deceit, and warns his Colossians beware lest any man should spoil them by it. But they who make this objection would do well to distinguish between the different ends and uses to which learning is applied. The right end of it is to serve for the better illustration and discovery of truth; and when it is subservient to this purpose, the Holy Scripture is so far from condemning it, that it recommends it rather as highly beneficial. It is not then, you see, the thing itself, but the abuse or vain pretence of it the apostle blames. Nor are they less deceived in the argument they draw from the vexatiousness and uncertainty of human learning, which the wisest of men reckoned to be but vanity and vexation of spirit, because that in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. For here again there is a pertinent distinction to be made between the study of human learning, looked upon as being itself our supreme good and happiness, and as a means only which may be subservient and conducive to it. It was Solomons business, in his book of Ecclesiastes, to show that nothing but religion or the fear of God can make us truly happy. To that end, he observes the vanity of all other schemes of happiness, and among them, how even learning itself, though it bids fairer than the rest, is yet very defective, and will leave the man far short of happiness who has no higher aims, especially if he be (as without religion men are too apt to be) over-curious to search deeper than human reason can fathom, and unwilling to resolve everything at last into unsearchable wisdom and omnipotence. But this is no real disparagement to that wisdom and knowledge which, being kept subordinate and made subservient to religious purposes, does humbly admire what it cannot comprehend, and therefore can be no just objection against that right use of human learning which I am at present desirous to recommend. I have but one objection more to examine, and that is the freethinkers, who reckons every man ought to judge in all matters for himself, and not suffer himself to be influenced by the skill and learning of another; but especially that it is most unreasonable, by arts of rhetoric and moving eloquence, to work on the affections of vulgar minds, and so prevail with them to do that to which they would otherwise be most averse. Let it be returned that no mans liberty of judging is taken from him by having reasons offered to direct his judgment; but he ever judges with the greatest freedom who judges most consistently with the appearance of reason and truth. If the matter be such as he is capable of examining himself, he ought seriously to weigh whatever is thus offered, and either to reject or admit it, as shall appear most reasonable upon mature deliberation. But if the matter be above his reach, it will be but equitable to believe the learned in their own profession, since he can have no other way of discovering the truth. He is not to follow them where he finds they are in error, any more than he would wittingly take a cup of poison if it were recommended to him by a skilful physician. But then neither may he neglect their direction, where his own judgment fails or wavers, any more than he would refuse the medicine prescribed by his physician, for no other reason but because he is not thoroughly acquainted with the quality and power of those ingredients of which it is compounded--always remembering to apply himself to God for His special blessing and favourable assistance. And then, as to the other part of the objection, although I shall allow the moving of mens passions, where there are no reasons, either directly offered, or at least presupposed, for the conviction of their judgment, to be an absurd and unjust way of proceeding, yet so many are the instances where people act against their judgment, and are backward to do that which they cannot but confess fittest to be done, that it deserves to be esteemed, not a lawful only, but a necessary art, to stir up the affections, even where the understanding is sufficiently informed before.

III. Inferences from all that has been said.

1. Such being the manifold and great advantages of human learning, let us be thankful to Almighty God, who has made our nature capable of such improvements. It is sure a very easy return for the blessings we receive, to acknowledge the bounty of Him who gave them; and he must be most unworthy of the benefit bestowed who will not own it to be one.

2. Let those who are set apart to such studies be careful to improve the talents committed to their trust.

3. Let those who reap benefit from their labours of this kind value in return and esteem them for their works sake. The advantages, we see, are great which redound to the public from the studies of the learned; and therefore gratitude requires that the public should make suitable acknowledgments to those persons by whose means such advantages are derived to them.

4. Let us all, therefore, in our several stations and capacities encourage the study and increase of useful learning, by our exhortation, our contribution, or our own industry. (W. Berriman, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

III. The Transition from Egypt to the Holy Land under Moses, Act_7:20-43.

Stephen was accused of blaspheming Moses, of seeking to abolish his law and change his customs; and so it is Moses upon whom he most fully dwells and builds his argument. He now professes his faith regarding Moses. Moses was the founder of a great change, the human author of the law and the customs; and he was also assailed in his great mission by the opposition, persecutions, and apostasies of the Jews; and, finally, he was not only a type of Jesus, but as a prophet he predicted Jesus as his antitype. The claims of Jesus as such antitype thus premised, Stephen, had he been uninterrupted, would doubtless have fully shown. So far he had not dared utter his name. His topics are, 1. Moses’ life preparatory to his mission, Act_7:20-29. 2. His call, Act_7:30-34. 3. The performance of his mission, Act_7:35-36. 4. His prediction of a prophet like unto himself, Act_7:37. 5. The persecutions and apostasies of his people against him, Act_7:38-43.

20. Exceeding fair—The original is literally beautiful unto God. Hebrew grammarians have told us that this is simply a Hebrew form of the superlative for the adjective, so that the phrase merely signifies that he was most beautiful. No doubt this is the effect produced by the reference to God; for that is absolutely beautiful which God esteems so.

20. Money perish with thee—Literally, May thy silver be with thee unto destruction; in which the apostle, assuming that the magician is bound to destruction, wishes that he may take his briberies with him. The words of the apostle are a true imprecation; but without any element of selfish wrath, such as the magus might have uttered, being but the judicial anathema of holiness against heinous sin. Money is a mighty power for evil or for good. With it a man may purchase death and damnation; with it he may increase his treasures in heaven. If the rich are to be envied for anything, it is for their means for munificence in endowing schools, colleges, and churches, in providing advantages for the poor, and sending the Gospel to the outcasts.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From the history of Abraham and Joseph, St. Stephen descends to that of Moses; where we have observable,

1. The birth and education of Moses, he was born and hid three months in his father’s house; and then being cast out, was taken in by the Pharoah’s daughter, and had a noble education given to him; being instructed in all kinds of good literature to fit him for such great services as a prince’s court might probably have brought him to: Moses was learned.

Hence note, That the greater men are, the greater should their care be for the learning and religious education of their children; because nothing is more incongruous and unsuitable than greatness of estate and meanness of understanding. It is a shame to great men to breed up their children sensually, to gaming, sporting, and excess, as if an inheritance did serve for no other purpose but to make the heir of it useless, and good for nothing.

Again note, The latitude and extent of Moses’s learning. He was learned in all the learning of the Egyptians.

Where remark, 1. The different end which God had in his providence, from what Pharoah’s daughter had in her particular care. She intended by this education, of Moses, the good of Egypt; but God intended the good of Israel: She designed the service of Pharoah; but God designed Moses to be a deliverer from Pharoah. Thus the wise and holy providence of God useth the diligence of men to effect and bring things about which they never thought of.

2. We may remark, How that Moses, the great prophet, whom God spake to, mouth to mouth, is here commended for his learning, yea, for Egyptian learning.

Thence we may gather, That human learning is a noble and beneficial gift of God, and a very great ornament and honour unto the greatest and most excellent men; for it is in itself an ornament and perfection to the mind; it renders men the more useful and serviceable in their generation, and a greater blessing to human society, but especially to the church of God.

Human learning indeed is far inferior to holiness: but in holy men, learning is a rare ornament and accession to holiness. Sanctified wit beautifies religion, sanctified reason defends it, sanctified power protects it, sanctified elocution persuades others to the love of it; so that to decry the use of human learning must proceed either from ignorance or from malice, and a desire of having religion betrayed. Let us see that we get our learning seasoned with holiness, that we use it with humility, moderation, and sobriety, as an handmaid unto Christ; not vain-gloriously unto ostentation, not proudly with contempt of others, not heretically in defence of error; never suffering human learning, but divine revelation, to determine articles of faith; then, if with Moses we be learned in all the learning of the Philosophers, the more glory we shall bring to God, and be the more useful and beneficial to mankind.

Observe, 2. As the education of Moses in Pharoah’s court, so the time of his continuing ther; namely, till he was forty years old: After which God put it into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel, and to offer himself to be a deliverer to them; and he supposed that they would have understood the purpose of God to save them by his hand, but they understood it not.

But what reason was there for the Israelites to so suppose, that Moses was the person designed by God for their deliverer?

Answer, Very great reason; because

1. They knew that the time of their deliverance did now draw very near.

2. From the extraordinariness of Moses’s preservation;

by his being hid three months in his father’s house without discovery;

by his floating upn the waters in an ark of bulrushes without danger, when an infant;

they might have rationally thought that such a person was designed by God for very great purposes.

3. From his readiness to defend them at this time, when an Israelite and an Egyptian contended; for it was wonderful, that so great a person as Moses was, and might have been, should concern himself with in a private quarrel betwixt two obscure persons.

Moses might well suppose, that his brehtren would have understood, how that God by his hand would have delivered them; but they understood it not.

Observe, 3. The ill treatment given to Moses, when he offered himself to be a recounciler; they thrust him form them, and expostulate with him, Who made thee a ruler or a judge? The meek man replies, Sirs, ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one to another?

Where note, 1. Who were the persons doing wrong to each other; they were Israelites, both Israelites. To see an Israelite and an Egyptian struggling had been no wonder; but to see two Israelites, who were brethren, brethren by nation, brethren by religion, brethren in tribulation, both of the seed of Abraham, both initiated into the same covenant, both in bondage to a cruel tyrant, Pharaoh, who had condemned them to an ignominious slavery, and designed such a degree of cruelty, as to murder all the male issue; This was an astonishing sight, and Moses might well say, Why do ye wrong one to another?

Plainly implying, that both parties were to blame; but that party most; who would not hear of a reconciliation, or putting a stop to the quarrel; a reconciler is more odious than a stranger in the apprhension of some.

Observe lastly, How Moses being thus ill treated by them, departs from them, and they hear no more of him for forty years, Then fled Moses, and was a stranger in the land of Madian Act 7:20.

Where observe, The years of Moses’s life were an hundred and twenty: Forty years he spent at the court in Egypt; forty years he spent in Madian with his father-in-law Jethro; and the last forty years of his life in the wilderness. Now all this time Moses as a worshipper of the true God, and that in an acceptable manner; and most of this time he worshipped God without either tabernacle or temple.

From whence, St. Stephen draws his argument to prove, that as God was acceptabley worshipped by holy men, before either tabernacle or temple were erected, in like manner he may be so again, after both tabernacle and temple are destroyed; and consequently, that they unjustly accused him of blasphemy, or speaking blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 7:20. Ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ, at which time) a sad time, when his birth was seasonable.—ἀστεῖος) So the LXX., Exo 2:2, express the Hebrew טוב, a goodly child. A specimen of godly physiognomy.—τῳ Θεῷ, to God) So the LXX., 1Sa 16:12, ἀγαθὸς ὁράσει Κυρίῳ: Jon 3:3, πόλις μεγάλη τῷ Θεῷ. Whatever excellent thing there is, derives its excellence from the Divine gift.—μῆνας τρεῖς, three months) They might have thought that their labour is vain, that the child notwithstanding must perish; but they undertook the labour, and the matter eventuated in a successful result very far beyond their hope.—πατρὸς) viz. αὐτοῦ. So 1Co 5:1; Gal 4:2.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_7:20. Ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ] tristi, opportuno, Beng.

ἀστεῖος τῷ Θεῷ] Luther aptly renders: a fine child for God,i.e. so beautifully and gracefully formed (comp. Jdt_11:23), that he was by God esteemed as ἀστεῖος. Compare Winer, p. 232 [E. T. 310]. In substance, therefore, the expression amounts to the superlative idea; but it is not to be taken as a paraphrase of the superlative, but as conceived in its proper literal sense. See also on 2Co_10:4. Hesiod, Ἔργ. 825: ἀναίτιος ἀθανάτοισιν, and Aesch. Agam. 352: θεοῖς ἀναμπλάκητος, are parallels; as are from the O. T., Gen_10:9, Jon_3:3. The expressions θεοειδής and θεοείκελος, compared by many, are not here relevant, as they do not correspond to the conception of ἀστεῖος τῷ Θεῷ.

Moses beauty (Exo_2:2; comp. Heb_11:23) is also praised in Philo, Vit. Mos. i. p. 604 A, and Joseph. Antt. ii. 9. 7, where he is called παῖς μορφῇ θεῖος. According to Jalkut Rubeni, f. 75. 4, he was beautiful as an angel.

μῆνας τρεῖς] Exo_2:2.

τοῦ πατρός] Amram, Exo_6:20.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 7:20 . ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ , cf. Act 1:7 , Act 3:19 , characterising the time, comp. Bengel, tristi, opportuno : on the name Μωυσῆς see Blass, Grammatik . p. 10, and Hamburger, Real-Encyclopâdie des Judentums , i., 5, p. 768, and critical notes. ἀστεῖος τῷ Θεῷ : if we render the expression as in A. and R.V., “exceeding fair,” the dative τῷ Θεῷ is used as an equivalent of the Hebrew expression employed almost in a superlative sense, לֵאלהִים , Jon 3:3 . πόλις μεγ . τῷ Θεῷ . Or the expression may be rendered “fair to God,” i.e. , in the judgment of God; cf. δυνατὰ τῷ Θεῷ , 2Co 10:4 and Jas 2:5 , τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ . Page and Wendt compare Æsch., Agam. , 352, and see also Simcox, Language of the N. T. , p. 81. ἀστεῖος , lit [201] , belonging to the city (opposite to ἄγροικος ), witty, clever; then, elegant, pretty; Vulgate, elegans , used as a general word of praise: applied to Moses here, in Exo 2:2 , and Heb 11:23 , and also by Philo, cf. also Jos., Ant. , ii., 97, and see Hamburger, u. s. , i., 5, p. 773; Jalkut Rubeni , f. 75, 4. For other instances of the use of the word see LXX, Num 22:32 , Jdg 3:17 , and Jdt 11:23 , Sus annah, ver 7; in the last two passages used of physical fairness, prettiness ( cf. Arist., Eth. Nic. , iv., 3, 5, and instances in Wetstein). In 2Ma 6:23 it is also used, and ἀστείως in 2Ma 12:43 in the general sense of right and good, honestly. ἀνετράφη μῆνας τρεῖς , cf. Exo 2:2 , verb used only by St. Luke, twice in this chapter, and in Act 20:3 , once in Luk 4:16 , but cf. margin, W.H [202] not used in LXX, but in Wis 7:4 (where A has ἀνεστρ .), and see also 4Ma 10:2 ; 4Ma 11:15 (but A.R., τραφ .). The word is used in classical Greek, as in Wis 7:4 and here, of a child nourished to promote its growth (although sometimes with the idea of improving the mind, cf. Act 20:3 ). In the N.T. it is peculiar to St. Luke, and it is just the word which a medical man would use, frequently found in medical writings, opposed to ἰσχναίνω ; see L. and ., sub v. , and Hobart, Medical Language , p. 207.

[201] literal, literally.

[202] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That child was born through God’s merciful goodness and favor, to be of a goodly and fair countenance.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

In which time--of deepest depression.

Moses was born--the destined deliverer.

exceeding fair--literally, "fair to God" (Margin), or, perhaps, divinely "fair" (see on Heb 11:23).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. Moses - was exceeding fair] αστειος τω θεω, Was fair to God, i.e. was divinely beautiful. See Clarke on Ex 2:2.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. It is not without cause that Stephen noteth the circumstance of time. Moses was born at the very same time when the king had commanded that all the men children should be cast out. Therefore, it seemeth that the minister of deliverance is dead before he is born. But that time is most fit for God to work in, when there is no hope or counsel to be looked for at man’s hands. And it appeareth also most plainly how God doth make perfect his power in man’s weakness, (2 Corinthians 41:9.) Moses is kept three months, but at length his parents (that they may save their own lives) are enforced to cast him out into the river. Only they put him into a little coffer, that he may not by and by [immediately] perish. When as Pharaoh’s daughter taketh him up, he escaped death indeed, yet so that he goeth into another nation, being cut off from the kindred of Israel. Yea, he was like to be a most troublesome adversary to his nation, unless God had restrained his mind. It is forty years before he showeth any token of brotherly good-will.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20) Exceeding fair.—Literally, as in the margin, fair to God. The adjective is found in the LXX. of Exo_2:2, as applied to Moses. The special idiom for expressing pre-eminent excellence is itself essentially Hebrew, the highest goodness being thought of as that which approves itself as good to God; but this also had become familiar to Hellenistic Jews through the LXX. version, as, e.g., in Jon_3:3, a city “great to God” = an exceeding great city. St. Paul’s “mighty to God” (2Co_10:4) is probably an example of the same idiom. Josephus, following probably some old tradition (Ant i. 9, § 6), describes the beauty of the infant Moses as such that those who met him turned to gaze in admiration.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair] The last phrase is literally “fair unto (i.e. in the sight of) God.” This is a Hebrew mode of expressing a high degree of any quality. Thus (Jon_3:3) “Nineveh was an exceeding great city,” is “a city great unto God.” Similar instances are found, Gen_10:9; Gen_23:6; Gen_30:8, &c. In the Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, c. 48, we have “The parents of Moses saw his face as [that of] an angel of God.”

and [he was] nourished up in his father’s house three months] Modern English would omit up in this sentence.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In which time Moses was born,.... The word Moses, is differently written in the New Testament; sometimes Moses, as here, sometimes Mo-yses, as in Act 7:35 sometimes Mo-yseus, as in Act 15:1 and sometimes Moseus, as in Rom 5:14. He had his name from the Hebrew word, which signifies "to draw", Psa 18:16 according to the reason of it given by Pharaoh's daughter,

she called his name Moses; and she said, because I drew him out of the water, Exo 2:10 Though Josephus (i), Philo (k), and others (l), make it to be an Egyptian name; the former of which serves, that the Egyptians call water "Mo", and "yses", such who are saved from water; wherefore compounding the name of both, they gave it to him: though according to Aben Ezra (m), his name in the Egyptian language was Monios; his words are these,

"the name of Moses is interpreted out of the Egyptian language into the Hebrew language, for his name in the Egyptian language was Monios; and so it is written in a book of agriculture, translated out of the Egyptian language into the Arabic, and also in the books of some Greek writers.''

Moses had many names, as a Jewish chronologer observes (n);

"Pharaoh's daughter called his name Moses; his father called him Chabar, or Heber; his mother called him Jekuthiel; and his sister called him Jether (perhaps Jared, since this was one of his names); and his brethren called him Abizanoah; and Kohath called him Abi Socos; and the Israelites called him Shemaiah ben Nathaneel, and sometimes Tobiah, sometimes Shemaiah, and sometimes Sopher; but the Egyptians called him Monios.''

For "Mo", in the Egyptian language, signifies "water", and "Ni" is "out"; and so both together signify, "out of the water", which agrees with the Hebrew etymology of his name. Now he was born at the time that orders were given by Pharaoh to cast all the male children of the Israelites into the rivers, to drown them; Moses was born, whose parents were Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi; he was born, according to the Jews (o), on the seventh day of Adar, or February:

and was exceeding fair; or "fair to God"; divinely fair and beautiful; and so Pharaoh's daughter, acccording to Josephus, said to her father, that she had brought up a child that was (p) "in form divine": and so the Jews say (q), that his form was as an angel of God; or he was fair in the sight of God, as the Ethiopic version; the Syriac version renders it, "he was dear to God"; and the Vulgate Latin version, grateful to God; was well-pleasing to him, in whom he delighted, having designed to do great things by him: or "fair by God": he had a peculiar beauty put upon him by God; partly to engage his parents the more to seek the preservation of him; and partly to engage the affection of Pharaoh's daughter to him, when she should see him. Justin the historian (r) makes mention of his extraordinary beauty, for which he was praised; but very wrongly makes him to be the son of Joseph; and the account Josephus gives of it, is very remarkable (s);

"as to beauty, says he, no man could be so out of love with it, as to see the goodly form of Moses, and not be amazed; it happened to many who met him, as he was carried along the way, that they would turn back at the sight of the child, and neglect their business, to indulge themselves with the sight of him; for such was the loveliness of the child, that it detained those that saw him.''

The Arabic version renders it, he "was consecrated by a vow to God"; but of this we have no account: the Jews say (t), that

"the Spirit of God came upon Miriam, and she prophesied; saying, behold a son shall be born to my father and to my mother at this time, who shall save Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians--and it is further said, that at the time of his birth, the whole house was filled with a great light, as the light of the sun and moon;''

upon which they had raised expectations of him: though this phrase, "fair to God", may be only an Hebraism, just as Niniveh is said to be a city "great to God", i.e. exceeding great, Jon 3:3 it being usual with the Jews to join the word God to an adjective, to express the superlative degree; and so it is rightly rendered here, "exceeding fair: and nourished up in his father's house three months"; so long he was hid by his mother there, which was a great instance of her faith; see Exo 2:2. The reason why he was kept no longer there was, because as the Jews say (u), the three months after Jochebed was delivered of a son, the thing was known in the house of Pharaoh, wherefore she could hide him no longer.

(i) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9, sect. 6. (k) De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 605. (l) Clement. Alexandrin. Stromat, l. 1. p. 343. (m) Comment. in Exod. ii. 10. (n) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 2. Vid. Targum in 1 Chron. iv. 18 Vajikra Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 146. 3. (o) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 38. 1. Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 2. Targum Jon in Deut. xxxiii. 5. (p) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 7. (q) Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. (r) L. 36. c. 2. (s) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 6. Vid. Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 3. (t) Heb. Chronicon Mosis, fol. 3. 1. Jarchi in Exod. ii. 2. Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 1. (u) Ib. col. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:

Ver. 20. Exceeding fair] Passing pretty, a proper child, as the apostle hath it, Heb 11:23. Justin maketh mention of his beautiful personage; and by this, as by an instrument, God moved his parents first, and then the princess, to pity and preserve him. The Greek word αστειος, here rendered fair, signifies fine, trim, elegant, so as citizens are at the time when trimmed up in their bravery upon days of festivity.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In which time ... - During this period of oppression. See Exo 2:2, etc.

Was exceeding fair - Greek: “was fair to God”; properly rendered, “was very handsome.” The word “God” in the Greek here in accordance with the Hebrew usage, by which anything that is “very handsome, lofty, or grand” is thus designated. Thus, Psa 36:7, “mountains of God,” mean lofty mountains; Psa 80:11, “cedars of God,” mean lofty, beautiful cedars. Thus, Nineveh is called “a great city to God” (Jon 3:3, Greek), meaning a very great city. The expression here simply means that Moses was “very fair,” or handsome. Compare Heb 11:23, where he is called “a proper child”; that is, a “handsome child.” It would seem from this that Moses was preserved by his mother on account of his “beauty”; and this is hinted at in Exo 2:2. And it would also seem from this that Pharaoh had succeeded by his oppressions in what he had attempted; and that it was not unusual for parents among the Jews to expose their children, or to put them to death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Moses ... was acceptable to God.[2] Greatly favoured both with gifts of nature and grace. Some expound it, was extremely fair or beautiful. (Witham)

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Gratus Deo, Greek: asteios to theo. Acceptable to God. It may also signify, beautiful in the sight of God, that is, in the style of the Scriptures, very beautiful.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Exceeding fair, or, fair to God; which though some understand of the inward beauty of the mind, (which is indeed the most admirable), yet in this place there is no more to be understood by it, than the wonderful beauty of his body, which God bestowed in an extraordinary measure upon him, that it might be a means to attract the care and pity of Pharaoh’s danghter, as it afterwards came to pass: besides, that which is eminent in any kind, is, by a Hebraism, said to be of God: upon this account Nineveh is called a city of God, Jon 3:3; and we read of Rachel’s great wrestlings, or wrestlings of God, Gen 30:8. Josephus says, that Moses was so beautiful, that all who passed by left the business they were about to gaze at him, Antiq. ii. 5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

At which season for in which time, A.V.; he was nourished three months in his father"s house for nourished up in his father"s house three months, A.V. Exceeding fair (ajsteiov tw Qew). in Exo_2:2 it is simply ajsteiov, "a goodly child," A.V., and so in Heb_11:23, rendered "a goodly child," "a proper child," A.V. Josephus ("Ant. Jud:," 2:9:5, 7) describes Pharaoh"s daughter as captivated by the size and beauty of the child, and as speaking of him to Pharaoh as of Divine beauty. And Justin (quoted by Whitby) says that the beauty of his person was greatly in his favor.

Vers. 20-39. The Divine and the human.

I DIVINE INTERVENTION. The hand of God is sometimes visible though it is usually unseen. We see the Divine working in

(1) the creation of such a mind as that of Moses;

(2) the fashioning of such a frame as was his. (ver. 20; Heb_11:23)

(3) the deliverance of the child from the dangers of the river;

(4) his being confided to the guardianship and instruction of Pharaoh"s daughter, where he would learn "all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (ver. 22), and thus be prepared for future work. We can have no doubt as to the operation of Divine wisdom in such a case as this. May we not sayEx uno disce omnes? May we not conclude that there is the handiwork of God in all our lives, if we could but discern it; that he is directing our course; and that, though it is evidently best for us that we should not see so much of Divine intervention as to be unwisely waiting for it or injuriously dependent on it, we may console ourselves with the belief that "we are not driftwood on the wave," but rather as noble ships which a heavenly hand is steering to the desired haven?

II HUMAN NOBLENESS. (Vers. 23-28; see Heb_11:24-26) It was" in Moses" heart to visit his brethren," and he took their cause in hand in a very practical and decisive way (ver. 24). He may have been mistaken in the method which he adopted, but that is of very small moment. The great thing is that it was in his heart to sympathize with and succor his brethren. The temptation to become naturalized as an Egyptian must have been great indeed. High honors, great wealth, abundant gratification of the lower instincts, these prizes and pleasures, which are dear to men in general, were well within his reach. He deliberately chose to forego them all that he might play a nobler and braver part. Well has the event justified his choice. For as a rich and powerful Egyptian, he would have achieved nothing of any value to mankind; he would long ago have been forgotten; but as it is, he has rendered a service to the human race second to none that lived before the Savior, and has a name that will never die while the world has any place in its memory for its heroes and its martyrs. Not on the same splendid scale, but in the same estimable spirit, can we emulate his nobility, preferring an honorable affliction to unholy pleasure, a sacred and useful life among the lowly to ungodly distinction among the great, the service of Christ anywhere to the smiles and favors of the world.

III DIVINE MANIFESTATION. (Vers. 30-33, 38.) God there revealed himself to the bodily senses in a wondrous form; in such form that Moses felt that, in a very unusual degree, he stood near to his Creator. Jesus Christ now manifests himself to us as he does not unto the world:

(1) in the privileges of his house and table;

(2) in the inspiration and indwelling of his Spirit;

(3) in the spiritual wonders he works in the hearts and lives of men with whom we have to do.

IV DIVINE COMPASSION. (Ver. 34.) To the toiling and suffering Israelites God must have seemed very far away. It must have appeared to them as if he were blind to their miseries, deaf to their sighs and groans, indifferent to their wrongs. But they were mistaken. All the while he was observing and pitying them, and was ready to interpose at the right time on their behalf. When to our fainting and distrustful heart it seems as if our Divine Lord were unobservant or unmoved, we may rest assured that he sees, that he compassionates, that he holds himself ready to put forth his redeeming strength on our behalf when the hour for our deliverance has struck.

V HUMAN INAPPRECIATIVENESS. (Vers. 35-39.) If we were to contend that the best and noblest men who have rendered the most signal and splendid service to our race are certain to be appreciated according to the height of their virtue and the value of their help, we should go in the teeth of human history. Some of the very best and wisest have been least understood, most despised and ill used. Moses, one of the very greatest, "attaining to the first three," most eminent in privilege, in character, in accomplishment, was one "whom they refused" (ver. 35), "whom our fathers would not obey" (ver. 39). We may work, hoping to he appreciated and honored of men, accepting gladly and gratefully the esteem and the love they award us; but we must not build upon it as a certain recompense of our endeavor. We must be prepared to do without it, to be able to say, "I will work on, "though the more abundantly I love the less am I loved. Our true reward is in the smile of the Savior, the approval of our own heart, (1Jn_3:21) the consciousness that we are serving our generation, the blessing which awaits the faithful in the land of promise.

VI HUMAN RESEMBLANCE TO THE DIVINE. (Ver. 37.) The Christ that should come was to be "like unto" the faithful servant in the house of. (Heb_3:5) As he was to be like one of us, so we are to strive to be "like unto him." And we may bear his image, breathe his Spirit, live his life, do in our sphere the work he did in his: "As he is, so are we in this world." "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In which time - A sad but a seasonable time. Exod. ii, 2.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

20. “At which time Moses was born, and was beautiful unto God.” The E. V. does not give you the clear translation of this beautiful passage, which reveals that Moses was beautiful in the divine estimation, being doubtless the finest looking baby the world had ever seen. [Of course, Adam and Eve were perfect specimens of humanity, but they never were babies.] Amram and Jochebed are not only charmed with the transcendent beauty of their baby, but divinely impressed that he is a messenger sent of God. Therefore, having faith in God, they manage to hide him in their home three months.

Now the imperial soldiers have become so rampant searching the Hebrew premises and killing the boy babies, they see to their sorrow they can hide him no longer. Trusting God, they resort to a stratagem, manufacture the ark of bulrushes, water-proof with the wonderful Egyptian cement, deposit their precious baby in it and commit him to the dubious waves of the Nile, about two hours before day, thus turning him over to the providence of God. His unsuspected little sister Miriam, who afterward became a flaming holiness evangelist, now only seven years old, follows along the bank, keeping her young eagle eye on the floating ark.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 17

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

At that time Moses was born

This introduces Moses into the story. (See: Introduction of New and Old Participants)

very beautiful before God

This phrase is an idiom that means Moses was very beautiful. (See: Idiom)

was nourished

This can be stated in active form. AT: "his parents nourished him" or "his parents cared for him" (See: Active or Passive)

When he was placed outside

Moses was "placed outside" because of Pharaoh's command. This can be stated in active form. AT: "When his parents placed him outside" or "When they abandoned him" (See: Active or Passive)

Pharaoh's daughter ... raised him as her own son

She did for him every good thing a mother would do for her own son. Use your language's normal word for what a mother does to make sure her son becomes a healthy adult.

as her own son

"as if he were her own son"

translationWords

Moses

Pharaoh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20. Omit αὐτοῦ with אABCHP.

20. ἀστεῖος τῷ θεῷ, exceeding fair. Literally, ‘fair unto (i.e. in the sight of) God.’ This is a Hebrew mode of expressing a high degree of any quality. Thus (Jon 3:3) ‘Nineveh was an exceeding great city’ is ‘a city great unto God.’ Similar instances are found Gen 10:9; Gen 23:6; Gen 30:8, &c. Cf. also 1Co 9:2; 2Co 10:4. In the Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, c. 48, we have ‘The parents of Moses saw his face as (that of) an angel of God.’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. ἀστ. τῷ θεῷ] add to reff. (Meyer), Hesiod, Op. 825, ἀναίτιος ἀθανάτοισιν,—and Æsch. Agam. 352, θεοῖς ἀναμπλάκητος. The expression here seems borrowed from tradition: Josephus calls the infant Moses παιδα μορφῇ θεῖον. Philo de vita Mos. § 3, vol. ii. p. 83, says, γεννηθεὶς οὖν ὁ παῖς εὐθὺς ὄψιν ἐνέφῃνεν ἀστειοτέραν ἢ κατʼ ἰδιώτην.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Time [καιρω] . Better, season or juncture. "Sad, seasonable" (Bengel). See on Act 1:7.

Exceeding air [αστειος τω θεω] . Lit., fair unto God : a Hebrew superlative. Compare Jon 3:3 : great unto God; A. V., exceeding great. Gen 10:9, of Nimrod : a mighty hunter before the Lord. 2Co 10:4 : mighty unto God; i e., in God 's sight. 'Asteiov, fair (only here and Heb 11:23), is from astu, a town, and means originally town - bred; hence refined, elegant, comely. The word is used in the Septuagint of Moses (Exo 2:2), and rendered goodly. The Jewish traditions extol Moses ' beauty. Josephus says that those who met him, as he was carried along the streets, forgot their business and stood still to gaze at him.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.