Acts 7:30
What does Acts 7:30 mean?
A plain-English look at Acts 7:30 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Acts 7:30 means
After forty years, an angel appeared to Moses in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush. Stephen emphasizes God’s initiative and timing—another forty-year interval, a sacred mountain, a miraculous sign. The bush burns yet is not consumed, a fitting emblem of God’s holy presence and sustaining power. The appearance is mediated by an angel, marking the encounter as heavenly in origin. This moment marks a decisive shift: the exiled shepherd is summoned by God. Stephen’s point continues: God reveals Himself outside the land, on a mountain in the wilderness, undercutting any notion that God is confined to temple walls.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949At the end of forty years, an angel came to him in the waste land of Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn-tree.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and forty years having been fulfilled, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai a messenger of the Lord, in a flame of fire of a bush,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him, in the desert of mount Sina, an angel in a flame of fire in a bush.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire of a bush.
Context
After Moses’ long exile (verse 29), verse 30 introduces the turning point—God’s appearance at Sinai. Verses 31–34 will unfold Moses’ awe, the divine self-identification, the command to remove shoes on holy ground, and God’s commission to deliver Israel. This theophany anchors Moses’ authority in God’s call, preparing Stephen to argue that the one earlier rejected is now God’s appointed ruler and deliverer (verse 35). The location in the wilderness reinforces Stephen’s theme about God’s presence beyond the Temple.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 43:2
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
- Genesis 32:24
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
- Acts 7:17
But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
- Genesis 16:7
And the angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
- Acts 7:35
This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.
- Deuteronomy 33:16
And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, And the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, And upon the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
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