Devine Scripture

Acts 7:9

What does Acts 7:9 mean?

A plain-English look at Acts 7:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Acts 7:9 means

The patriarchs, moved by jealousy, sold Joseph into Egypt. Yet God was with him. Stephen transparently recounts Israel’s sin against their own brother and God’s kindness toward the rejected one. Jealousy led to betrayal, but God’s presence turned the pit and prison into the pathway to purpose. This pattern—rejection followed by divine vindication—haunts Israel’s story and foreshadows the treatment of other deliverers. Stephen subtly implies that what happened to Joseph finds a higher echo in Jesus, whom Israel’s leaders also rejected. The verse insists that God’s favor need not align with human approval; the one cast out by men may be upheld by God.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him,

KJV

King James Version · 1611

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

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him,

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for money: but God was with him,

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And the patriarchs, through envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. And God was with him,

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And the patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him away into Egypt. AndGod was with him,

Context

With the lineage established, Stephen turns to Joseph, a pivotal figure. Verse 9 opens the Joseph narrative by naming the patriarchs’ sin and God’s faithfulness. Verses 10–14 will recount Joseph’s rise in Egypt and the family’s eventual relocation there. The context is crucial: God’s covenant people are preserved by the very one they rejected. This anticipates similar dynamics in Moses’ story (verses 23–35) and prepares Stephen’s listeners to see the repeating pattern of rejecting God’s appointed saviors, a pattern that reaches its climax in the Righteous One.

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

v.9This passage

v.10and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Genesis 39:21

    But Jehovah was with Joseph, and showed kindness unto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

  • Isaiah 41:10

    fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

  • Psalms 105:17

    He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a servant:

  • Genesis 45:4

    And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

  • Genesis 49:23

    The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him, and persecuted him:

  • Genesis 39:2

    And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

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