Acts 7:20

7:17-29 Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the fulfilling of God's promises. Suffering times often are growing times with the church. God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is darkest, and their distress deepest. Moses was exceeding fair, fair toward God; it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of great price. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will take special care of those of whom he designs to make special use. And did he thus protect the child Moses? Much more will he secure the interests of his holy child Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered together against him. They persecuted Stephen for disputing in defence of Christ and his gospel: in opposition to these they set up Moses and his law. They may understand, if they do not wilfully shut their eyes against the light, that God will, by this Jesus, deliver them out of a worse slavery than that of Egypt. Although men prolong their own miseries, yet the Lord will take care of his servants, and effect his own designs of mercy.

Time (καιρῷ) Better, season or juncture. "Sad, seasonable" (Bengel). See on Acts 1:7. Exceeding fair (ἀστεῖος τῷ θεῷ) Lit., fair unto God: a Hebrew superlative. Compare Jonah 3:3 : great unto God; A. V., exceeding great. Genesis 10:9, of Nimrod: a mighty hunter before the Lord. 2 Corinthians 10:4 : mighty unto God; i.e., in God's sight. Ἀστεῖος, fair (only here and Hebrews 11:23), is from ἄστυ, a town, and means originally town-bred; hence refined, elegant, comely. The word is used in the Septuagint of Moses (Exodus 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.

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, Jonah 3:3 ; and we read of Rachel’s great wrestlings, or wrestlings of God, Genesis 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.

Acts 7:20 . Ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ , at which time ) a sad time, when his birth was seasonable.— ἀστεῖος ) So the LXX., Exodus 2:2 , express the Hebrew טוב , a goodly child. A specimen of godly physiognomy.— τῳ Θεῷ , to God) So the LXX., 1 Samuel 16:12 , ἀγαθὸς ὁράσει Κυρίῳ : Jonah 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 1 Corinthians 5:1 ; Galatians 4:2 .

Verse 20. - 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 ( ἀστεῖος τῷ Θεῷ ). In Exodus 2:2 it is simply ἀστεῖος , "a goodly child," A.V., and so in Hebrews 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. Acts 7:20

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 ( Jonah 3:3 ) “Nineveh was an exceeding great city,” is “a city great unto God.” Similar instances are found, Genesis 10:9 ; Genesis 23:6 ; Genesis 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.

Acts 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 2 Corinthians 10:4 . Hesiod, Ἔργ . 825: ἀναίτιος ἀθανάτοισιν , and Aesch. Agam. 352: θεοῖς ἀναμπλάκητος , are parallels; as are from the O. T., Genesis 10:9 , Jonah 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 ( Exodus 2:2 ; comp. Hebrews 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 ] Exodus 2:2 . τοῦ πατρός ] Amram , Exodus 6:20 .

(20) Exceeding fair. —Literally, as in the margin, fair to God. The adjective is found in the LXX. of Exodus 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 Jonah 3:3 , a city “great to God” = an exceeding great city. St. Paul’s “mighty to God” ( 2Corinthians 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.

In which time ... - During this period of oppression. See Exodus 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, Psalm 36:7, "mountains of God," mean lofty mountains; Psalm 80:11, "cedars of God," mean lofty, beautiful cedars. Thus, Nineveh is called "a great city to God" (Jonah 3:3, Greek), meaning a very great city. The expression here simply means that Moses was "very fair," or handsome. Compare Hebrews 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 Exodus 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.

Acts 7:20 . ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ , cf. Acts 1:7 , Acts 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 , Jonah 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 , 2 Corinthians 10:4 and Jam 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 Exodus 2:2 , and Hebrews 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, Numbers 22:32 , Jdg 3:17 , and Jdt 11:23 , Susannah, 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. Exodus 2:2 , verb used only by St.