Acts 7:39

Acts 7:39-41 . Whom our fathers would not obey — Even after all the proofs of his miraculous powers given in Egypt, and at the Red sea; but thrust him from them — Acting a part more stupid and ungrateful than that before mentioned, Acts 7:27 ; rejecting him a second time, as in contempt of all these wonderful appearances of God by him; and in their hearts — In their affections and intentions; turning back again into Egypt — Preferring their garlick and onions there, before the manna they daily received under the conduct of Moses, and the milk and honey they hoped for in Canaan. They murmured at him, mutinied against him, refused to obey his orders, and sometimes were ready to stone him. Saying unto Aaron — At the very foot of that mountain upon which God had visibly manifested himself to them, while the sound of his voice was, as it were, yet in their ears, and though, but a few days before, they had seen their great leader ascending up to him, by an intimacy of approach allowed to no other mortal: make us gods to go before us — Back into Egypt, or forward to the promised land, and to conduct us in the way thither: for as for this Moses, who, indeed, brought us out of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him — And have not patience to wait for him any longer: therefore make us gods of gold — As if gods of Aaron’s making, though of gold, would be sufficient to supply the place of Moses, or rather, of Jehovah!

And they made a calf — In imitation of the Egyptian Apis, to be their saviour and their guide; in those days — Those very days in which they continued encamped in that remarkable situation; and offered sacrifice unto the senseless and dead idol — Which could neither see nor hear, nor take any notice of the worship offered to it; and rejoiced in the work of their own hands — In the god they had made, as if, instead of being a reproach and abomination, it had been an ornament and defence to them. Nay, so proud were they of their new god, that, after they had sat down to eat and drink, they rose up to play ( Exodus 32:6 ) before it, and in honour of it.

Their glory being in their fathers, St. Stephen reminds them that many of them rebelled against God and his servant Moses; as they (their posterity) now were rebellions against Christ, who came to save them, as Moses before had done; but from a greater bondage, and by more valuable means. In their hearts turned back again into Egypt; not so much towards that country, or food they had there, (garlick and onions), as towards their idolatry and superstition; as in the following verse appears.

39. To whom our fathers would not obey, &c.—Here he shows that the deepest dishonor done to Moses came from the nation that now professed the greatest jealousy for his honor. in their hearts turned back … into Egypt—"In this Stephen would have his hearers read the downward career on which they were themselves entering."

Verse 39. - Obedient for obey , A.V.; turned back in their hearts unto Egypt for in their hearts turned back again into Egypt , A.V. Our fathers would not be obedient , though God had bestowed such signal marks of favor upon them. Turned back in their hearts . A striking instance of their rejection of God's chiefest mercies. Acts 7:39

39 . to whom our fathers would not obey [be obedient], but thrust him from them ] For they said ( Numbers 14:4 ), “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” This was after the return of the spies, when the people became discontented with the leadership of Moses and Aaron. and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt ] As is told, Exodus 16:3 , Numbers 11:4-5 , in which passages the desires of the people are all represented as turned to the good things which they had enjoyed in the land of their slavery.

Acts 7:39-40 . They turned with their hearts to Egypt , i.e. they directed their desires again to the mode of life pursued in Egypt , particularly, as is evident from the context ( Acts 7:40 ), to the Egyptian idolatry. Exodus 20:7-8 ; Exodus 20:24 . Others (including Cornelius a Lapide, Morus, Rosenmüller): they wished to return lack to Egypt . But the οἱ προπορεύσονται ἡμῶν in Acts 7:40 would then have to be taken as: “who shall go before us on our return ,”—which is just as much at variance with the historical position at Exodus 32:1 as with Exodus 32:4 , 1 Kings 12:28 , and Nehemiah 9:18 , where the golden bull appears as a symbol of the God who has led the Israelites out of Egypt . θεούς ] the plural, after Exodus 32:1 , denotes the category (see on Matthew 2:20 ), without reference to the numerical relation. That Aaron made only one idol, was the result of the universally expressed demand; and in accord with this universal demand is also the expression in Exodus 32:4 . οἱ προπορ .] borne before our line of march, as the symbols, to be revered by us, of the present Jehovah. ὁ γὰρ Μ . οὗτος ] γάρ gives the motive of the demand. Moses, hitherto our leader, has in fact disappeared, so that we need another guidance representative of God. οὗτος ] spoken contemptuously. See on Acts 6:14 . The nominative absolute is designedly chosen, in order to concentrate the whole attention on the conception. Comp. on Matthew 7:24 ; Buttm. neut. Gr. p. 325 [E. T. 379]; Valck. Schol. p. 429

(39) To whom our fathers would not obey. —The historical parallelism is continued. The people rejected Moses then (the same word is used as in Acts 7:27 ) as they were rejecting Christ now, even after He had shown Himself to be their redeemer from a worse than Egyptian bondage. In their hearts turned back again into Egypt.—The sin was one often repeated, but the history referred to is probably that in Exodus 16:3. For a later example see Numbers 11:5.