Acts 7:38

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

This is the man who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and he received living oracles to give to you.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ γενόμενος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, μετὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου τοῦ λαλοῦντος αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾶ, καὶ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν: ὃς ἐδέξατο λόγια ζῶντα δοῦναι ἡμῖν:

Transliteration

This estin the genomenos en the ekklēsia en the erēmō, meta the angelou the lalountos to him en the orei Sina, kai of the paterōn of us: who edexato logia zōnta dounai to us:

Grammar Details

• *estin*: present active indicative, 3rd person singular - is
• *genomenos*: aorist middle participle, nominative masculine singular - having been
• *en*: preposition + dative - in
• *ekklēsia*: dative feminine singular - assembly/congregation
• *erēmō*: dative feminine singular - wilderness/desert
• *meta*: preposition + genitive - with
• *angelou*: genitive masculine singular - angel/messenger
• *lalountos*: present active participle, genitive masculine singular - speaking
• *orei*: dative neuter singular - mountain
• *Sina*: genitive - Sinai
• *kai*: conjunction - and
• *paterōn*: genitive masculine plural - fathers/ancestors
• *edexato*: aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular - received
• *logia*: accusative neuter plural - oracles/sayings
• *zōnta*: present active participle, accusative neuter plural - living
• *dounai*: aorist active infinitive - to give

Word Meanings

• *genomenos*: having been/come to be/was
• *ekklēsia*: assembly/congregation/gathering
• *erēmō*: wilderness/desert/desolate place
• *angelou*: angel/messenger
• *lalountos*: speaking/talking/addressing
• *orei*: mountain/mount
• *paterōn*: fathers/ancestors/forefathers
• *edexato*: received/accepted/took
• *logia*: oracles/sayings/divine utterances
• *zōnta*: living/alive/active

Referenced Verses

• Rom 3:2 : 2 Actually, there are many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
• Heb 5:12 : 12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.
• 1 Pet 4:11 : 11 Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
• Acts 7:53 : 53 You received the law by decrees given by angels, but you did not obey it.”
• Deut 32:46-47 : 46 he said to them,“Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law. 47 For this is no idle word for you– it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
• Deut 33:4 : 4 Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
• Isa 63:9 : 9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.
• John 1:17 : 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.
• John 6:63 : 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
• Acts 7:30 : 30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.
• Acts 7:35 : 35 This same Moses they had rejected, saying,‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ God sent as both ruler and deliverer through the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
• Neh 9:13-14 : 13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through Moses your servant.
• Ps 78:5-9 : 5 He established a rule in Jacob; he set up a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make his deeds known to their descendants, 6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. 7 Then they will place their confidence in God. They will not forget the works of God, and they will obey his commands. 8 Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. 9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle.
• Exod 19:3-9 : 3 Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain,“Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.” 7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him, 8 and all the people answered together,“All that the LORD has commanded we will do!” So Moses brought the words of the people back to the LORD. 9 The LORD said to Moses,“I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.” And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD. 10 The LORD said to Moses,“Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and make them wash their clothes 11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 You must set boundaries for the people all around, saying,‘Take heed to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death! 13 No hand will touch him– but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may go up on the mountain.” 14 Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. 15 He said to the people,“Be ready for the third day. Do not approach your wives for marital relations.” 16 On the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain.
• Exod 20:19-20 : 19 They said to Moses,“You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people,“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you so that you do not sin.”
• Exod 21:1-9 : 1 The Decisions“These are the decisions that you will set before them: 2 Hebrew Servants“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything. 3 If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 4 If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself. 5 But if the servant should declare,‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. 7 “If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. 10 If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one’s food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.
• Num 16:3-9 : 3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them,“You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the LORD. 4 When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground. 5 Then he said to Korah and to all his company,“In the morning the LORD will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. 6 Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, 7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!” 8 Moses said to Korah,“Listen now, you sons of Levi! 9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the community to minister to them? 10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the LORD! And Aaron– what is he that you murmur against him?” 12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said,“We will not come up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up.” 15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the LORD,“Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!” 16 Then Moses said to Korah,“You and all your company present yourselves before the LORD– you and they, and Aaron– tomorrow. 17 And each of you take his censer, put incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the LORD: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron– each of you with his censer.” 18 So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 19 When Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community. 20 The Judgment on the Rebels The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: 21 “Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant.” 22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said,“O God, the God of the spirits of all people, will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?” 23 So the LORD spoke to Moses: 24 “Tell the community:‘Get away from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. 26 And he said to the community,“Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. 28 Then Moses said,“This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD. 31 When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community. 34 All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said,“What if the earth swallows us too?” 35 Then a fire went out from the LORD and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.
• Num 16:41-42 : 41 But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying,“You have killed the LORD’s people!” 42 When the community assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting– and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
• Deut 5:27-31 : 27 You go near so that you can hear everything the LORD our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 28 When the LORD heard you speaking to me, he said to me,“I have heard what these people have said to you– they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 30 Go and tell them,‘Return to your tents!’ 31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.”
• Deut 6:1-3 : 1 Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles Now these are the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 2 and that you may so revere the LORD your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments that I am giving you– you, your children, and your grandchildren– all your lives, to prolong your days. 3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number– as the LORD, God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.
• Deut 30:19-20 : 19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! 20 I also call on you to love the LORD your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the LORD promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
• Rom 9:4 : 4 who are Israelites. To them belong the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.
• Rom 10:6-9 : 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says:“Do not say in your heart,‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”(that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or“Who will descend into the abyss?”(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say?“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”(that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.
• Gal 3:19 : 19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary.
• Heb 2:2 : 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty,
• Heb 4:12 : 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.