supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
flame
φλογὶphlogi
G5395
a blaze · noun — dative singular feminine
fire
πυρὸςpuros
G4442
"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
bush
βάτου.batou
G942
a brier shrub · noun — genitive singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 3:1-2 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to…
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 t…
Acts 7:35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of…
Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was…
Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bar…
Acts 7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not beho…
Genesis 22:15-18 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
Genesis 48:15-16 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 7:30-41
Stephen here proceeds in his story of Moses; and let any one judge whether these are the words of one that was a blasphemer of Moses or no; nothing could be spoken more honourably of him. Here is,
I. The vision which he saw of the glory of God at the bush (Act 7:30): When forty years had expired (during all which time Moses was buried alive in Midian, and was now grown old, and one would think past service), that it might appear that all his performances were products of a divine power and promise (as it appeared that Isaac was a child of promise by his being born of parents stricken in years), now, at eighty years old, he enters upon that post of honour to which he was born, in recompence f…
an angel of the Lord--rather, "the Angel of the Covenant," who immediately calls Himself JEHOVAH (Compare Act 7:38).
Adam Clarke on Acts 7:30
In a flame of fire in a bush - See this and the following verses largely explained in the notes on Exo 3:1-8 (note).
John Gill on Acts 7:30
And when forty years were expired,.... "Forty other years" the Arabic version reads; for so long the Jews (g) say Moses kept Jethro's flock, and so many years he lived in Midian; and so the Syriac version, "when then he had filled up forty years"; which agrees exactly with the account of the Jewish writers observed on Acts 7:23 who say, that he was forty years in Pharaoh's court, and forty years in Midian; so that he was now, as they (h) elsewhere justly observe, fourscore years of age:
there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai; the same with Horeb, Exodus 3:1 where it is said, "Moses came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb"; where he saw the sight of the burning bush, and o…
"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush." Do you mark that it is not hindered by lapse of time? For when he was an exile, when a stranger, when he had now passed much time in a foreign land, so as to have two sons, when he no longer expected to return, then does the Angel appear to him. The Son of God he calls an Angel, as also he calls Him man. Appears in the desert, not in a temple. See how many miracles are taking place, and no word of Temple, no word of Sacrifice. And here also not simply in the desert, but in the bush. "When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him." Lo! he was deemed worthy of the Voice also.
Now he calls the Son of God an angel, just as elsewhere he calls him a man. For he is the angel of great counsel. (Isa. 9:6 LXX) Therefore shortly afterwards he shows him speaking to the blessed Moses: "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob." He is revealed in a flame of fire in a bush. For in the form of fire and on Mount Sinai God appears while giving the law. What then does the passage mean? The sacred text likens the divine nature to fire because it overpowers wood and grass, that is, man. For it says somewhere: "God is a consuming fire." (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29) And again, "Man, his days are as grass." (Ps. 103:15) But just as fire is not carried off by thorns, so deity is not borne away by humanity. Yet in Christ it happened and became as if subdued, a kind of surrounding of the unmingled assault of the fire of his own nature, so that it might be able to be held, just as fire is by thorns. That the fire upon the bush, having kept the wood entirely unconsumed, might mysteriously indicate that he made his own flesh stronger than corruption, for the deity had taken up residence in humanity. And this mystery occurred in Christ.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angel Of The Lord — (Genesis 16:7) etc. (The special form in which God manifested himself to man, and hence Christ’s visible form before the incarnation. Compare (Acts 7:30-38) with the corresponding Old-Testament…
Bush — In which Jehovah appeared to Moses in the wilderness (Ex. 3:2; Acts 7:30). It is difficult to say what particular kind of plant or bush is here meant. Probably it was the mimosa or acacia. The words…
Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Sina, Mount — the Greek form of the well-known name Sinai. (Acts 7:30,38)
Stephen — One of the seven deacons, who became a preacher of the gospel. He was the first Christian martyr. His personal character and history are recorded in Acts 6. “He fell asleep” with a prayer for his…
Angel (A Spirit) · . — .
Burning Bush · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Court · ACCUSED SPOKE IN HIS OWN — ACCUSED SPOKE IN HIS OWN
Sinai · .The law — .The law
Visions · Mentioned in scripture: To Moses — Mentioned in scripture: To Moses
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Acts 7:30-34
Acts 7:30-34
30. And when forty years were expired, there appeared unto him in the desert of Mount Sinai the angel of the Lord, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31. And so soon as Moses saw it, he wondered at the vision. Furthermore, when he drew near to consider, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32. I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob; and Moses was afraid, and durst not draw near. 33. And the Lord said unto him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 34. In seeing, I have heard [seen] the affliction of my people in Egypt, and have heard their mourning, and I am come down to deliver them. And now…
