Bible Strands
Acts 13:17
The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses a synagogue gathering of Jewish men and God-fearing Gentiles in Pisidian Antioch, delivering a historical sermon that bridges Israel’s past with the promised Messiah.
The words — ἐξελέξατο (exelexato) means “He chose,” marking divine selection, and θεὸς τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου Ἰσραήλ literally renders “the God of this people of Israel,” anchoring the action to Israel’s specific covenant history.
The thread — The claim of divine election and deliverance runs parallel to Deuteronomy 7:6, which defines Israel as a chosen possession, and Genesis 17:7, which establishes God’s covenant with the patriarchs.
Why it lands — The text states that God initiated Israel’s formation and exodus by sovereign choice, requiring the listener to accept that the same unmerited divine action now extends to the Gentile audience through Christ.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
- Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Deuteronomy 4:20 Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,
- Deuteronomy 14:2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
- Psalms 105:23 Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
- Psalms 135:4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His treasured possession.
- Psalms 136:10 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt His loving devotion endures forever.
- Amos 2:10 And I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.