Bible Strands
Acts 13:18
He endured their conduct for about forty years in the wilderness.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses a synagogue congregation in Antioch, tracing Israel’s history to establish Jesus as the promised Messiah. He speaks at the midpoint of his sermon, immediately after recounting the Exodus and immediately before describing the conquest of Canaan.
The words — The verb ἐτροποφόρησεν (etropophorēsen) literally means “He endured their ways,” coupled with ὡς τεσσερακονταετῆ χρόνον (hōs tesserakontaetē chronon), translating to “for about forty years.” These terms specify the duration and nature of God’s forbearance during the desert wanderings.
The thread — This forty-year wilderness period corresponds to Israel’s grumbling against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16:2) and their consumption of manna until they reached settled land (Exodus 16:35). The same timeframe resurfaces in Stephen’s defense as part of God’s leading and miraculous provision (Acts 7:36).
Why it lands — The text states that God tolerated Israel’s rebellious conduct for a set period before moving toward the inheritance of Canaan. A reader must recognize that divine patience has a defined boundary and functions as the necessary prelude to covenant fulfillment.
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
And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.
Cross-references
- Acts 7:36 He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
- Exodus 16:2 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
- Exodus 16:35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
- Numbers 14:22 not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
- Numbers 14:33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 1:31 and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”
- Deuteronomy 9:7 Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebelling against the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 9:21 And I took that sinful thing, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust, and I cast it into the stream that came down from the mountain.
- Nehemiah 9:16 But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
- Psalms 78:17 But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.