Bible Strands
Acts 7:25
He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Stephen recounts Moses’ actions to the Jewish council, describing the interval between killing the Egyptian and attempting to mediate a dispute between two Israelites.
The words — συνιέναι (sunienai) = to understand or grasp mentally. The text states Moses expected his fellow Israelites to perceive that God was acting through him for their rescue, but they failed to do so.
The thread — The motif of uncomprehended divine action appears in Luke 9:45 and Luke 18:34, where listeners miss hidden meanings, while 1 Corinthians 15:10 contrasts this with grace that fulfills its purpose despite human limitation.
Why it lands — The text records a failed recognition of divine agency, requiring the reader to acknowledge that spiritual intervention does not automatically produce human insight and to test whether one judges by outward action rather than underlying purpose.
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
For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
Cross-references
- Luke 9:45 But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- Luke 18:34 But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1 As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- 1 Samuel 14:45 But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die—he who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for with God’s help he has accomplished this today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.
- 1 Samuel 19:5 He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
- 2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
- Psalms 106:7 Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.
- Mark 9:32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- Acts 14:27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.