Bible Strands
Acts 7:43
You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Stephen addresses the Israelite council, recounting the wilderness rebellion and quoting God’s declaration of judgment. The speech marks the moment God withdraws His presence because the people adopted foreign worship.
The words — σκηνὴν (skēnēn) translates literally to “tabernacle,” while ἀνελὅβετε (anelabete) means “you took up.” These terms describe the physical carrying of pagan idols alongside the sacred tent.
The thread — This quotation directly echoes Amos 5:26, which condemns the same wilderness idolatry. The practice violates the prohibitions against crafting heavenly or earthly images found in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8.
Why it lands — The text states that carrying pagan idols triggers divine exile and demands the rejection of any substitute for worship. Readers must identify and remove any object or practice that receives devotion reserved for God alone.
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
Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
Cross-references
- Amos 5:26 You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves.
- Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Deuteronomy 5:8 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Leviticus 20:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
- Deuteronomy 4:16 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
- 2 Kings 17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.
- 2 Kings 18:11 The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- 2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Leviticus 18:21 You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.