I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
Parallel Translations
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I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
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I have perfectly sene the affliccion of my people which is in Egypte and I have hearde their gronynge and am come doune to delyver them. And now come and I will sende the into Egypte.
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I haue seene, I haue seene the affliction of my people, which is in Egypt, and I haue heard their groning, and am come downe to deliuer them: and nowe come, and I will sende thee into Egypt.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Acts 7:34 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 3:7-10 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
- Exodus 4:31 The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
- Nehemiah 9:9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea,
- Psalms 106:44 Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.
- Exodus 2:23-25 In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.
- Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
- John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
- Isaiah 63:8-9 For he said, “Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;” so he became their Savior. 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. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
- Hosea 12:13 By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.
- Genesis 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
- Exodus 6:5-6 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.
- Numbers 11:17 I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.
- Judges 2:18 When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them.
- Judges 10:15-16 The children of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.” They put away the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
- Psalms 105:26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
- Psalms 144:5 Part your heavens, Yahweh, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
- Isaiah 64:1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
- Micah 6:4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
- John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
- Genesis 11:5 Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
- Genesis 11:7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 34. In seeing I have seen. God promiseth now…
34. In seeing I have seen. God promiseth now that he will deliver his people, that he may appoint Moses to be his minister afresh, because the former objection was taken away by so long space of time. For God is said to see our miseries when he hath respect to us, and is careful for our safety; as he is said again to shut his eyes, and turn his back, when as he seemeth to set light by our cause. In like sort is he said to come down. He needeth not to move out of his place to help us, for his hand reacheth throughout the heaven and earth; but this is referred unto our understanding. For, seeing that he did not deliver his people from their affliction, he might seem that he was afar off, and was busied about some other thing in heaven. Now he saith that the Israelites shall perceive that he is nigh unto them. The sum tendeth to this end, that Moses knowing the will of God, may not doubt to follow him as a guide, and the more boldly to employ himself about the delivery of the people, which he knew was the work of God. For we must note that he saith that he heard the mourning of the people. For although he hath respect unto those which are in misery and unjustly oppressed, yet when we lay our mournings and complaints in his lap, he is especially moved to have mercy; although this word may be taken for those blind and confused complaints which are not directed unto God, as it is taken oftentimes elsewhere.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction…
34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
Ver. 34. I have seen, I have seen] To my grief and regret. God is said to suffer in the sufferings of his people. The Father, Isa 63:9, the Son, Act 9:4, the Holy Ghost, 1Pe 4:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I have seen, I have seen; seeing I have…
I have seen, I have seen; seeing I have seen, I have attentively seen and considered; it is doubled to show the certainty of it: if earthly parents, especially, look after their children when weak, much more our heavenly Father.
I have heard their groaning; though but sighs, and scarce framed into words.
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Am come down; spoken after the manner of inch, according unto which God is said to come down unto any when he delivers them from their troubles, and to go from them when he leaves them in them: see Exo 3:7,8, from which place, according to the reading of the Septuagint, these words are taken.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I have seen, I have see the affliction of…
I have seen, I have see the affliction of my people, &c. The repetition of the phrase denotes the certainty of it, the exquisite and exact knowledge the Lord took of the affliction of his people, and how much his heart was affected with it:
which is in Egypt; from whence Moses had fled and had left them, he being now in the land of Midian, which was the place of his sojourning: and
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I have heard their groaning; under their various oppressions and burdens, and by reason of the cruel usage of their taskmasters:
and am come down to deliver them; not by local motion, or change of place, God being omnipresent, who fills all places at all times; but by the effects of his grace and power.
And now come, I will send thee into Egypt; to Pharaoh, the king of it, Exo 3:10 to require of him to let the children of Israel go, and to deliver them out of their bondage.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I have seen ... - The repetition of this…
I have seen ... - The repetition of this word is in accordance with the usage of the Hebrew writers when they wish to represent anything emphatically.
Their groaning - Under their oppressions.
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Am come down - This is spoken in accordance with human conceptions. It means that God was about to deliver them.
I will send thee ... - This is a mere summary of what is expressed at much greater length in Exo 3:7-10.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 34. I have seen, I have seen—Literally, seeing I…
34. I have seen, I have seen—Literally, seeing I have seen. A Hebrew idiom. The English translation well conveys the idea of the continuance and intensity of the divine contemplation of the sufferings of Israel.
Am come down—The words express in terms what the vision expressed in symbol, namely, God’s dealing with Israel as if He were a mighty Being who from the height of heaven was just coming down to Israel’s rescue upon earth.
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34. Answered—Responded to some previous remark not given by this question.
Of himself—Very probably the eunuch, had heard the Jewish tradition that Isaiah was martyred by sawing asunder at the command of the wicked king Manasseh, and so supposed that the prophet might have predicted his own death.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 34. I have seen, I have seen] The Greek…
34. I have seen, I have seen] The Greek is an attempt to imitate an emphatic Hebrew construction, and is literally “having seen, I have seen,” which in idiomatic English = “I have surely seen,” by which words the Hebrew is rendered (Exo_3:7).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I have surely seen (literally, seeing I have seen…
I have surely seen (literally, seeing I have seen the well-known Hebrew idiom for emphatic affirmation) for I have seen, I have seen, A.V.; have heard for I have heard, A.V.; and I am for and am, A.V., the change is in accordance with the A.V. of Exo_3:7, Exo_3:8.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 34. “Seeing I have seen the affliction of my…
34. “Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people, who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and come down to deliver them; now come hither, I will send thee into Egypt.” The divine economy, God’s method with man and the idiosyncrasies of salvation, is the same in all ages and dispensations. Why did not God deliver Israel out of bondage at an earlier date? Because they had not gotten so tired and sick of their bondage as to make them groan under the task-masters and cry to God for deliverance. The task-masters are evil habits. The reason why the people are not delivered from them is because they are not so sick and tired as to groan under the intolerable burden of sin and cry piteously for deliverance. Whenever you get so awfully tired of sin as to loathe and groan at its very mention and cry unto God for deliverance, He is sure to come down and deliver you. We live in an age characteristic of superficiality in every respect. This grievous superficialism has almost obliterated the very memory of the mourner’s cry and groan, and the wrestling altars, which in former years I everywhere saw and heard. Good Lord, bring back the old- time power.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 30
See notes on verse 30
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.