The verse highlights that their turning back "in their hearts" wasn't just a desire to physically return to Egypt, but a deep longing for its idolatrous practices and the familiar, though enslaved, life. This "turning back" was a rejection of God's guidance and a chosen preference for the familiar corruptions of Egypt over the unknown path of freedom with God.
Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Stephen is recounting the history of Israel's stubborn disobedience, highlighting how they consistently rejected God's messengers and leading. After describing Moses receiving the Law at Sinai to give to the people, he immediately points out their refusal to obey Moses. Instead of embracing God's commands, their hearts longed for the familiar comforts and idolatry of Egypt, the very place from which God had rescued them.
Stephen is calling out the hard-heartedness of his listeners, drawing a direct line from their ancestors' actions to their own. What does it look like to 'thrust aside' God's messengers today?
Stephen highlights a recurring sin of Israel: rebellion against God's chosen leaders and His law.
The Israelites longed for Egypt, not just the place, but the life they knew there. Where does your heart secretly yearn to go when things get tough?
The verse reveals a deeper rebellion than just disobeying Moses. It points to a fundamental heart issue.
Ask a follow-up
Understand the original words
apeitheō · Greek Verb
To reject God’s authority or direction, characterized by a hardened heart and a failure to submit to His revealed will.
theos · Greek Noun (plural)
Deities or objects of worship, often reflecting human attempts to manufacture divine assistance or control the divine, which is strictly prohibited by God's commandments.
moschos · Greek Noun
An image representing a deity, often used in idolatrous worship. Biblically, it refers to objects made by human hands that are substituted for the true God, frequently associated with divine judgment and spiritual rebellion.
thysia · Greek Noun
The act of offering something to a deity, often involving the slaughter of animals. It represents surrender, worship, and the attempt to appease or gain favor from a god.
eidōlon · Greek Noun
A false god or any object, person, or idea that replaces the true God as the object of supreme devotion. It is fundamentally an act of rebellion against the first commandment.
Stephen highlights a pattern of rebellion: the Israelites rejected Moses and God's law shortly after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, preferring the familiar bondage and idolatry of Egypt to the challenging path of obedience to God. This mirrors the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leadership of Stephen's day.
c. 1446 BC
Exodus from Egypt
Under Moses' leadership, the Israelites are miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt.
c. 1446 BC
Israelites desire return to Egypt
Shortly after the Exodus, the Israelites become discontent in the wilderness, longing for the "foods" of Egypt and questioning Moses' leadership.
c. 1446 BC
Spies sent into Canaan
After the Israelites grumble, Moses sends spies into the Promised Land. Their reports cause fear and widespread discontent.
c. 1446 BC— this verse
Rejection of Moses and Law
The people refuse to obey Moses and thrust him aside, turning their hearts back towards Egypt and its ways, leading to idolatry and rebellion.
c. 1446 BC
Golden Calf Idolatry
While Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving the Law, the people demand Aaron make gods for them and worship a golden calf, offering sacrifices to it.
c. 1406 BC
Conquest of Canaan begins
After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness due to their disobedience, the Israelites finally enter and begin to conquer the Promised Land under Joshua.
This passage directly parallels Stephen's accusation, showing the Israelites' immediate rebellion after being freed from Egypt by turning to idolatry (making a golden calf) and wishing for their former bondage, echoing the 'turned back in their hearts to Egypt' sentiment.
Numbers 11:5This verse highlights the people's longing for the 'food' of Egypt, demonstrating their discontent and 'turning back in their hearts' to the familiar comforts of their slavery, even while God was providing for them in the wilderness.
Psalm 106:7This psalm reflects on the Israelites' history, explicitly mentioning their rebellion at the Red Sea and how they did not believe God's promises, setting the stage for their continued disobedience and 'turning back' in their hearts, as Stephen describes.
Nehemiah 9:16This prayer recounts Israel's history of rebellion, noting their fathers' pride and refusal to obey God's laws and His appointed leaders, similar to how Stephen describes their fathers thrusting Moses aside and turning back to Egypt in their hearts.
Jeremiah 2:11This prophetic passage speaks to a similar theme of people forsaking the true God for idols, showing a pattern in Israel's history where they exchanged God's glory for worthless things, much like their ancestors 'turned back in their hearts' to Egypt's ways.
barnesActs 7:39: "To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,"
Would not obey ... - This refers to what they said of him when he was in the mount, Exodus 32:1 , Exodus 32:23 . In their hearts turned ... - They wished to return to Egypt. They regretted that they had come out of Egypt, and desired again the things which they had there, as preferable to what they had in the desert, Numbers 11:5. Perhaps, however, the expression means, n…
calvinActs 7:38-41: "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:"
- This is he which was in the congregation in the wilderness, with the angel which had spoken unto him in mount Sinai, [or did speak to him in the mount,] and with our fathers; who received lively oracles, that he might give them to us: 39. Whom our fathers would not obey, but they refused him, and they…
The verse highlights that their turning back "in their hearts" wasn't just a desire to physically return to Egypt, but a deep longing for its idolatrous practices and the familiar, though enslaved, life. This "turning back" was a rejection of God's guidance and a chosen preference for the familiar corruptions of Egypt over the unknown path of freedom with God.
Stephen is recounting the history of Israel's stubborn disobedience, highlighting how they consistently rejected God's messengers and leading. After describing Moses receiving the Law at Sinai to give to the people, he immediately points out their refusal to obey Moses. Instead of embracing God's commands, their hearts longed for the familiar comforts and idolatry of Egypt, the very place from which God had rescued them.
Stephen is recounting the history of Israel's stubborn disobedience, highlighting how they consistently rejected God's messengers and leading. After describing Moses receiving the Law at Sinai to give to the people, he immediately points out their refusal to obey Moses. Instead of embracing God's commands, their hearts longed for the familiar comforts and idolatry of Egypt, the very place from which God had rescued them.
"Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has bec…" — The verse highlights that their turning back "in their hearts" wasn't just a desire to physically return to Egypt, but a deep longing for its idolatrous practices and the familiar, though enslaved, l…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026
