The Meaning of Acts 7:14 Explained

Acts 7:14

KJV: Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

YLT: and Joseph having sent, did call for his father Jacob, and all his kindred -- with seventy and five souls --

Darby: And Joseph sent and called down to him his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five souls.

ASV: And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then  sent  Joseph,  and called  his  father  Jacob  to [him], and  all  his  kindred,  threescore  and fifteen  souls. 

What does Acts 7:14 Mean?

Study Notes

kindred
Cf. There is no real contradiction. The "house of Jacob" numbered seventy but the "kindred" would include the wives of Jacob's sons.
All the souls
(Cf) Genesis 46:27 . A discrepancy has been imagined. The "souls" that came with Jacob" were 66. The "souls of the house of Jacob" Genesis 46:27 i.e. the entire Jacobean family) were 70, viz. the 66 which came with Jacob, Joseph and his two sons, already in Egypt=69; Jacob himself=70. (See Scofield " Acts 7:14 ") .

Context Summary

Acts 7:14-29 - Stephen's Defense: The Deliverer From Bondage
Moses, we are here told, was "mighty in words;" that is, in eloquence as well as in deeds. This confirms the statement of the Jewish historian, Josephus, that in the earlier part of his career, now lost in the oblivion of history, Moses led a very successful Egyptian expedition against Ethiopia. He complains to the Lord, in Exodus 4:10, of being slow of speech, but that probably refers to the habit of long disuse amid the silence and loneliness of the desert.
It is clear that, stung by the sense of wrong, Moses at first interfered with his own right arm to deliver his people. He smote the Egyptian, and essayed to judge between his brethren. God had to bring him into the dust by repeated failure and rejection that he might become an emptied and a broken vessel. God will not give glory to man. The treasure must be held in an earthen vessel, 2 Corinthians 4:7. It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we arrive at the beginning of God. The world has ever to learn what God can do by those who are wholly emptied of self-confidence but yielded to His hand. [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 7

1  Stephen, permitted to answer to the accusation of blasphemy,
2  shows that Abraham worshipped God rightly, and how God chose the fathers,
20  before Moses was born, and before the tabernacle and temple were built;
37  that Moses himself witnessed of Christ;
44  and that all outward ceremonies were ordained to last but for a time;
51  reprehending their rebellion, and murdering of Christ, whom the prophets foretold
54  Whereupon they stone Stephen to death,
59  who commends his soul to Jesus, and humbly prays for them

Greek Commentary for Acts 7:14

Three-score and fifteen souls [εν πσυχαις εβδομηκοντα πεντε]
Stephen follows the lxx which counts some grandchildren of Joseph and so makes it 75 whereas Genesis 46:26 has 66 and then the next verse makes it 70 including Jacob and Joseph with his two sons. The use of εν — en means “consisting in.” [source]
Threescore and fifteen []
Lit., “in ( ἐν ) threescore and fifteen;” the idiom expressing the sum in which all the individuals were included. [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 7:14 mean?

Having sent then Joseph he called for Jacob the father of him and all the kindred in all souls seventy five
ἀποστείλας δὲ Ἰωσὴφ μετεκαλέσατο Ἰακὼβ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συγγένειαν ἐν ψυχαῖς ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε

ἀποστείλας  Having  sent 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀποστέλλω 
Sense: to order (one) to go to a place appointed.
Ἰωσὴφ  Joseph 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰωσήφ 
Sense: the patriarch, the eleventh son of Jacob.
μετεκαλέσατο  he  called  for 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: μετακαλέω  
Sense: to call from one place to another, to summon.
Ἰακὼβ  Jacob 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰακώβ  
Sense: was the second son of Isaac.
πατέρα  father 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
αὐτοῦ  of  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
συγγένειαν  kindred 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: συγγένεια  
Sense: a kinship, relationship.
ἐν  in  all 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐν 
Sense: in, by, with etc.
ψυχαῖς  souls 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Plural
Root: ψυχή  
Sense: breath.
ἑβδομήκοντα  seventy 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Feminine Plural
Root: ἑβδομήκοντα  
Sense: seventy.
πέντε  five 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Feminine Plural
Root: πέντε  
Sense: five.