Acts 7:22

ἐπαιδεύθη, cf. Acts 22:3 here with instrumental dative, or, better, dative of respect or manner; not mentioned in Exodus, but see Philo, Vita Moys., ii., 83, Mang., and also Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. i., p. 343, E.T.; cf. the knowledge of magic ascribed to Pharaoh's wise men in Exodus 7:11, and “Jannes and Jambres,” B.D. 2, and also 1 Kings 4:30, and Isaiah 19:2; Isaiah 19:11-12; Hamburger, Real-Encyclopädie des Judentums “Zauberei,” i., 7, 1068, and references in Wetstein, in loco. παιδεύω, both in LXX and N.T., used in the sense of training; cf. Proverbs 5:13 (Jos., C. Apion, i., 4), 1 Timothy 1:20; Titus 2:12, and also in the sense of chastising, so often in LXX and in N.T., and also similarly used in classical Greek. The passage is also important because it helped to fix the attention of cultivated early Christian writers upon the wisdom of Greek poets and philosophers, and to give a kind of precedent for the right pursuit of such studies; cf. Clem. Alex., Strom., i., 5, 28; vi., 5, 42; Justin Martyr, Dial. c. Tryph., c., 1 4; see Dean Plumptre's note, in loco. ἦν δὲ δυνατὸς, cf. Acts 18:24, and especially Luke 24:19; see also Sir 21:7, Jdt 11:8. If αὐτοῦ is retained, the mode of expression is Hebraistic (Blass). There is no contradiction with Exodus 4:10, and no need to explain the expression of Moses' writings, for Stephen has in his thoughts not so much, as we may believe, the oratorical form as the powerful contents of Moses' words (e.g., his prophetical teaching, Hamburger, “Moses,” Real-Encyclopädie des Judentums, i., 5, 772). Josephus speaks of him as πλήθει ὁμιλεῖν πιθανώτατος, Ant., iii., 1, 4 (see also Jos., Ant., ii., 10, 1, for the traditional exploits of Moses, and Hamburger, u. s., p. 771).